Slide-in bridge technology allows a quicker fix (http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140829/METRO05/308290034/Slide-bridge-technology-allows-quicker-fix)
QuoteThe Michigan Department of Transportation's "US-131 Bridge Slide Time-Lapse" video, which can been seen above, shows the latest in bridge replacement technology being utilized by MDOT in which a new bridge is constructed next to the old span, and then slid into place.
Watch the video.
There was recently a much larger slide at Madison IN/Milton KY discussed at https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=9984.0 (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=9984.0)
The goal wasn't a quicker replacement, but minimum closure days: 10 days of closure. This was missed when a bearing slipped days before the final slide. Still successful, because the total closure was only 3 or 4 weeks, not 2 years.
I like this idea! Too bad not many state DOTs have tried it yet.
On the US 41/Wis 29 project, the WI 29 bridges over County Hwy J were put in this way.
The Union Pacific Railroad bridge over the Missouri River at Omaha, Nebraska was replaced in a similar procedure in 1916 (m/l)
Wood piers were built on either side of the existing stone piers, and the new bridge was built upstream. When it was done, the new bridge was slid onto the stone piers, the old bridge was slid onto the downstream wooden piers, and was disassembled there. Then all the temporary wood piers were removed.
PennDOT did this with a large through-truss railroad bridge over I-76 (Schuylkill Expwy), just south of the PA Turnpike and US 202 interchanges, in the early 00s, but the bridge was slid lengthwise instead of crosswise.
The span on the right, shown here (https://www.google.com/maps/@40.081509,-75.388344,3a,75y,293.77h,87.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1shTEtARjLXvr1ui9dPgQ2Nw!2e0 (https://www.google.com/maps/@40.081509,-75.388344,3a,75y,293.77h,87.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1shTEtARjLXvr1ui9dPgQ2Nw!2e0)), was jacked from right to left over the roadway, to meet the span on the left which was constructed in place.
SR 38 by the Elkton Tunnel's west end had it's bridge approach done with this method. Having a tunnel to deal with necessitated the sliding into place move.
Rick
The slide-in method was recently done with Exit 30 of I-84 (Marion Avenue) in Southington, CT early in summer. Except for the "2014" stamps on the bridge corners, you can barely tell the bridges are brand new!
Another variation on this was the replacement of the 1880s C&NW railroad bridge across the Missouri River at Blair Nebraska.
The existing bridge was inadequate for the weight of the heavier trains and steam locomotives and in the 1920s pilings were driven under each of the 3 330' spans sequentially. Each span was disassembled and a new span was built while NOT interrupting regular railroad service across the bridge!!
The temporary pilings held the tracks up while the old spans were taken out and the new ones erected! The old spans were reassembled in Wyoming, and I believe when reused they were rebuilt shorter to improve their load carrying capability.
As a rule of thumb, shortening a span 50% will increase the load carrying ability by up to 4X.
Rapid Bridge Replacement is almost becoming the norm in Ontario for replacing structures. Several structures across the province have been built this way. The most notable examples though are located along the Ottawa Queensway. The MTO has been replacing one two structures per year in order to facilitate a lane widening that is proposed in the future.
Some good pictures of a rapid replacement are available here:
http://www.thekingshighway.ca/PHOTOS/Hwy417photos3.htm (http://www.thekingshighway.ca/PHOTOS/Hwy417photos3.htm)
VTrans plans to do this next year at the I-91/US 5/Exit 11 interchange (http://www.i91wrj.vtransprojects.vermont.gov) in Hartford (near White River Jct).
Quote from: Henry on August 29, 2014, 01:39:36 PM
I like this idea! Too bad not many state DOTs have tried it yet.
Really? I remember this being done on a county-owned bridge in NJ around 1985. I'd expect that it'd be widely embraced by now.
IIRC, CDOT did this for two bridges in the Denver area in recent years: One was a bridge for the light rail extension over 6th Avenue / US-6 and I want to say they also did this with the Pecos Street bridge over I-70??
They did another one of there in Ottawa last night:
http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/lees-ave-overpass-on-the-move-this-weekend-1.1993599/comments-7.554464
While a slide-in bridge reduces the time an overpass can be taken out of service, if the overpass is such that it can't be taken out of service for any length of time, then it still won't be much of an option. In some cases, the best that can be done is overnight or a weekend closure, but it appears a slide-in bridge takes a bit longer to execute.
NJ generally does contra-flow traffic patterns in construction zones now when replacing overpasses, but it's all case-by-case. You can find construction examples including the slide-in, the temporary structure, lane shifts, the prefab replacement, the 1 lane alternate traffic pattern, and the complete closure of an overpass as well. There's no one-size-fits-all approach.
Quote from: Henry on August 29, 2014, 01:39:36 PM
I like this idea! Too bad not many state DOTs have tried it yet.
MassDOT is increasingly using this technique, especially for replacing smaller bridges. They call the procedure "heavy lift".
The Delair railroad bridge between Philadelphia and Delair NJ had a non movable span converted into a lift span via a slide in truss. It was not kept open through the process in 1959.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sjrail.com%2Fwiki%2Fimages%2F3%2F39%2FDelair_Bridge_a60.JPG&hash=8908186f2966080621038c1776e110f2b4beafc2)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.workshopoftheworld.com%2Frichmond_bridesburg%2Fdelair_files%2Fpage68_1.jpg&hash=e83ff4981c0ca55ea12eb572eb72c4790a526933)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg171.imageshack.us%2Fimg171%2F3720%2Frpswdk1862.jpg&hash=518c616506258640ecab443b97384298873fb63f)
And, conversely, (and very interestingly) the Meridian Bridge at Yankton, SD, over the Missouri River had a lift span converted to a fixed span.
:wow:
MDOT is in the process of doing this again, with the M-50 bridge over I-96. (It's very narrow and doesn't currently have the left turn lanes it needs.) Doesn't seem to have kept the I-96 lane closures away, but it's nice to be able to use the bridge instead of it being closed all summer.
This is how WSDOT built the Skagit River Bridge replacement....it's very difficult to tell, but right around 0:45, the slide-in begins:
Here's the video detailing how the process was to work:
This is similar to what Portland did to replace the Sellwood Bridge. They moved the old bridge South, reconnected it with temporary structures to the existing approaches, then built a new bridge in the footprint of the old bridge.
Also mentioned in the Vermont thread, but VTrans is using the slide-in method to replace the I-91 bridges over US 5 at Exit 11 in White River Junction. The new northbound span will be slid into place this weekend:
http://www.i91wrj.vtransprojects.vermont.gov/documents/Weekly%20preview%208_24_15_8_31_15.pdf
Here's a link of the Rawson Avenue Bridge in Milwaukee being slid in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md24z_gI6aI