Technical Description:
- Width: 10-ft. (5)
- Span: 106.5, 50.5, 47.7, 25 & 25-ft.
- Style: Connector®
- Finish: Weathering Steel
- Decking: Ipe Hardwood
A pipe support bridge owned by British Petroleum (BP) crossed the North Platte River at the site of an old refinery. Determined to make an improvement to the area, BP demolished the refinery and began cleaning up the river adjacent to the old refinery site. The initiative included a plan to raise the elevation of the Platte River, which would ensure that any seepage would run from the river into the refinery and not the other way around. However, the raised water level reduced the clearance under the bridge to only four feet during normal flow.
Worthington, Lenhart & Carpenter, Inc. (WLC) came up with a way to fulfill their desire to remove the mid-channel pier. By designing a Continental® pedestrian truss to be installed on the existing piers, the river channel and 100-year flood plain were not disturbed, and the project was approved by the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers and Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality.
The structure was installed during irrigation season when the Platte River was running at near maximum flow, so placing equipment in the water to set the bridge was not an option. A 550-ton rubber-tired crane was used to place two sections from the north side, then moved to the other bank to complete the task. Additionally, the structure supports a waterline and other utilities.
“The two-day installation went flawlessly. The manufacturing tolerances on the bridge were so tight that it just went into place with no adjustments” commented Shawn Gustafson, Vice President and Community Development Director from WLC. “Both BP and Contech have been fantastic to work with on this project”
Technical Description:
- Width: 10-ft. (5)
- Span: 106.5, 50.5, 47.7, 25 & 25-ft.
- Style: Connector®
- Finish: Weathering Steel
- Decking: Ipe Hardwood