Ohio River Connections
In Lawrence County, Ohio, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) looked to replace the Ironton-Russell Bridge connecting Ironton, Ohio, and Russell, Kentucky. The replacement bridge sits upstream from the original structure that opened in 1922, the first highway bridge along the Ohio River between Parkersburg and Cincinnati.
The new cable stay bridge features two delta shaped 320-foot-high pylon towers and a 900-foot-long main span – the longest span ever constructed by ODOT. The design optimized construction and eliminated the need for temporary stay anchorage.
To construct the new bridge, Brayman Construction Corporation needed scaffolding to provide safe access and a tieless crane climbing solution. They turned to PERI USA for engineering and design support to realize custom forming and scaffolding solutions.
Engineering Support
For the construction of the two bridge legs, PERI engineered a solution to construct the upper leg segments of both pylons simultaneously using its ACS-R system. The solution uses standard VARIOKIT GT 24 formwork with custom vertical trusses to provide a tieless formwork solution.
VARIOKIT offers standardized components for a wide range of civil engineering applications. The kit includes a versatile core and supplementary components with specific functions for customized, economical bridge and tunnel formwork. The system minimizes assembly time and delivers a cost-effective solution with rentable components.
“The PERI ACS-R platforms provided an easy to use and fast solution for the upper leg construction,” said Dustin Williamson. “The tieless VARIO GT 24 forms also provided a consistent concrete finish throughout the project.”
To enable safe and flexible access to the system at all times, the team selected PERI UP stair towers sitting on VARIOKIT platforms. Once the onsite crew was trained to use the system, assembly and modifications were fast and easy.
PERI UP modular scaffolding achieves maximum adaptability for a wide range of onsite tasks for shoring, stair towers, reinforcement scaffolding, working platforms, façade scaffolding, and more. With integrated safety locks and a high load-bearing capacity, the efficient design is intuitive and decreases investment costs.
In addition, PERI engineered custom steel forms and platforms for the internal tower leg forms. The solution was a tieless, crane climbing solution fabricated by the contractor.
The new Ironton Russell Bridge opened in August 2017.
