BarrierGuard 800 from 1529 Highway Care is said to be preventing the closure of a vital highway bridge in the United States.
As a critical part of the US national infrastructure, the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge services the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The link allows the transporting of spent nuclear fuel and heavy freight bound to and from the naval shipyard, with an average of 15,000 vehicles per day crossing this structurally deficient bridge.
The railing along the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge had begun to deteriorate, rusted through due to age and exposure. Recently the Memorial Bridge had been closed and the area could not survive without two bridges servicing the population. It left the Maine and New Hampshire Departments of Transportation in need of an immediate fix to keep this bridge from being closed.
After a careful study and much discussion, the decision was made to place the new innovative lightweight steel barrier across the Sarah Long Bridge to keep it open while a new bridge could be built. The Maine DOT and HNTB sent out a proposal which called for a steel barrier to be installed in less than 30 days after the project award. The bridge was already listed as structurally deficient so weight and speed of installation was an issue. Another concern was the concrete bridge deck being in such bad shape that the anchoring pattern would need to be shallow, as a through deck anchor was not viable.
The contract was awarded to CPM Constructors of Yarmouth, Maine who has completed over one hundred bridge and bridge rehabilitation projects. CPM Constructors is a recipient of the 2011 Build Maine Award and prestigious Build America Merit Award. To accomplish this task in a cost-effective and timely manner, CPM chose BarrierGuard 800 steel barrier manufactured by Highway Care in the U.S.
BarrierGuard 800 is said to weigh only 27.21kg per foot, appropriate for the reduced load limits of this structurally deficient bridge. Its narrow 53.34cm footprint is said to allow maximum travel lane usage for bridge traffic. The option of internal anchoring to prevent snow plow snagging, along with a 12.7cm anchor embedment depth, were also said to be attractive features of the barrier. Galvanized to ASTM 123 standards with a life cycle of approximately 20 years, the BarrierGuard 800 installation is expected to outlast the bridge.
An additional challenge for CPM Constructors has been limited 10pm-5am working hours to accommodate the traffic flow requirements of Naval base personnel. The ability to install up to 304.8m of BarrierGuard 800 per hour helped to deliver the 1,646m barrier installation complete, on budget and on time.
As a critical part of the US national infrastructure, the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge services the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The link allows the transporting of spent nuclear fuel and heavy freight bound to and from the naval shipyard, with an average of 15,000 vehicles per day crossing this structurally deficient bridge.
The railing along the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge had begun to deteriorate, rusted through due to age and exposure. Recently the Memorial Bridge had been closed and the area could not survive without two bridges servicing the population. It left the Maine and New Hampshire Departments of Transportation in need of an immediate fix to keep this bridge from being closed.
After a careful study and much discussion, the decision was made to place the new innovative lightweight steel barrier across the Sarah Long Bridge to keep it open while a new bridge could be built. The Maine DOT and HNTB sent out a proposal which called for a steel barrier to be installed in less than 30 days after the project award. The bridge was already listed as structurally deficient so weight and speed of installation was an issue. Another concern was the concrete bridge deck being in such bad shape that the anchoring pattern would need to be shallow, as a through deck anchor was not viable.
The contract was awarded to CPM Constructors of Yarmouth, Maine who has completed over one hundred bridge and bridge rehabilitation projects. CPM Constructors is a recipient of the 2011 Build Maine Award and prestigious Build America Merit Award. To accomplish this task in a cost-effective and timely manner, CPM chose BarrierGuard 800 steel barrier manufactured by Highway Care in the U.S.
BarrierGuard 800 is said to weigh only 27.21kg per foot, appropriate for the reduced load limits of this structurally deficient bridge. Its narrow 53.34cm footprint is said to allow maximum travel lane usage for bridge traffic. The option of internal anchoring to prevent snow plow snagging, along with a 12.7cm anchor embedment depth, were also said to be attractive features of the barrier. Galvanized to ASTM 123 standards with a life cycle of approximately 20 years, the BarrierGuard 800 installation is expected to outlast the bridge.
An additional challenge for CPM Constructors has been limited 10pm-5am working hours to accommodate the traffic flow requirements of Naval base personnel. The ability to install up to 304.8m of BarrierGuard 800 per hour helped to deliver the 1,646m barrier installation complete, on budget and on time.
