Bridge lift in Orlando for interstate rebuild

Measuring 33.8km long and costing US$2.3 billion, Orlando’s massive I-4 Ultimate is the largest infrastructure project in the Florida Department of Transportation’s history. Divided into four phases, the project requires major bridge work to improve traffic flow through Central Florida. In all, 13 existing structures are being widened, 53 new bridges added and 74 bridges replaced. Area 2, currently under construction, runs through Orlando from Highway 50 at the northern edge to the Highway 423/I-4 interc
July 4, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
V&M has about another two years of work on Area 2 of the I-4 Ultimate project in Florida and will keep using Terex HC Series cranes
Measuring 33.8km long and costing US$2.3 billion, Orlando’s massive I-4 Ultimate is the largest infrastructure project in the 2697 Florida Department of Transportation’s history.


Divided into four phases, the project requires major bridge work to improve traffic flow through Central Florida. In all, 13 existing structures are being widened, 53 new bridges added and 74 bridges replaced. Area 2, currently under construction, runs through Orlando from Highway 50 at the northern edge to the Highway 423/I-4 interchange at its southernmost part.

The engineering team is adding or reconstructing 40 structures in this area and needs to place 22,680tonnes of steel for this phase.

V&M is the key structural steel contractor for the bridge work and now has three 1222 Terex crawler cranes in its fleet: a 208tonne HC 230; a 250tonne HC 275 crane; an HC 285 offering a 258tonne capacity.

Area 2 comprises of multiple high-level flyover ramps, which makes accessing the site challenging. Rather than working at night to place girders, V&M and the Florida DOT are using 40- to 56-hour road closure times to improve construction efficiency and limit impact on traffic.

The work schedule requires V&M to move from bridge to bridge, and each bridge consists of one to five units. Within each bridge unit, workers must move the cranes three to four times. Once on site, the Terex HC series cranes’ hydraulic counterweight removal system simplifies and reduces plate installation and removal time.

Throughout Area 2, V&M will equip its three HC cranes with boom configurations ranging from 42.7-61m and work at radii where the lift chart offers capacities from 68-90.7tonnes.

For maximum capacity, the cranes are rigged in their full counterweight configurations. Additionally, a luffing jib is kept on site to assist lifting the preassembled girders over structures.

On the complex bridge number 225, V&M paired the smaller HC 230 and 275 cranes in tandem lifts, while its larger HC 285 crawler and an AC 700 all-terrain crane from Hunter Merchant were reserved to support the heavier girder spans. This gave crew members the capacity required to connect the flyover spans between piers while supported at elevation.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Algeria bridge lifting with cranes
    January 5, 2017
    Algerian firm SAPTA is currently using four Sennebogen cranes for a bridge project close to Algerian capital Algiers. SAPTA is a specialist in bridge construction and is using the cranes, a combination of crawler and telescopic machines, to lift heavy components weighing up to 60tonnes
    Read More
  • Almost gone: Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge deconstructed
    August 14, 2015
    Three years ago a welder’s cut halved Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge. David Arminas reports from the banks of the Fraser River. By the time this issue of World Highways reaches you, one of Canada’s iconic steel arch bridges will be a shadow of its former self. It’s been a three-year demolition job since the first cut across the deck of the old Port Mann Bridge just outside the city of Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. A new 10-lane 2.2km Port Mann Bridge opened in 2012 (see box). It runs parallel to the o
    Read More
  • Cleveland Bridge is all decked out on the England’s A14 scheme
    June 4, 2019
    As part of Highways England’s A14 upgrade project from Cambridge to Huntington, Cleveland Bridge installed two 1,050tonne pre-assembled bridge decks in just 11 hours. Months of detailed planning and client liaison ensured the 47.5m-long bridge decks, each containing 330tonnes of steel and 720tonnes of concrete, were successfully travelled to the site and lowered onto the abutments. On-site civil engineering works were undertaken by the A14 Integrated Delivery Team, a joint venture between Costain,
    Read More
  • Manitowoc’s in demand in Oz
    May 14, 2014
    Leading Australian crane rental firm Universal Cranes has built two bridges using Manitowoc cranes from its fleet. The company used Manitowoc’s largest all-terrain crane, a GMK7450, for the first job and selected two Manitowoc crawler cranes – a 16000 and a 12000 - for the second. Key to the speed of the two projects was the cranes’ quick set-up and precise load control, as well as Universal Cranes’s specially-designed lattice spreader, as Nick Morris, engineering and sales manager at Universal Cranes, e
    Read More

Highlighted Content