California bridge demolition project proceeding to plan

March 2, 2015
Demolition work is proceeding to plan on the old Bay Bridge in California. The structure is being removed piece by piece in a tightly controlled demolition project being carried out by a number of specialist firms. Strict guidelines cover how the demolition workers can proceed, with regulations preventing debris from falling into the water for example. Safety of the demolition personnel is another of the key criteria. The new bridge is already carrying traffic alongside but the old steel cantilever structure can only be removed in sections and this has meant certain parts of the new link cannot be completed until the original structure has been taken down. The project team will remove the old bridge down to the water level but discussions are underway at present in how best to remove its foundations underwater also. By the end of 2016, the old structure should be completely removed however.

Related Content

  • Meva’s Mammut 350 formwork makes the difference for Neckar viaduct
    April 19, 2018
    Formwork specialist Meva is helping replace the longest motorway bridge, the Neckar River viaduct in Germany’s south-west state Baden-Wuerttemberg Work on the 1.3km Neckar viaduct, part of the A6 motorway at Heilbronn, should be finished by 2022. It is part of the A6 expansion project between the Weinberger junction and Wiesloch/Rauenberg. The project is officially the new Neckar viaduct BAB 6 at Heilbronn. Federal Motorway 6, the A6, is also known as the BAB 6. The 477km motorway starts at the French b
    Read More
  • Hot Bitumen Safety – Still an Issue, Eleven Years On
    April 22, 2016
    Despite clear industry guidelines published over a decade ago and revised in 2015, level measurement experts Hycontrol still regularly encounter asphalt plants with insufficient safety protocols for preventing spills of hot bitumen. Introduction – Bitumen Storage in the UK Recently-issued information from Eurobitume UK has reinforced the need for stringent safety precautions on sites with bitumen storage facilities; key amongst them being the implementation of a robust level monitoring and alarm system (‘Si
    Read More
  • Pre-stressed bridge decks use modular formwork system
    July 9, 2012
    Imaginative formwork, often using modular components, is helping to shape some challenging bridges worldwide. Patrick Smith reports Traffic volumes in and around Prague have swollen massively in recent years, pushing the existing road network to the limits of its capacity. To permanently ease congestion in the Czech capital's centre, a multi-lane orbital motorway is under construction as a high capacity bypass for central Prague and to link up all the motorways and other major highways radiating from the ci
    Read More
  • Pittsburgh bridge blasted
    October 7, 2013
    Explosive demolition has been used to remove an old highway bridge in Pennsylvania. Some 90kg of explosives were used to blast the pre-weakened steel structure of the 87 year-old Masontown Bridge. The redundant steel truss structure lay just 3m from the new bridge now carrying Route 21 over the Monongahela River and connecting Masontown with Monongahela Township. The location of the explosives and the pre-weakening work carried out however meant that the old structure, built in 1925 and upgraded in 1933, fe
    Read More

Highlighted Content