Skip to main content

PERI fills gap in Greek market

A team of Greek and German PERI engineers have developed a comprehensive formwork and scaffolding solution for the T4 bridge on the A7 motorway in Greece. The 160km long A7 connects Kalamata in the south to Corinth in the northwest of the Peloponnese peninsula. On one stretch of the motorway a 390m long arched bridge – known as T4 – is being used to close the gap between Paradisia and Tsakona. Set for completion in early 2014, two-thirds of the 22m wide bridge superstructure will be suspended on a steel arc
February 19, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
The VARIOKIT heavy-duty shoring towers being used on the T4 bridge on the A7 motorway in Greece are transferring a combined 2,400tonnes load
A team of Greek and German 298 PERI engineers have developed a comprehensive formwork and scaffolding solution for the T4 bridge on the A7 motorway in Greece.

The 160km long A7 connects Kalamata in the south to Corinth in the northwest of the Peloponnese peninsula. On one stretch of the motorway a 390m long arched bridge – known as T4 – is being used to close the gap between Paradisia and Tsakona. Set for completion in early 2014, two-thirds of the 22m wide bridge superstructure will be suspended on a steel arch and realised using the steel composite construction method. For the northern bridge section, a pre-stressed concrete superstructure variant was selected which features a twin-cell hollow box cross-section.

The supporting element of the motorway bridge is a huge, almost 30m high inclined twin-pillar pier with an asymmetric V-shape. This serves as an intermediate support for the in-situ concreted carriageway. It also serves as a support and starter section for the steel arch. Engineers from PERI and Greek colleagues devised a cost-effective plan for constructing the pier structure, the reinforced concrete superstructure and the temporary support for the bridge during the entire building project

The chosen two modular construction systems combine with each other to transfer the high loads safely into the ground. With help of the PERI UP Rosett Flex modular scaffold system, forming a spatial load-bearing structure for the piers and superstructure formwork, a gradual increasing up to the total support height of over 20m was achieved to the rear and upwards respectively. By means of 25, 50 and 75cm long ledgers, the 150cm basic grid is said by PERI to have been adapted to suit the geometric and static requirements extremely flexibly. This allowed the polygonal 32° to 36° shallow pitched inclined piers on both sides of the bridge to be constructed in eight segments, each 4.5m long.

In addition to the PERI UP scaffold construction being used, the VARIOKIT engineering construction kit, in particular, is said to offer standardised system solutions for tunnel, bridge and civil engineering projects. Thus, trusses consisting of rentable standard elements support the obliquely-positioned VARIO GT 24 girder formwork and transfer the formwork and concreting loads of the inclined piers safely into the scaffolding.

The VARIOKIT modular construction system also forms the basis for the heavy-duty shoring. In the connecting area between the cast-in-place bridge and steel arch, two 17m high, 42-leg VARIOKIT heavy-duty shoring towers are used to accommodate the high loads – throughout the entire construction period until the inherent load-bearing capacity is reached. Each of the two towers has to carry loads of 1,200tonnes and, due to the long utilisation time, has to cater for high earthquake-induced as well as horizontal loads. Here, PERI engineers combined four standard towers, each with a 2m by 2m axis dimension, by means of several bundled 37.5cm additional frames (number depended on the load concentration) to form two power packages. Only rentable system components and construction-compliant, type-tested connection means were said by PERI to be used for this.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Athabasca’s Hwy 813 bridge to be replaced
    May 16, 2022
    The new bridge over the Athabasca River in the Canadian province of Alberta will include two 3.7m-wide lanes with 1.8m-wide shoulders on either side as well as a pedestrian sidewalk.
  • Quebec to build new Mercier Bridge for Montreal city
    May 12, 2017
    The Canadian province of Quebec plans to build a US$219 million bridge across the St Lawrence River alongside the existing Mercier Bridge in the city of Montreal. Provincial government cabinet ministers Pierre Moreau and Geoff Kelley confirmed that a new bridge is forthcoming, but gave schedule for procurement or construction start, according to local media. However, Moreau said the work will begin probably before the new Champlain Bridge is finished at the start of 2019. Construction of the new Champlain B
  • Surface quality a key trend in asphalt paving
    March 7, 2012
    Improved surface quality and improved machine design are key trends in the asphalt paving sector, Mike Woof reports There is a big difference in asphalt paving techniques in North America and Europe. In North America, the need to construct long stretches of highway quickly resulted in wide pavers offering high throughput capacity, with compaction equipment then being used to achieve the required density of the various courses. In Europe's highway construction projects, distances tend to be shorter and contr
  • Tricky mountain road rebuild job in Phoenix AZ
    June 16, 2021
    North Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona is one of the metropolitan area’s most recognisable landmarks and busiest hiking destinations.