Skip to main content

Peri has Polish bridge covered

A new bridge is being constructed across the Vistula River near Grudzi?dz, Poland, and for the foreland bridge from south-east direction, a so-called incremental launching method is being used. Two lanes, each some 556m long, are being constructed in 25 concreting cycles with standard lengths of 24m, while the formwork is 25m long and is positioned behind the bridge abutments.
February 6, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
A new bridge is being constructed across the Vistula River near Grudzi?dz, Poland, and for the foreland bridge from south-east direction, a so-called incremental launching method is being used.

Two lanes, each some 556m long, are being constructed in 25 concreting cycles with standard lengths of 24m, while the formwork is 25m long and is positioned behind the bridge abutments.

The individual sections of the superstructure are concreted directly together here and connected by means of tensioning cables. Subsequently, the hardened bridge section is raised a few millimetres and moved forward together with the other finished segments by one cycle length in the direction of the bridge's longitudinal axis.

Prefabrication of the individual repetitive bridge sections is being carried out with a stationary formwork, and a temporary protection roof, based on the 298 PERI UP modular scaffold, spans the working area and allows weather-independent construction of the individual sections for the superstructure.

According to the German formwork manufacturer this is one of the factors that allowed the 2296 Skanska-1547 NDI Joint Venture to reduce the construction period by three months.

For concreting work on the hollow box profile, a construction time of a year was originally planned, and as work started in November 2009, minimum temperatures of up to -25°C were expected during the winter.

To cater for the weather, the contractor planned the temporary protection roof for the construction phase: the possibility of renting the LGS (lattice girder system) protection roof for the period of use provided an economical solution.

Altogether, the jobsite team is using four roof structures: two smaller, permanently installed tents are used for reinforcement work preparations, while two movable protection roofs on basis of the LGS span the formwork and concreting areas.

To ensure unhindered material and concrete installation, the design allows the protection roofs to be moved. The girder supports are equipped with 55.5m long rails, which are over twice as long as the protection roofs and which are easily moved by two to four people. The wheel allows the roofs to be moved in a longitudinal direction.

"At the level of the girder, the static system of a single-span beam with one stationary and one movable support can be realised without any problems by means of system components," says PERI.

The spatial arrangement of the two sets of incremental launching equipment gave the position for the weather protection roofs: the available space between the formwork for both lanes was very limited. Load transfer of the support construction of both weather protection roofs had to be guaranteed via a common central support.

"With Keder track and sheeting, the scaffold constructions result in very light and translucent roofs. The solution in Grudzi?dz also includes a side and gable covering. "Overlapping of the sheeting at all joints ensures a tightly-fitting enclosure which at the same time can easily be opened. With extremely low outside temperatures, the temporary tents were also heated.

"An additional positive effect of the enclosure is the consistently high concrete quality achieved throughout due to the constantly good setting process."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Washington DC’s historic bridge replacement project
    June 11, 2019
    The project to replace a historic bridge in US capital Washington DC is providing major challenges for its builders - Mike Woof writes
  • Seal of approval for Sika
    June 22, 2012
    Skikaflex Construction by UK-based Sika was chosen by Skanska Balfour Beatty Joint Venture to seal movement joints during the widening of one of Europe’s busiest motorways. The M25, also known as the London Orbital, handles around 200,000 vehicles every day on its busiest sections. Its widening between junctions 27 and 30 is said to be delivering much needed extra capacity to tackle congestion and improve journey times.
  • Innovative new drainage solutions will help keep roads free from water
    October 2, 2014
    An array of new technologies will help optimise road drainage and minimise flooding risks - Mike Woof reports In the UK the specialist contractor Lanes Group has carried out extensive inspection work of the drainage systems for the M6 toll route around the city of Birmingham. A powerful zoom camera has been used to carry out the inspection work for Midland Expressway, which operates and maintains the 43km-long motorway, running from Coleshill to Cannock.
  • Harsco goes Forth
    June 25, 2012
    Harsco Infrastructure (HI) is providing bespoke scaffolding for a major refurbishment project being carried out on the famous Forth Road Bridge in Scotland. The £710,000 contract is seeing HI scaffolding used to allow work to be carried out to replace the large bearings which support each end of the structure, with no disruption to traffic using the bridge.