Dive Brief:
- Contractors will use a slide-in bridge construction method to replace twin, triple-span bridges on Interstate 70 in Indiana, according to CBS Indianapolis.
- Slide-in bridge construction involves building a new span parallel to an existing span, demolishing the older structure, and "sliding in" the new bridge deck platform.
- Use of the slide-in method on I-70 will help prove out the increased safety, reduced costs and accelerated construction schedule promised by slide-in process innovations.
Dive Insight:
Planned for completion in 2018, Indiana’s slide-in bridge replacement will allow contractors to completely construct a bridge deck before securing the deck to the bridge superstructure. Similar to modular construction technology, slide-in processes allow more controlled, simultaneous component construction, resulting in less waste and increased cycle times and job site safety. Slide-in techniques also allow traffic lanes to remain open during construction, with the exception of during deck demolition and replacement.
Bridge replacements continue to serve as new construction technology proving grounds for advances in material science, implementation of smart sensors and applied use of construction process innovations. In Seattle, designers are employing memory rebar and stretchable concrete to increase seismic resiliency of spans completing the Alaskan Viaduct, while researchers at the University of Delaware have developed carbon nano-tube "smart skin" sensors to detect and map structural strain and anomalies