THE YEAR OF THE BRIDGE

Bridge construction is booming globally as countries bolster metro connections and modernise their aging infrastructure, and the trend looks set to continue, reports

Crews from Balfour Beatty Vinci and Mammoet place a more than 80m bridge over future HS2 rail lines in England, UK

IMAGE: HS2

It should come as no surprise to the construction industry that 2024 is shaping up to be ‘The Year of the Bridge’. With a high-volume of megaprojects developed and funded through 2023, projections for a productive 2024 regarding bridge builds have been true so far.

Driven by record government investment in bridge and transportation projects, the segment is buoyed by some of the biggest and most expensive bridge erections in human history.

Looking region by region, there are no laggards. North America – led by the US – is constructing billion-dollar bridges from coast to coast led by a transportation construction boom, China is breaking records in length and height, and Europe is implementing innovative methods for dense sites.

Pattullo Bridge project is a replacement scheme, swapping out the current structure for a four-lane cable-stayed design

IMAGE: BRITISH COLUMBIA

Big and bold

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which runs over the Detroit River between the US and Canada, met a major milestone on 9 July as construction crews connected the main span after more than five years of work.

The more than US$4.8-billion build has been plagued by cost and time overruns, but the end is finally in sight for the binational bridge build. While time overruns are still a concern, project leadership expect a functional state-ofthe-art bridge by this time next year.

Charl van Niekerk, CEO, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, says, “After a three-year pandemic and considering the size and complexity of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, our project team is pleased that the impact to the construction schedule is limited to only ten months beyond the original contracted completion date.”

Now connected, the Gordie Howe bridge has the longest main span (853m or 2,800 ft) of any cable-stayed bridge in North America, and the tenth longest globally. Once complete, the entire structure will stretch 2.5km (1.6 miles), and it will have the longest composite steel and concrete deck of any cable-stayed bridge. The bridge is unique in that it uses no inwater piers for support, includes a multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists, and high-tech travel time detection systems and intelligent video security.

Leading the project are a consortium of design-builders including Dragados Canada, US-based Fluor, and Canadian Aecon.

Handling operations and maintenance are USbased ACS Infrastructure, Fluor and Aecon. It is expected to open in 2025.

Across the ocean in Asia, the Chinese are working on a $7-billion goliath: the Shiziyang Bridge in Guangzhou, China. Once complete, it will be the largest double-deck suspension bridge in the world with a 2,180m (7,152 ft) main span.

Render of the future moveable Connecticut River rail bridge in the US

IMAGE: AMTRAK

China-based OEM Sany says it used four of its trucks to deliver C45 high-strength concrete to pour a total volume of 25,000m3 between two circular structures measuring 40m (131ft) in diameter and 9m (30ft) tall. Crews worked for 22-hours straight on the pour.

“Sany’s pump trucks feature a stepless pressure pumping system and digital main valve technology… enabling an extra load of materials to be pumped every hour,” says the company.

The system prevents pipe blockages and ensures energy-saving operations. “Additionally, the boom’s active suppression technology limits end amplitude to within 20cm, ensuring smoother truck operation,” adds Sany.

Zoomlion, a China-based heavy equipment manufacturer, also got in on Shiziyang’s recordbreaking bridge work with its own recordbreaking tower crane: the R20000-720.

Called the ‘largest tower crane in the world’, the colossus has a rated lifting capacity of 20,000 tonnes and a maximum lifting capacity of 720 tonnes. It’s maximum hoisting height is 400m (1,312 ft). For the Shiziyang scheme, Zoomlion referred to a “crucial role” in construction but did not offer specifics.

“Zoomlion’s contributions to the Shiziyang Bridge extend beyond the R20000-720. The company also employs 400-ton and 260-ton crawler cranes, pumping trucks, and the ZR550G rotary drilling rig, ensuring the project’s success and quality assurance,” said the manufacturer. The Shiziyang Bridge will have a total length more than 35km (22 miles). It will have a 2.2km (1.4 mile) long double-deck suspension at its centre.

UK-based Knight Architects, working with Danish engineering consultant Cowi, delivered the concept design for the bridge. It’s expected to open to traffic in 2028.

“The design has a suspension main span, supported from 367m tall A-shaped towers, and shorter side spans over frame-shaped piers,” explained Knight Architects. “The double deck carries a total of 16 lanes. In the main span the decks are the top and bottom chord of a Warren truss.

“The aim of the proposed bridge is to… become both a landmark and a fitting addition to the site, and an important part of the future identity of the area.”

Billion-dollar projects

On the far western end of North America, a $1-billion bridge is taking shape over the Fraser River in the metro area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named the Pattullo Bridge Replacement project, the scheme seeks to swap out the current structure (a four-lane through arch concept build in 1936) for a four-lane cable-stayed design. It connects the municipalities of Surrey and New Westminster. The replacement bridge will feature wider motorway lanes including a separated centre median barrier, which the current bridge lacks. The design also calls for installation of cycling and pedestrian lanes, as well as improved connections to the bridge.

A design-build and financing consortium, called Fraser Crossing Partners, is leading the scheme. It consists of Acciona Construction (Spain), Acconia Infrastructure Canada, Canada-based Aecon Group, Aecon Constructors (US), German-based Leonhardt Andrä and Partner, and Canadian firms Hatch Corporation and EXP Service.

Originally expected to open this year, the completion date is now the fall of 2025. Not all bridge works are building behemoths, though, with some modern transport schemes needing smaller bridges but in tight spaces. Over in the UK, momentum on the stalled HS2 (High Speed 2) rail project is getting back on track, but the sprawling transportation programme will rely heavily on bridge connections throughout the 225km expansion.

The main span of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between the US and Canada makes its connection

IMAGE: WINDSOR-DETROIT BRIDGE AUTHORITY

Due to transport needs of the public, not all bridges can be built on-site, as was the case for an 84m-long crossing in Birmingham, England, called the Aston Church Road bridge.

Instead, a joint venture of UK and France firms Balfour Beatty Vinci enlisted the help of heavylifting and transport specialist Mammoet. The Dutch contractor utilised two 128-wheeled self-propelled modular transporters to relocate the 1,600-tonne steel and concrete bridge to its permanent position.

Dan Binns, project manager with Balfour Beatty Vinci said the method was used to reduce impact to ongoing rail travel. “We purposely chose to move the bridge on wheels, so it could be built offline first, then moved across in just five hours, greatly reducing the impact on rail passengers,” he says.

At the installation site, crews build a 9,0000m2 platform and 62 piles to support concrete structures. It took about five hours of overnight work to move and fix the bridge over the existing Birmingham to Derby line, which will be part of the future HS2.

Binns adds, “This was a complex operation, made even more challenging because the bridge needed to be driven over four existing Network Rail lines, requiring years of precise planning and preparation.”

About 4,000m3 of concrete and 490 tonnes of reinforced steel was used in the operation, says Balfour Beatty. Over the next year, crews will dismantle the former Aston Church Road to create more space for future HS2 trains. Another project with literal moving parts is underway in Connecticut, US. That scheme calls for a $1.3-billion moveable rail feature within a reconstruction project on the Connecticut River Bridge for commuter rail company Amtrak.

A joint venture between US-based firms O&G Industries and Tutor Perini will construct a two-track, electrified, moveable bridge structure, which will replace a moveable train bridge first built in 1907 between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. The new bridge will address structural deficiencies and increase vertical clearance.

Close-up render of the Shiziyang Bridge in China

IMAGE: KNIGHTS ARCHITECTS

The JV will also install new track, signals, catenary, power and communication infrastructure.

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto says, “The new Connecticut River Bridge will serve the entire Northeast Corridor. It will help realise [the goal] of improved rail connectivity north to Boston and south to Washington, D.C. The new structure, built by Connecticut’s building trades, will improve safety, reliability, and increase operating speeds along the line.” The bridge is expected to open in 2031.

The decade of the bridge?

While 2024 bridge construction activity may represent a peek compared to prior years, there’s some belief it’s just the beginning of what could be called ‘The Decade of the Bridge’.

Of course, bridge construction, repair and refurbishment are time-costly endeavours; some projects might last ten years or more. But if government spending globally is a sign of future activity, then it’s likely bridge builds will remain voluminous going forward.

Take the US, which is announcing new investment and construction starts seemingly every week; from Oregon to Minnesota to Rhode Island and everywhere in-between, there are tens-of-billions-worth of schemes in development. Funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will keep bridge workers busy, too, as a $6-billion Washington-Oregon bridge project received funding from these measures as did the Sagamore Bridge scheme in Massachusetts, and at least ten others for a total federal investment of $5 billion.

Kristina Swallow, director for the City of Tucson, Arizona, US, Planning and Development Services Department, and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, tells International Construction that more than 8,000 bridges were constructed since the passage of the IIJA, though that figure could be even higher today.

HURRICANE DAMAGE SPURS GUADELOUPE

ltrad RMD Kwikform temporary structure solutions deployed at Pont des Ecrevisses bridge in Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe

IMAGE: ALTRAD RMDK

Altrad RMD Kwikform joined with sister company Altrad Coffrage & Etaiement to reinforce the Pont des Ecrevisses bridge in Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe, an overseas French region and island group in the Caribbean Sea of North America.

Altrad says it was called upon to address corrosion caused by decades of environmental factors. Principal among them was Hurricane Fiona – a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane of the 2022 season that killed 29 people and caused more than $3 billion in damage.

The damage ultimately “forced the implementation of traffic restrictions”, on the Pont des Ecrevisses. To rectify existing damage, Altrad says engineers suggested implementing a single flat concrete foundation.

“This approach not only avoided the risk of intensifying the damage, but also simplified the erection process by providing a stable base for the bridge components,” says the company, which noted the structure’s A-frame design was sloping and preventing functional work to correct it. “The flat foundation ensured uniform support, allowing vehicles, loads and people to successfully navigate across the bridge.”

With the bridge deck weighing 750 tonnes, the project team deployed two 12m-high (39-ft-high) Megashor and Slimshor shoring bents or towers as a structural support element.

Due to bolstered structural integrity of the bridge and after load testing, the passage had its traffic restrictions lifted in early 2024.

Still, the work is meant to be temporary until a plan to replace the bridge is enacted. The structure will remain fully operational until the Pont des Ecrevisses is eventually rebuilt in the future.

She adds, amid the flurry of reconstructions and replacements, governments are relearning the heavy cost of repairs, which could be inspiring additional work. “It’s a lot less expensive to maintain them and keep them in fair or good condition than it is to fix them when they’re in poor condition,” she says. Similar overtures are coming from Germany, where European Construction Industry Federation (FEIC) members in that country have called for the federal budget to increase bridge construction spending. In 2022, at the first national Bridge Summit, the Federal Transport Ministry announced a plan to carry out 400 bridge works projects annually starting in 2026.

“As this promise is unlikely to be honoured, several leading associations have now made a joint emergency appeal to the federal government,” says FEIC, adding it suggests investing an additional €1 billion ($1.1 billion) annually to reach the stated goal.

WORLD’S HIGHEST BRIDGE

The Huanjiang Canyon Grand Bridge in Zhenfeng County, China, is expected to be Earth’s highest bridge upon completion, with designs calling for a 625m-high (2,051-ft-high) bridge deck.

An orange Alimak construction hoist at the Huajiang Canyon Grand Bridge project in Guizhou Province, China

IMAGE: ALIMAK

Alimak, an elevator, hoist and workplatform provider, says two of its singlecage SC 65/32 construction hoists are being used. it noted that the bridge location “faces distinctive challenges due to its location atop the Castel geomorphology and geology canyon.” The extreme height variances throughout can cause shifts between cold and hot air, which can impact access and construction work, and cause dynamic weather conditions.

Construction started in 2021 with the first tower of the suspended portion of the bridge reaching 199m (653ft) last year. The main structures should be completed this year.

In India, the government has grand goals to devote more than $134 billion to national infrastructure projects, with several major bridge works underway or in development.

A 2,070m (6,790 ft) rail bridge – the New Pamban Bridge – is just one example of major works underway and nearing completion; the New Pamban Bridge will open between Rameswaram and Pamban Island in 2025. So, 2024 is definitely, ‘The Year of the Bridge’, but the smart money points to this just being the start, as each continent is sure to allocate billions more for crossing infrastructure into the foreseeable future, something that will generate more work for contractors and more equipment sales for OEMs.

iC