Highlights
-
Clear
spans to 76m.
s Multiple traffic lanes up to 11m. wide.
-
Surfaces of open steel grid, asphalt, epoxy anti-skid
coating, or timber.
-
Low dead weight reduces foundation costs.
-
Will tolerate some differential foundation settlement.
-
Simple, inexpensive retrofits to upgrade capacity or width
later.
-
Hot
dip galvanized coating provides up to 40 years of maintenance
free life.
-
Design
of the superstructure included in price, complete with
sealed drawings.
-
Bridge can be lengthened easily if foundations fail.
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A 100% salvageable asset if road is decommissioned.
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Easily and effectively rehabilitated to extend life.
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Up
to 40 years maintenance free.
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Designed
for full highway loading as per CAN-CSA-S-6-00
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Pedestrian sidewalks isolated from traffic
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Erected with a backhoe using local labour.
-
Often designed, delivered and erected in a few weeks.
|
| NEWSLETTER
- VOLUME 1300 March 2002 |
Acrow
Panel Bridges (APB):
The Permanent Solution |
|
|
| Having
boasted that APB are an effective alternative to other bridge
designs, both in terms of cost and long term maintenance,
let’s consider a fact about bridges. A bridge, whether concrete,
steel or timber, is a piece of equipment, which sooner or
later requires maintenance or rehabilitation. .
|
|
To
rehabilitate a concrete bridge is costly and very inconvenient
to the public. The quality of the rehabilitation is heavily
dependent on the competency of the contractor and the inspector.
There can always be some doubt as to whether or not enough
of the rotten concrete or corroded re-bar was replaced.
On a
municipal road, where traffic loading is relatively low,
the life of an APB is going to be determined by the life
of the galvanizing, not fatigue. Once re-galvanized, an
APB has a whole new life with a virtual guarantee of quality
as the components are dipped in acid before galvanizing
which completely removes the old zinc and any surface corrosion.
Also, there is an opportunity to visually inspect every
square inch of each component. Something which is difficult
to achieve with a bridge in place.
The
time to remove and replace an APB is considerably less than
for a concrete structure. A well planned rehabilitation
could be performed in two weeks. There are no unknowns.
The bridge is removed, dismantled, re-galvanized, and installed
on a predictable schedule.
Alternatively,
if road closure is particularly un-desirable, an existing
bridge can be replaced with a new one by connecting the
two together and launching / de-launching simultaneously.
Reduced traffic flow can be maintained. The old bridge components
can either be sold to Acrow, re-galvanized and used to build
another bridge or sold elsewhere at up to 50% if the original
price.
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