Technical Description:
• Product: BridgeCor
®
• Span: 32-ft.
• Rise: 9-ft. 8-in.
• Length: 64 ft.
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The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) needed to replace a 74 year old timber bridge on rural Route 4. Due to the limited construction space in the area of the stream crossing and the 45 degree skew of the roadway, the NMDOT decided to utilize a steel plate arch culvert.
Interstate Highway Contractors selected a 32' x 9'-8" BridgeCor® Structural Plate, 64' in length, from Contech Engineered Solutions as the best solution for the project. The contract document required that the manufacturer provide the design of the arch culvert, spread footings, cast in place headwall and precast wingwalls, and Contech was able to meet this demand. In addition, the inherent clear span of the BridgeCor structure eliminated debris blockage concerns.
BridgeCor enhances the established performance of 6" x 2" MULTI-PLATE® by offering nine times the stiffness and three times the strength. Not only is BridgeCor economical and easily assembled, but its bolted, segmental construction is manufactured with the industry's best equipment allowing for the longest laying length sheets in the industry. To meet NMDOT's requirements, the structure was coated in asphalt at the plant before being delivered to the site. Assembly of the structure was completed at the site.
"The submittal process for Contech's BridgeCor structure went quickly," stated Zann Jones, Bridge Engineer with the NMDOT Design Bureau. "Contech provided the required design calculations, the construction drawings, and the load ratings. With the arch culvert being classified as a bridge, Contech provided both the Load Factor Rating (LFR) and the Load Resistance Rating (LRFR) using FHWA approved CANDE computer program. CANDE is a finite element computer program used to analyze deep corrugated buried culverts. Overall, we were happy with the submittal process. There was not the usual issues of missing information or resubmittal that you sometimes have to deal with when using a manufacturer design product."
Technical Description:
• Product: BridgeCor
®
• Span: 32-ft.
• Rise: 9-ft. 8-in.
• Length: 64 ft.
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