A movable scaffolding system (MSS) is a special-purpose self-launching form used in bridge construction, specifically prestressed concrete bridges with segments or spans that are cast in place. The movable scaffolding system is used to support a form while the concrete is cured; once the segment is complete, the scaffold and forms are moved to the end of the new segment and another segment is poured.
While superficially similar, movable scaffolding systems should not be confused with launching gantry machines, which also are used in segmental bridge construction. Both feature long girders spanning multiple bridge spans which move with and temporarily support the work, but launching gantry machines are used to lift and support precast bridge segments and bridge girders, while movable scaffolding systems are used for cast-in-place construction.
An MSS is generally used instead of a launching gantry to minimize the number of joints, since the cast in place segments typically are longer than precast segments. [1]
Once several bridge piers are complete, support brackets are attached to adjacent piers and the main parallel girders of the MSS are lifted in place to support the scaffold and concrete forms. Jacks are used to raise the girders and forms and the concrete is poured for the segment (or span) after rebar is placed. After the concrete has cured and the tendons have been tensioned, the jacks are lowered and the MSS girders are launched to bridge the next span. This process is repeated until the bridge is complete.
Both overhead (forms suspended from support girder(s) above the bridge deck level) and underslung (forms supported by support girder(s) below bridge deck level) MSS are available. [2] [3]
MSS construction was developed in the 1960s in Europe; [4] the first bridge built with a MSS was the Kettiger Hangbrücke in Germany, completed in 1959. [5] The first bridge constructed with a MSS in California was the Long Beach International Gateway in Long Beach that replaced the Gerald Desmond Bridge, completed in 2020. [6]
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from structural steel, or box girders built from prestressed concrete.
The Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, originally called the Burlington Bay Skyway and simply known as the Burlington Skyway or The Skyway, is a pair of high-level freeway bridges spanning the Burlington Bay Canal. The Skyway, as it is locally known, is located in Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway linking Fort Erie with Toronto. The 1958 steel bridge is a suspended deck through-arch truss bridge. The approach to the main span has elements of a through-truss bridge, but the arch shape takes the truss higher than the roadway deck, so hangers are used to suspend the deck from the arch truss. The truss bridge is 2,560 m (8,400 ft) long overall. The main span of 151 m (495 ft) is flanked by two back spans each 83.7 m (275 ft) long; there are 72 total approach spans, and the bridge has 36.7 m (120 ft) of vertical clearance below the bottom of the deck. The girder bridge, completed in 1985, is 335 m (1,099 ft) shorter. The roadway deck for each bridge is 30 m (97 ft) wide.
A box girder bridge, or box section bridge, is a bridge in which the main beams comprise girders in the shape of a hollow box. The box girder normally comprises prestressed concrete, structural steel, or a composite of steel and reinforced concrete. The box is typically rectangular or trapezoidal in cross-section. Box girder bridges are commonly used for highway flyovers and for modern elevated structures of light rail transport. Although the box girder bridge is normally a form of beam bridge, box girders may also be used on cable-stayed and other bridges.
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The M5 is an expressway in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. It connects Milnerton on the Western Seaboard in the north to Muizenberg in the south, and crosses both the N1 and the N2. For part of its length, from the N1 interchange to Plumstead, it is a limited-access freeway (motorway). From Mowbray to Muizenberg it is parallel to the M4 Main Road.
Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples include precast beams, and wall panels, floors, roofs, and piles. In contrast, cast-in-place concrete is poured into site-specific forms and cured on site.
An overhead crane, commonly called a bridge crane, is a type of crane found in industrial environments. An overhead crane consists of two parallel rails seated on longitudinal I-beams attached to opposite steel columns by means of brackets. The traveling bridge spans the gap. A hoist, the lifting component of a crane, travels along the bridge. If the bridge is rigidly supported on two or more legs running on two fixed rails at ground level, the crane is called a gantry crane or a goliath crane.
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Incremental launch is a method in civil engineering of building a complete bridge deck from one abutment of the bridge only, manufacturing the superstructure of the bridge by sections to the other side. In current applications, the method is highly mechanised and uses pre-stressed concrete.
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The Long Beach International Gateway, originally known as the Gerald DesmondBridge Replacement, is a cable-stayed bridge that carries six lanes of Interstate 710 and a bicycle/pedestrian path in Long Beach, California, west across the Back Channel to Terminal Island. The bridge replaced the Gerald Desmond Bridge, which was completed in 1968 and named after Gerald Desmond, a prominent civic leader and a former city attorney for the City of Long Beach.