Construction engineering services for twin 3,971-foot-long precast-concrete segmental bridges. Erection manual, erection sequencing, gantry load tests, equipment design drawings.

Weidlinger Associates provided construction engineering services to the general contractor for twin high-level precast-concrete segmental box girder structures that replaced a swing-span bridge carrying Route 35 over the Raritan River. The new bridges accommodate two 12-foot travel lanes with shoulders on each side and a sidewalk on the southbound structure. Each bridge consists of 23 spans, for a total length of 3,971 feet. The main span is 440 feet long, with a vertical clearance of 130 feet over the navigable channel. The foundations consist of steel pipe piles on land and 8-foot- and 6-foot-diameter drilled shafts in the river. All the piers were constructed using precast hollow box-shaped segments. Work included preparation of the erection manual and the design of various pieces of construction equipment.

The erection manual detailed the procedures and sequencing for the three erection methods used to construct the bridge: span-by-span construction for the approach spans and balanced and progressive cantilever construction for the main spans. The equipment design included two types of bi-level work platforms; three lifting devices, including one that used hydraulic rams to rotate the main-span superstructure segments for grade and cross slope; three sets of pier brackets to support the span-by-span erection truss; and the closure beams temporarily used to support main-span segments adjacent to closure pours. Weidlinger also designed the cofferdams used to construct all the pier units, including deepwater Piers 9-16, located in the Raritan River.

Completion Date: 2005
Location: Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Owner or Client: New Jersey Department of Transportation
Prime Consultant(s): WAI Prime; George Harms Construction Company