UK's Largest Pre-stressed Concrete Bridge Beams for Raith Interchange

NEWARK, U.K. - June 21, 2016 - PRLog -- Nine, 90 tonne, 42 metre, pre-stressed concrete bridge beams installed at the Raith interchange are believed to be the largest of this type fabricated in the UK in recent years. Cast by ABM Precast Solutions in Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, the W beams travelled 260 miles by road on steering bogie trailers to reach their final destination.

This is just part of a larger programme, ABM are also supplying precast structures to five other bridges on the £500 million project by Scottish Roads Partnership for Transport Scotland.

ABM has recently extended and upgraded their factory in Tuxford and these are the largest pre-stressed beams produced since completion of this major investment. Each W beam was cast in a single process into moulds that were then heated to ensure rapid and uniform curing. Beams achieved a minimum 80 per cent of their final strength before de-moulding, equal to 50 N/mm2, with each beam having over 1,700 tonnes for pre-stress load.

Business development manager, Mike Sanderson explained, "This was a technical first and a logistically very challenging project but one for which both we and our transport partners, Walker Haulage, have invested significantly to create the capability. Manufacture, transportation and installation proceeded closely to plan allowing the remainder of the programme to stay on target."

The Raith Interchange is a noted pinch point on the Scottish motorway system so installation took place over three night time operations, timed from midnight to four AM. One of the largest cranes in the UK, a 1500 tonne unit, was used to lift and carefully position the massive beams.


More Information
Mike Sanderson, Business Development Manager, Tel. +44 (0)1777 872233
E-mail: mike.sanderson@abmeurope.com Web: http://www.abmeurope.com
ABM Precast Solutions, Ollerton Road, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG22 0PQ

Images are on the web at http://www.ainsmag.co.uk/ab237/5530ab1a-raith-precast-bri...