Montreal-based MAADI Group recently designed a 151-foot-long, 6½-foot-wide pedestrian work bridge to connect platforms in the West Philippine Sea. Using high-strength aluminum for the bridge’s material, MAADI designed the bridge with lateral movement capability that could withstand deep-ocean movement and wind gusts up to 200 km/hr (124 mph).
MAADI’s President/CEO, Alexandre de la Chevrotière, says that water and wind movements can cause the platforms to shift by as much as one inch, so the bridge was engineered to account for movement up to one meter. A trolley system at one end of the bridge allows slight back-and-forth movements of the bridge between the platforms.
The span was built in four sections. Its abutments are unique, according to de la Chevrotière, in that their pin connections rotate on two axes. There’s also a pin connection at the top of the trolley, which allows the bridge to move in several different directions by as much as three degrees to account for ocean movements, he says.
The 13-ton bridge was built to accommodate up to 80 workers on deck. (The accompanying image shows 8.4 tons of water being used to test the span’s load capacity.) The bridge’s camber was designed to reduce the deflection caused by dead and live loads.
“Aluminum is the material of the future,” says de la Chevrotière. “It doesn’t rust and it’s maintenance free.”
Read about more innovations from BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report.
Related Stories
| Mar 16, 2012
Temporary fix to CityCenter's Harmon would cost $2 million, contractor says
By contrast, CityCenter half-owner and developer MGM Resorts International determined last year that the Harmon would collapse in a strong quake and can't be fixed in an economical way. It favors implosion at a cost of $30 million.
| Mar 16, 2012
Work on Oxnard, Calif. shopping center resumes after a three-year hiatus
Stalled since 2009, developers of the Collection at RiverPark decided to restart construction on the outdoor mall.
| Mar 16, 2012
Stego embarks on HPD Pilot Program
Vapor barrier manufacturer strives to provide better green choices to designers and builders.
| Mar 16, 2012
Marvin Windows and Doors accepting entries for fourth-annual myMarvin Architect’s Challenge
Architects in U.S. and abroad offered the chance to showcase their very best work.
| Mar 14, 2012
Hearing to decide fate of unfinished Harmon in Las Vegas under way
The testimony began with CityCenter consulting engineer Chukwuma Ekwueme methodically showing photo after photo of parts of the Harmon, where he and his team had chipped away the concrete pillars and beams to examine the steel reinforcing bars inside.
| Mar 14, 2012
Firestone names 2012 Master Contractor Award Winners
Annual award acknowledges industry’s top roofing professionals.
| Mar 14, 2012
Plans for San Francisco's tallest building revamped
The glassy white high-rise would be 60 stories and 1,070 feet tall with an entrance at First and Mission streets.
| Mar 14, 2012
Hyatt joins Thornton Tomasetti as VP in Chicago
A forensic specialist, Hyatt has more than 10 years of experience performing investigations of structural failures throughout the U.S.
| Mar 14, 2012
Tsoi/Kobus and Centerbrook to design Jackson Laboratory facility in Farmington, Conn.
Building will house research into personalized, gene-based cancer screening and treatment.
| Mar 13, 2012
China's high-speed building boom
A 30-story hotel in Changsha went up in two weeks. Some question the safety in that, but the builder defends its methods.