done and dusted before dawn. · more tan ve monts. t sons sime t in ractice reires si recision an...
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: DONE AND DUSTED BEFORE DAWN. · more tan ve monts. t sons sime t in ractice reires si recision an eertise. n te case o ees vene it was ie icin a oomeran a reerence to te crve natre](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042622/5f9a97ee5a6bb57653272252/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
DONE AND DUSTED BEFORE DAWN.
R.W. TOMLINSONOTTAWA, CANADA
![Page 2: DONE AND DUSTED BEFORE DAWN. · more tan ve monts. t sons sime t in ractice reires si recision an eertise. n te case o ees vene it was ie icin a oomeran a reerence to te crve natre](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042622/5f9a97ee5a6bb57653272252/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
SEP. 7APRIL 17 BRIDGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION NEXT TO OLD ONE TRAFFIC AS USUAL
Discover more on www.mammoet.com
SEP. 7 NIGHT TRANSPORT TO DESTINATIONSEP. 6 PREPARING FOR TRANSPORT
A Z
REPLACING A BRIDGE IN OTTAWA WITH TIME TO SPARE
It’s not every day you’re tasked
with the heaviest lift installation of
a multi-span freeway overpass in
North America, but Ottawa’s Lees
Avenue rapid bridge replacement
was like no other. Weighing 2,254
tons and measuring 87.5 meters
long, the flyover is the city’s main
traffic artery, which was
expanding to accommodate its
new Light Rail System. Project
delays would mean traffic
congestion and heavy fines for
our customer, R.W. Tomlinson.
The bridge’s curved geometry and
the graded roads on which it was
transported provided a unique
challenge, to which Mammoet
successfully rose.
The Rapid Bridge Replacement
technique (RBR) switches a
complete new bridge into place
once the old one is removed. It is
favored over demolition and then
building a new bridge because it
minimizes downtime, decreases
disruption of traffic and reduces
project time significantly, in this case
more than five months. It sounds
simple, but in practice RBR requires
skill, precision and expertise.
In the case of Lees Avenue it was
like picking up a boomerang; a
reference to the curved nature of
the bridge, which made it difficult to
align the SPMTs for jacking in the
usual way. Any twist during transport
could jeopardize the integrity of the
structure.
Not only this, but there was a three
meter drop from one side of the
bridge to the other – an incline that
needed to be reduced to guarantee
safe transport of the new bridge.
In total, three months of planning
culminated in a detailed overnight
procedure for the project. To level
out the three meter elevation,
around 400 dump trucks delivered
12,000 tons of gravel in and out
in five hours.
Once everything was set, 64 axle
lines of SPMT were placed beneath
the old bridge, while falsework
towers were raised to pick the
structure from its bearings. The
trailers then transported the bridge
to its lay down position, repeating
in reverse with the new bridge.
Mammoet’s approach reduced the
usual timeline of several months
down to just two weeks; safely, and
without a single hitch. By the time
the new bridge was set down at
sunrise, partner Tomlinson was
already moving on to the project’s
next phase. The first cars rolled over
the new Lees Avenue overpass
exactly as planned and Ottawa’s
brand new Light Rail carriages some
short weeks later.
RESOURCES
CRANES 1 hydraulic crane
TRANSPORT 96 axle lines of SPMT
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT 1 forklift
CREW 12 Mammoet professionals