The Sart canal bridge

GB 211 couverture et 4e
12/07/01
16:24
Page 3
MAY / AUGUST 2001 - No. 211
Belgium
The Sart canal
bridge
reyssinet
New GB 211
12/07/01
16:17
Page 1
Contents
Contents
AMERICA
EUROPE
ARGENTINA
BELGIUM
ITALY
Freyssinet-Tierra Armada S.A.
Freyssinet Belgium V.V.
Vilvoorde
Phone: (32.2) 252 07 40
Fax: (32.2) 252 24 43
Freyssinet Italia S.r.l.
Terra Armata S.p.A.
Roma
Phone: (39.06) 418 771
Fax: (39.06) 418 77201
Buenos Aires
Phone: (54.11) 43 72 72 91
Fax: (54.11) 43 72 51 79
BRAZIL
STUP Premoldados Ltda
São Paulo
Phone: (55.11) 3873 27 34
Fax: (55.11) 3672 85 02
Freyssinet Ltda
Rio de Janeiro
Phone: (55.21) 3221 85 00
Fax: (55.21) 3852 79 26
Terra Armada S.A.
Rio de Janeiro
Phone: (55.21) 233 73 53
Fax: (55.21) 263 48 42
CANADA
Reinforced Earth Company Ltd
Ontario
Phone: (1.905) 564 08 96
Fax: (1.905) 564 26 09
COLOMBIA
Terre Armée Belgium N.V./S.A.
Vilvoorde
Phone: (32.2) 252 43 24
Fax: (32.2) 252 24 43
DENMARK
A/S Skandinavisk
Spaendbeton
Vaerlose
Phone: (45.44) 48 08 25
Fax: (45.44) 48 12 45
NETHERLANDS
Freyssinet Nederland B.V.
Waddinxveen
Phone: (31.18) 26 30 888
Fax: (31.18) 26 30 152
FINLAND
OY Jannibetoni AB
Vaerlose
Bogota
Phone: (57.1) 257 41 03
Fax: (57.1) 610 38 98
Freyssinet International
& Cie
Vélizy
Phone: (33.1) 46 01 84 84
Fax: (33.1) 46 01 85 85
Bogota
Phone: (57.1) 236 37 86
Fax: (57.1) 610 38 98
United Kin
Deconstruction
of a Bailey bridge
M50 m
The O
A/S Skandinavisk
Spennbeton
Snarøya
Phone: (47.67) 53 91 74
Freyssinet France
Vélizy
Phone: (33.1) 46 01 84 84
Fax: (33.1) 46 01 85 85
POLAND
Freyssinet Polska Sp. z o.o.
Milanõwek
Phone: (48.22) 792 13 86
Fax: (48.22) 724 68 93
PORTUGAL
Armol-Freyssinet Ltda
Lisbon
Phone: (351.21) 716 1675
Fax: (351.21) 716 4051
FYROM
TURKEY
Freysas
Istanbul
Phone: (90.216) 349 87 75
Fax: (90.216) 349 63 75
Reinforced Earth
Company Ltd AIS
Istanbul
Phone: (90.216) 492 8424
Fax: (90.216) 492 3306
UNITED KINGDOM
Freyssinet UK
Telford
Phone: (44) 1952 201 901
Fax: (44) 1952 201 753
Freyssinet Balkans
Skopje
Phone: (389,2) 118 594
Fax: (389,2) 118 594
Terra Armada Ltda
Lisbon
Phone: (351.21) 716 1675
Fax: (351.21) 716 4051
GERMANY
ROMANIA
SBT Brückentechnik GmbH
Plüderhausen
Phone: (49.7181) 99 00 0
Fax: (49.7181) 99 00 66
Freyrom S.A.
Bucarest
Phone: (40.1) 220 35 50
Fax: (40.1) 220 45 41
Ciudad Guatemala
Phone: (502) 282 96 59
Fax: (502) 250 01 50
Bewehrte Erde GmbH
Plüderhausen
Phone: (49.71 81) 99 00 70
Fax: (49.71 81) 99 00 75
SPAIN
MEXICO
GREECE
Freyssinet S.A.
Madrid
Phone: (34.91) 323 95 50
Fax: (34.91) 323 95 51
Freyssinet de México
Freyssinet Ellas S.A.
Athens
Phone: (30.1) 69 29 419
Fax: (30.1) 69 14 339
Freyssinet S.A.
Barcelona
Phone: (34.93) 226 44 60
Fax: (34.93) 226 59 98
Fredra
Athènes
Phone: (30.1) 60 20 500
Fax: (30.1) 66 27 748
Tierra Armada S.A.
Madrid
Phone: (34.91) 323 95 00
Fax: (34.91) 323 95 11
HUNGARY
SWEDEN
Freyssinet Posten (Pty) Ltd
Olifantsfontein
Phone: (27.11) 316 21 74
Fax: (27.11) 316 29 18
Pannon Freyssinet kft
Budapest
Phone: (36.1) 466 90 04
Fax: (36.1) 209 15 10
AB Skandinavisk
Spaennbeton
Malmö
Phone: (46.40) 98 14 00
Reinforced Earth Pty Ltd
Johannesburg
Phone: (27.11) 726 6180
Fax: (27.11) 726 5908
IRELAND
SWITZERLAND
Reinforced Earth Co.
Kildare
Phone: (353) 4543 10 88
Fax: (353) 4543 31 45
Freyssinet S.A.
Moudon
Phone: (41.21) 905 48 02
Fax: (41.21) 905 11 01
EL SALVADOR
Fessic S.A. de C.V.
La Libertad
Phone: (503) 2 78 07 55
Fax: (503) 2 78 04 45
GUATEMALA
Presforzados Técnicos S.A.
S.A. de C.V.
Mexico D.F.
Phone: (52) 5250 70 00
Fax: (52) 5255 01 65
Tierra Armada S.A. de C.V.
México D.F.
Phone: (52) 5250 17 26
Fax: (52) 5254 86 65
UNITED STATES
Freyssinet LLC
Chantilly, VA
Phone: (1.703) 378 25 00
Fax: (1.703) 378 27 00
Menard LLC
Vienna, VA
Phone: (1.703) 821 10 54
Fax: (1.703) 821 14 79
The Reinforced Earth
Company
Reinforced Earth
Company Ltd
Telford
Phone: (44) 1952 201 901
Fax: (44) 1952 201 753
VENEZUELA
Tierra Armada Ca
Caracas
Phone: (58.212) 577 90 38
Fax: (58.212) 574 77 50
D
a
EGYPT
Freyssinet Egypt
Gisa
Phone: (20.2) 303 69 65
Fax: (20.2) 345 52 37
345 81 65
SOUTH AFRICA
Freyssinet Magazine, 1 bis, rue du Petit-Clamart 78148 Vélizy Cedex - France. Tel.: (33.1) 46 01 84 21. Fax: (33.1) 46 01 86 86.
Internet: www.freyssinet.com
Publication manager: Isabelle Pessiot. Contributed to this issue: Fabrizio Averardi, Jérôme Barnier, Laure Céleste, Pierre
Cochez, Stéphane Cognon, Michel Cornu, Carlos Correa, Khelil Doghri, Nuria Fernandez, Jean-Philippe Fuzier, Basilio Gaoat,
Ivan Higueras, Andrzej Kandybowicz, Roger Lacroix, Frédéric Massé, Sylviane Mullenberg, Erkal Ozsoy, Tomas Palomares,
Bertrand Petit, Gérard Postic, Wong Soon Shing, André Stouffs, Tan Teng Wee. Artistic management: Antoine Depoid.
Layout: Grafik Tribu. Translation: Netword. Project leader: Stéphane Tourneur. Editorial secretariat: Nathalie Laville.
Photos: Aerofoto Intl, Claude Cieutat, Pierre Cochez, stt, Francis Vigouroux, Freyssinet photo library. Cover page: The Sart
Canal Bridge Photo-engraving: Trameway/Grafik Tribu. Printing: SIO.
Freyssinet magazine
B
AFRICA
Although Freyssinet makes every effort to ensure that the information that it provides is as correct as possible, the editors,
employees and agents cannot guarantee the results or be responsible for them in any way.
Vienna, VA
Phone: (1.703) 821 11 75
Fax: (1.703) 821 18 15
p. 23
p. 14
NORWAY
Menard Soltraitement
Nozay
Phone: (33.1) 69 01 37 38
Fax: (33.1) 69 01 75 05
Tierra Armada
France
Terre Armée B.V.
Breda
Phone: (31.76) 531 93 32
Fax: (31.76) 531 99 43
FRANCE
PPC
Saint-Rémy
Phone: (33.3) 85 42 15 15
Fax: (33.3) 85 42 15 10
STUP de Colombia
Freyssinet Italia S.r.l.
Milan
Phone: (39.02) 895 402 76
Fax: (39.02) 895 404 46
p
Spain
Bonaire
shopping
centre
p. 13
Interview
Quality
perform
of mate
p. 4
2
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Contents
ASIA
HONG KONG
Freyssinet Hong Kong Ltd
Kowloon Tong
Phone: (852) 27 94 03 22
23 39 83 70
Fax: (852) 23 38 32 64
Belgium
Thailand
The Sart
Canal Bridge
Wat Nakorn-In
project
p. 8
p. 23
ingdom
motorway,
Oak
3
Reinforced Earth Pacific Ltd
Kowloon
Phone: (852) 27 823 163
Fax: (852) 23 325 521
INDIA
TAI Aimil joint venture
New Delhi
Phone: (91.11) 695 00 01
Fax: (91.11) 695 00 11
INDONESIA
PT Freyssinet Total
Technology
Jakarta
Phone: (62.21) 830 02 19/22
Fax: (62.21) 830 98 41
JAPAN
F.K.K.
Tokyo
Phone: (81.3) 35 71 86 51
Fax: (81.3) 35 74 07 10
Terre Armée K.K.
Tokyo
Phone: (81) 427 22 1134
Fax: (81) 427 22 1134
KUWAIT
Freyssinet International et Cie
Safat
Phone: (965) 571 49 74
Fax: (965) 573 57 48
MALAYSIA
Freyssinet PSC (M) Sdn Bhd
Kuala Lumpur
Phone: (60.3) 7982 85 99
Fax: (60.3) 7981 55 30
Freyssinet Asia
Kuala Lumpur
Phone: (60.3) 282 95 88
Fax: (60.3) 282 96 88
Freyssinet APTO (M) Sdn Bhd
Kuala Lumpur
Phone: (60.3) 282 95 88
Fax: (60.3) 282 96 88
Australia
Belgium
Dampers for
a footbridge
p. 16
Barcoo Outlet
Tunnel
Menard Geosystem Sdn Bhd
Kuala Lumpur
Phone: (60.3) 5632 1581
Fax: (60.3) 5632 1582
p. 17
Management
Kuala Lumpur
Phone: (60.3) 6274 6162
Fax: (60.3) 6274 7212
PHILIPPINES
Freyssinet Philippines S.A.
Quezon City
Phone: (63.2) 921 3789
Fax: (63.2) 921 1223
SINGAPORE
PSC Freyssinet (S) Pte Ltd
Singapore
Phone: (65) 272 96 97
Fax: (65) 272 38 80
Reinforced Earth (S.E.A) Pte Ltd
Singapour
Phone: (65) 272 00 35
Fax: (65) 276 93 53
SOUTH KOREA
Freyssinet Korea Co, Ltd
Seoul
Phone: (82.2) 515 41 82
Fax: (82.2) 515 41 85
Sangjee Menard Co Ltd
Seoul
Phone: (82.2) 587 9286
Fax: (82.2) 587 9285
TAIWAN
Freyssinet Taiwan Engineering
Co, Ltd
Taipei
Phone: (886.2) 274 702 77
Fax: (886.2) 276 650 58
THAILAND
Freyssinet Thailand Ltd
Bangkok
Phone: (662) 266 6088/6090
Fax: (662) 266 6091
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Freyssinet TAI Middle-East LLC
Abou Dhabi
Phone: (971) 2 445 88 18
Fax: (971) 2 445 88 16
VIETNAM
Freyssinet International et Cie
Hanoi
Phone: (84.4) 826 14 16
Fax: (84.4) 826 11 18
Freyssinet International et Cie
Ho Chi Minh-City
Phone: (84.8) 829 92 28
Fax: (84.8) 822 35 08
Reinforced Earth
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA
Egypt
The new
Alexandria
shopping centre
p. 20
y and
mance
terials
Austress Freyssinet Pty Ltd
Sydney
Phone: (61.2) 9674 40 44
Fax: (61.2) 9674 59 67
Reinforced Earth
Australia
Better integration
into the
environment
The Aurora
Place glass roof
p. 22
p. 18
Freyssinet magazine
3
Mai / Août 2001 - n° 211
Austress Freyssinet (VIC)
Pty Ltd
Melbourn
Phone: (61.3) 9326 58 85
Fax: (61.3) 9326 89 96
Reinforced Earth Pty Ltd
Sydney
Phone: (61.2) 9910 9910
Fax: (61.2) 9910 9999
NEW-ZELAND
Reinforced Earth Ltd
Drury
Phone: (64) 9 294 92 86
Fax: (64) 9 294 92 87
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Interview
Point of view
Quality and performance
of materials
Jean-Marie Cremer, the manager of the Greisch design office,
is a specialist in the design of bridges. He designed the Sart Canal
Bridge and shares his vision of quality with us.
Jean-Marie Cremer has taken inspiration
from the book written by Salvadori and
Heller (Structure and Architecture), and
talks to us of one of his main concerns:
“The methods and instruments used by
engineers for structural analysis are
changing more and more quickly and
are continuously becoming more
advanced and their performances are
improving.
This tends to introduce a new freedom
in architectural design and considerably
increases its scope. However, there is
an obvious danger in this availability
and freedom.
Art makes progress through constraints
and freedom can easily lead to anarchy.
And since it is now possible to build
almost any structure, the important
question is no longer can we build it?
but should we build it?
The designer is less hindered by technological difficulties, and there is a danger that he will be tempted to build
increasingly unjustifiable structures.
However, this newfound freedom does
not eliminate the need for modern
structures to satisfy fundamental static
requirements.
The use of high performance materials was included in the specifications imposed on contractors
working on the Sart Canal Bridge.
Why was this recommendation
made?
thirty years earlier were not behaving well,
made us aware once again that quality should
be a priority.
We cannot talk about high performance materials without introducing the concept of quality rather than high performance concrete
alone. The canal bridge is an innovation in its
category since it is made of prestressed concrete, whereas in the past these structures
were made of steel or reinforced concrete.
The Ministry of Development wanted a steel
structure, but we were able to convince them
about the advantages of prestressing for the
canal bridge due to our knowledge of this
technique, its ease of construction and its
advantages, and particularly the use of a
sheathed and greased strands providing perfect protection. Prestressed concrete appeared
to be an economic solution considering the
specific nature of the project, the loads and
relatively short spans.
More generally, the requirement for quality
has existed since the dawn of time, but it was
lost in Western Europe during the reconstruction after the Second World War. The
criterion at the time was fast and inexpensive
construction. Between 1945 and 1975 we forgot how to “build well”, and were then carried
away during the Golden Sixties and Seventies
during which we lost our points of reference
and lived beyond our means without thinking
of future. The problems due to the oil crisis,
the emergence of Japan where the quality
concept was put into practice, and the realization that our buildings built twenty or
In the case of the Canal Bridge, high performance concrete is a high strength concrete, but
this is not its most important characteristic. I
think the expression “high performance”
encompasses the concept of durability. We
should work towards durability for concrete.
As a result of research being done to achieve
very high strength, we can envisage future uses
of concrete similar to uses of steel structures.
But we have not reached this point yet, so let’s
just make good and attractive concrete. The
quality of the materials and construction goes
hand in hand with aesthetics. A high quality
structure is the result of good architecture,
good design and good execution.
We can no longer build without giving priority to the aesthetics of a structure and its integration into the environment. This principle
is adopted as a starting point, and then we
automatically move towards quality at all levels: stability, durability and a good selection
of materials is essential.
Freyssinet magazine
4
May / August 2001 - No. 211
In the search for quality, should we
talk about performance more than
strength?
Are quality criteria for a building the
same as for a bridge?
The basic problem is the same in both cases.
However, it may be different depending on
the environment. In the case of the bridge
over the Meuse, construction quality is the
result of a special design including the search
for an elegant structure integrated into its
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Interview
The Bridge over Meuse (above) and Wandre (adjacent) Bridge are the result of a town planning
study to achieve perfect integration into their environment.
environment and the use of noble and de luxe
materials. It is an urban structure. However
the Canal Bridge is in a less attractive site and
has overwhelming dimensions, consequently
it is difficult to achieve a successful design and
integration. The structure makes a mark
across the landscape. We had a choice between
two approaches: either a simple monotonous,
understandable and restful structure, or a
more animated structure making use of colors. We preferred the first option, and
demanded a construction quality that enabled
immediate acceptance of the structure so that
the structure and its place in the environment
could be immediately understood. The walls
of the structure are modest with an architectonic pattern, the side walls are slightly curved
and the transverse members visible under the
deck make a clear statement about its structural function.
Quality also depends on work methods, both
for the design and construction. Nowadays
we benefit from high performance tools that
we must use to the best possible extent to
optimize the final performance of the construction, taking account of progress made in
the construction of structures and new materials. The best example is prestressing derived
from the stay cable technology, using thoroughly protected greased and sheathed tendons that can be replaced, thus offering better
safety. The choice of incremental launching
for the canal bridge has enabled us to build a
structure with a better than average quality.
We chose a method based on its many advantages rather than attempting to beat a world
record by launching 65 000 tonnes.
What changes are being made in the
fields of steel, concrete and new
materials?
These materials should be considered separately because of their own different history.
For concrete, we are closely monitoring developments in France such as Ultra-High
Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete
(BFUP). This is a new material that will eventually need a new approach to design and special studies. We are moving towards concrete
that would have homogenous properties. For
“conventional” concrete that we use everyday,
we need to work towards increased durability
which is often jeopardized for economic or
human reasons, since we suffer from a lack of
qualified technical personnel.
For steel, significant progress has been made
in terms of prestressing with an increase in
the long term resistance. For structural steel,
better known, the changes are less spectacular.
At Greisch, we are very confident in the use of
composite structures for bridges and buildings, combining the best qualities of concrete
and steel. There is no limit to ways of combining the two materials. We have about
20 years experience with the behaviour of
composite structures, and we are capable of
undertaking daring designs. These solutions
can only be produced by close cooperation
between concrete specialists and steel specialists, although these specialists are too frequently still in competition with each other.
It is also worth mentioning Ultra High
Performance Synthetic Materials, the advent
of which is awaited impatiently. Many prob-
Freyssinet magazine
5
lems remain to be solved in this field and their
cost remains very high.
What are the relations between quality requirement and Innovation ?
The quality requirement and strict recommendations of the business oblige contractors
to continuously rethink their policies and take
risks. We used new techniques on the Wandre
bridge, and we were fortunate in that we
found contractors and suppliers willing to
take risks and search for innovative solutions.
This was how the waxed unbonded strand was
first used, to satisfy a quality requirement
about which everyone is now unanimous.
Innovation is the corollary of the quality
requirement.
Is there a satisfactory and ideal
quality level?
Quality involves an ongoing search and continuous rethinking. Quality is not a matter of standards but rather a matter of organizing and
improvement. Quality must never be stopped,
there is a starting point but there should never be
an end. The Quality search is unlimited.
May / August 2001 - No. 211
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In brief
France
Mexico
Freyssinet receives
an award from the
FNTP
Chiapas bridge
On January 25 this year, Daniel Tardy,
president of FNTP (French National
Public Works Federation) and Marcel
Boiteux, president of the jury of the 10th
Innovation award organized by the FNTP,
handed over the second prize to Pierre
Jartoux, Mike McClenahan and Ivica
Zivanovic from Freyssinet for the “selfprotected waterproof bridge suspension
system” presented in cooperation with
Atofina and Tréfileurope. The individually
protected stay cable provided the inspiration for COHESTRAND™ which is composed of a single 15.7 mm diameter strand
provided with a multi-barrier protection
consisting of (in order from the inside
towards the outside) galfanization,
hydrophobic bonding product covering all
wires in the strand bonded to the steel,
and a 1.5 mm thick layer of HDPE.
COHESTRAND™ is fully compatible with
the Freyssinet anchor system and is applicable to large suspension bridges or more
modest structures, new construction and
bridge repair. Chartrouse bridge is the
first application of COHESTRAND™
(Freyssinet magazine N°. 207, March 2000).
Freyssinet de México is participating
on behalf of the ICA company on the construction of a bridge in the State
of Chiapas in the South of Mexico.
The bridge passes over an artificial
lake and carries the road joining the
states of Veracruz and Chiapas. Therefore,
the project is very important for Mexico.
Its length is 1208 m and its width is 10 m
wide, and it comprises eight spans
(92 - 152 - 5x168 - 124 m). Initially,
the bridge will carry two traffic lanes with
a planned extension to four. The deck is
composed of steel box girders with an
orthotropic slab, and is built by incremental
launching. It comprises a 50 m long nose
and a cable stayed mast with four pairs
of 25T15 cables. The deck is supported
by offshore type steel piers formed
by four 2.77 diameter main pipes.
Freyssinet is responsible for construction
methods, incremental launching operations,
the supply and installation of TETRON®
type bearings and expansion joints.
France
Mont-Blanc tunnel
Brazil
A new building
for the Rio
Stock Exchange
Freyssinet Brazil is participating
in the construction of the new head
office for the Rio de Janeiro Stock
Exchange subcontracted from
Wobrel Construtora SA company,
and is supplying and installing posttensioning cables for the floor
slabs on 12 storeys. The slabs
are 0.16 m thick and consist
of 10 m long 7.5 m wide panels.
The total area is 6 000 m2. The floor
prestressing uses the Freyssinet C system
(4F13) and uses 120 t of steel.
Freyssinet is working on part 5F
within a group composed of Bouygues,
GTM-Dumez, Impregilo and Freyssinet,
for ATMB, the client, and the
Scetauroute/ Spea group, the engineer.
The work that will employ 50 persons
at Freyssinet, is to repair and drain the
tunnel roof and the ventilation ducts
(100 m2 makeup on the roof and
Freyssinet magazine
6
May / August 2001 - No. 211
23 000 m2 waterproofing of the slab),
profiling the tunnel roof, coring
and drilling of communication openings
between ventilation ducts, and finally
drainage and road surfacing
work (800 m for the renovation of
active duct joints). Freyssinet
teams will be working six days
out of seven, day and night.
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In brief
Turkey
United States
Construction
of a supermarket in Bursa
San Luis Rey
Water Treatment
Plant
After the Izmir compaction project in
Turkey, Carrefour has once again asked
Menard Soltraitement to improve soils at
the future Bursa Carrefour shopping
centre. The project will include a
supermarket, a shopping centre and a two
storey car park with a total floor area of
103 000 m2. The objective on this site
was to make the large variety of soil
materials (natural terrain, waste,
demolition materials, recent 12 m
thick backfill) homogenous and to
guarantee an absolute settlement of
less than 15 mm. The stone columns
technique was used under the footings, and the conventional dynamic
compaction technique was used
under slabs on grade. Areas with
thick overburden were treated using
high energy compaction machines.
Furthermore, two cranes were rented
locally for the low energy compaction
phases and for the treatment of fairly
shallow areas. The construction
work was completed in three months.
Particularly detailed geotechnical
monitoring (790 pressure meter tests,
five compaction columns and 40 seismic
tests) were carried out to verify that
criteria imposed by the resident engineer
(ZETAS) for this work was satisfied.
United Kingdom
A new access ramp
construction method
As part of the continued expansion and
improvements to the Terminal, a new
vehicle and passenger building was
required to allow high vehicules access
onto a new range of ferries. Space
restrictions limited the ramp to a tight
curvature from dock level, leading to a
bridge spanning the new customs area
onto the new building roof at ferry access
level. The ground conditions across the site
were poor, with highly compressible
alluvial material to considerable depth.
Kier Northern were the successful
contractor, and a combined solution of
reinforced earth and band drains was
developed between Kiers, Reinforced Earth
Company and Len Threadgold of The
Geotechnical Centre. In addition, a new
facing panel system “TerraQuad” was
developed to achieve the required 18 m
radius of the internal ramp walls. The
ramp was partially constructed on the
completed band drains during Autumn
2000, with temporary overload placed
at the bridge abutment position. Over
the winter and Christmas break the ramp
was allowed to settle, with the rate and
degree of settlement being monitored
against the conjectured figures from
calculation. During early 2001 the
settlement of approximately 500 mm
was sufficiently complete to allow the
completion of the last layers of Reinforced
Earth up to finished level, and the
construction of the road base and parapets.
The bridge abutment was constructed
and the bridge beams placed as the main
building construction continued.
Freyssinet magazine
7
Menard Soltraitement has recently started up
in the United States and is working
on the extension to the San Luis Rey Water
Treatment Plant in Oceanside, California.
The work is being done using vibro
replacement (stone columns).
TFC®
selected
by the HITEC
The HITEC
(High Innovative
Technology
Evaluation Center)
was created with
the objective of
collecting and
disseminating
information
about the
performance of
new products.
Freyssinet is using
its experience
with the Carbon
Fiber Fabrics
(TFC®) process for the strengthening of
structures, and is actively participating
in the program for the evaluation of fiber
reinforced polymer composites (FRP) used
for the consolidation and repair of concrete,
and carried out by the HITEC.
This program is supported by the AASHTO
(American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials) and
the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA). The HITEC works as
an independent organization under
the control of the CERF (Civil
Engineering Research Foundation),
within the ASCE. The program is
planned to start this year and includes
laboratory and in situ tests.
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Belgium
digest
New GB 211
Main characteristics
• Bridge length: 498 m.
• Width between bearings: 33.4 m.
• Width at top: 46 m.
• Weight of bridge: 65 000 t.
• Number of spans: 13.
• Number of columns supporting the deck: 28.
• Water weight: 80 000 t.
• Final weight per column: 6 000 t.
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Belgium
Prestressing
The Sart Canal
Bridge
The canal bridge is built using
incremental launching of 12 m
segments every week.
The exceptional dimensions of the Sart
Canal
Bridge
are
necessary for moddigest
ernization of the Centre canal.
Freyssinet
is
supplying
and
installing prestressing for the
new bridge.
Freyssinet magazine
9
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Belgium
he Sart Canal Bridge is located close to
crete facilities contribute towards the genuine
the town of La Louvière in Belgium,
character of the Canal Bridge.
50 km south of Brussels, and its conHowever, this relaxing architecture conceals a
struction is necessary for modernization of
project with a tricky design and advanced
the Center canal, now restricted to 300 tonnes
engineering, which mobilized a large number
convoys and classified
of engineers, archias World Heritage by
tects and landscape
“A longitudinal
Unesco. It connects
artists. The structure
the Scheldt dock to
needed to be designed
and transverse
the Meuse dock, and
to withstand the preswill carry 1 350 t
ence of water at all
prestressing cable
barges over a valley
times which is why it
system makes
eroded by the Thiriau
is composed of high
river and a crossroads
strength materials,
the bridge perfectly
of the RN55 and
and the settlement of
RN535 roads close to
the support piles
watertight”
a motorway interneeded to be compatichange.
ble with the magniThe dimensions of the structure under contude of the loads from the structure, with
struction are exceptional and it has an innoeach column supporting final loads of 6 000 t.
vative design that required unusual architectural, town planning and landscaping studies
Methods that respect the
so that it would blend perfectly into its envienvironment
ronment. The 498 m long deck comprises
thirteen 36 m continuous spans and two
The canal bottom is placed by incremental
15 m cantilever end spans. It is supported
launching of 12 m segments. The prefabricaon twenty-eight 3 m diameter circular
tion area is located behind the west abutment
columns with 10 m square foundations supand is like a genuine factory in which many
ported on nine 1.5 m diameter piles 10 to
operations are automated, resulting in time
20 m long. The bottom of the deck is stiffsavings necessary for execution and the conened by 111 27 m long fish bellied
struction of 12 m segments every week. This
diaphragms at c/c distances of 4.5 m. The
organization guarantees that the structure is
average thickness of the bottom slab is 40 cm
uniform and concrete is placed under optiand it is as thick as 60 cm at the piers. The
mum conditions. With this method, it is poswidth between bearings is 33.4 m and the
sible to do the work with no interruption to
width at the top is 46 m. The Sart canal
traffic or effect on the environment.
viaduct supports 80 000 t of water, eight
This “plant” comprises storage area for pretimes more than the weight carried by a road
fabricated diaphragms and shuttering slabs,
bridge. Pedestrians can walk along the 6 m
prestressing ducts and a formwork area for
wide service roads on each side of the canal.
integral prefabrication of reinforcing cages.
The simplicity of forms combined with the
The deck is equipped with a 21 m nose comuse of high performance materials and disposed of steel webs and prestressed concrete
T
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Belgium
top and bottom flanges, and is launched
by a system composed of four jacks with a
stroke of 2 m and an individual capacity of
500 tonnes, Neoprene-Teflon sliding bearings
and guide devices fixed on the top of
columns. The 65 000 tonne final bridge
weight is a world record for incremental
launching.
A waterproof bridge
Due to its special purpose, the canal bridge
has to satisfy a number of requirements such
as thick and waterproof walls. Designers
achieved this by using reinforced concrete
combined with prestressed concrete. A longitudinal and transverse prestressing cables sys-
Freyssinet magazine
11
tem was designed to produce two-directional
compression in the concrete in all parts of the
structure in contact with water and thus provide perfect waterproofing, and the system
was installed by Freyssinet Belgium. Another
specific feature is that the canal viaduct is
supported on a limited number of bearings
to take account of the various aesthetic
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Belgium
tightened after launching and before the
canal viaduct is filled with water, are additional to the device. The diaphragms are
prestressed in the factory by two 19C15 tendons and two 27C15 tendons installed during construction of the deck. The longitudinal prestressing of the bottom of the canal
placed and tightened during the launching
operations is composed of fifteen 12C15
tendons. The entire prestressing is applied
using Freyssinet T15 unbonded strands
threaded into an HDPE duct grouted
with cement grout. This prestressing provides an excellent protection against corrosion, and can be adjusted and replaced strand
by strand.
The entire prestressing is applied using
Freyssinet unbonded strands threaded into
an HDPE duct filled with cement grout.
and technical criteria. This feature makes
the structure very transparent. The continuity of the longitudinal load bearing element
combined with rigid side walls gives good
resistance to earthquake. A number of measures are taken to make the bridge waterproof,
such as minimizing the number
of expansion joints, the use of dense concrete,
the use of three-dimensional prestressing
and placement by hot gluing of a waterproofing membrane protected by a coat of
poured asphalt.
The 7.1 m high side walls on each side of the
deck are inclined and protect the external
walls of the structure against precipitation.
The 90 cm thick side walls are longitudinally prestressed in the center by six 27C15
tendons that compensate for the lack of tensile strength of the concrete during launching
operations. Three 27C15 continuity tendons,
Freyssinet magazine
12
May / August 2001 - No. 211
Participants
Client: SOFICO
(Société Wallonne de Financement complémentaire des Infrastructures - Wallon Complementary
Infrastructure Financing Company).
Engineer: MET D221
(Mons Waterways Division).
Design office: Greisch (GEG Group).
Inspection office: SECO.
Main contractor: BAGECI short term
Association – CFE – FRANKI CONSTRUCT
Specialized contractor: Freyssinet Belgium.
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Spain
Post-tensioned concrete slabs
Bonaire
shopping centre
The Bonaire shopping centre is a world record for the construction of
buildings without expansion joints, and is located halfway between
the city of Valence and the airport, in the municipality of Aldaia.
he total project occupies an area of
400 000 m2, with 250 000 m2 of construction, including the shopping centre itself
that comprises 60 000 m2 of basement car
parks, a ground floor occupying 60 000 m2 and
is designed to contain shops and recreation
areas, also a first floor occupying 40 000 m2
divided into four independent buildings for
use by shopping and leisure areas (cinema,
bowling, etc.).
The ground floor and the first floor consist of
post-tensioned concrete slabs 25 to 40 cm
thick. The use of prestressing has made it possible to reduce the thickness of the slabs,
increase the spans and to obtain 270 x 240
floors with no expansion joints on the ground
floor. This solution also made it possible to
reduce construction times. The rate of construction for a square panel 32 x 32 m was very
quickly reduced to four days including formwork, reinforcement fixing and concreting,
and tensioning of the strands. A total area of a
100 000 m2 of slabs were constructed and posttensioned, at an average rate of 3 600 m2 per
T
week. At this sustained rate, construction of
all slabs was completed in just seven months.
This site is a remarkable landmark in the use
of post-tensioning in building, since formerly
post-tensioning had only been used in Spain
for bridge construction.
Thinner slabs and even longer
spans
The 25 cm thick ground floor slabs are cast in
situ and post-tensioned. There are no expansion joints. They are constructed in 32 m
square panels. The active reinforcement is
bonded and composed of flat ducts containing
four strands each. The conventional reinforcement consists of about 1 760 tonnes of steel
for the 60 000 m2 constructed. The 2 757 prestressing anchors are of the Freyssinet type
4C15. 7184 T15 single strand couplers were
used to achieve continuity of prestressing from
one panel to the next. There is a total of almost
322 tonnes of conventional reinforcing steel.
Freyssinet magazine
13
The adopted solution on the first floor on which
four independent buildings were constructed is
identical to the solution on the ground floor.
However, the total area to be constructed is
smaller, namely 40 000 m2, whereas the 16 x 16 m
spans are larger. 3347 active anchorages, 501
passive anchors and 3456 couplers were used for
these floors, with a total of 355 tonnes of active
reinforcing and 1760 tonnes of conventional
reinforcing.
Participants
Client: Riofisa SA Group.
Engineer: Idom Internacional.
Structure engineer and project designer:
Engineer Guillermo Corres Peiretti.
Main Contractor: Necso Entrecanales
y Cubiertas SA.
Inspection office: INTEMAC SA.
Specialized contractor: Freyssinet SA.
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France
Bailey bridge
Deconstruction
of a Bailey bridge
The army Bailey bridge was used for fifteen years as a temporary
crossing over the Petit Rhône and has now been removed.
suspension bridge was built between
Saint-Gilles and Arles in the Gard
department, shortly after the Second
World War, to carry national road 572 over the
Petit Rhône. This bridge was closed to traffic
in 1984 after serious deficiencies were
observed on the suspension cables, and in
1985 it was replaced by a temporary army
bridge on the downstream side composed of
two Bailey bridges. The deck of the bridges is
composed of 3.05 m long panels forming the
two main girders. The panels are assembled by
pins. The bridge is 3.81 m wide and has wood
surfacing (replaced in 1993), and consists of
two 39.62 m spans and two 42.67 m spans supported on three piers in the Rhône, giving a
total length of about 165 m. The upstream
bridge also includes a pedestrian footbridge.
In 1995, an inspection showed that deflections
in girders were excessive. It was then decided
to reduce the allowable tonnage on the bridge
from 38 to 19 t and to install heavy strengthening. A new cable stayed bridge was opened
to traffic at the end of 1999, and the temporary
bridge considered to be dangerous in rainy
weather, noisy due to its wood surfacing and
with insufficient clearance for navigation, was
permanently closed to traffic after fifteen years
of service. Freyssinet was appointed to disassemble the bridge, consisting of a total mass to
be moved of about 800 t.
A
Disassembling the Bailey bridge
All pins and attachments were treated using a
thread release agent before the work was started. The work started with the disassembly of
the top bracing and the third level of side lattice, consisting of two times three transverse
Freyssinet magazine
14
panels for each bridge. The operation was
done using a crane located on the existing
structure and the elements were loaded onto a
special purpose trailer.
The second work phase was to restore the longitudinal level of the bridge by lifting the various spans. The existing bearings would then
be removed. The structure was then placed on
temporary rollers and the four simple spans
were fastened together. This work was done
span by span. Span No. 2 was lifted by 0.35 cm
and span No. 1 by 1.5 m on the abutment and
0.35 m on pier 1. Span No. 1 was pulled
towards span No. 2 and broached. Permanent
rollers were installed on pier No. 1 and on the
abutment. The 25 m long rear nose was fixed
to the structure on the abutment. It consisted
of standard bridge panels. The operation continued by lifting span No. 4 by 3 m on the
abutment. A 8 m long preinstalled front nose
was then fixed, which placed the bridge on
wood packing on the backfill. This system
avoided the need for 3 m of packing on the
abutment. The next step was to lift span No. 3
by 1.5 m on pier No. 3 and 0.35 m on pier
No. 2, to install temporary rollers. Span No. 3
and span No. 2 were broached and placed on
final rollers located on pier No. 3 and on the
abutment.
With the bridge thus prepared, the third phase
(launching) could be started. Two SC2 jacks
were fixed onto a metal frame clamped to the
abutment by means of prestressing rods. The
strand was attached by a metal shoe located
under the side beams of the deck. The wood
planks were disassembled as the work
progressed to make sure that personnel were
safe at all times until the work on the piers
was complete.
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France
When the new stayed cable bridge was constructed in 1999, it was decided to deconstruct
the temporary Bailey bridge that was considered to be dangerous.
Under this configuration, the bridge was
launched in segments of about 20 m and
gradually disassembled by means of a selfpowered crane on the incremental delaunching area.
Removed elements were loaded onto a special
purpose trailer and transported to the CNPS
(Centre National du Pont de Secours National Prefabricated Bridges Centre) in the
Paris region.
Participants
Client: Gard General Council.
Engineer: Gard Development Authority.
Main contractor: Freyssinet France.
Delaunching principle
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Belgium
TRANSPEC SHA®
Dampers for
a footbridge
Freyssinet has been appointed to find a solution for damping
vibrations in Orival restaurant above the A19 motorway.
new service station has been built on the
E19 motorway between Paris and
Brussels close to the town of Nivelles on
the Orival layby, and is protected by an overpass.
Samyn was the architect for the overpass-restaurant currently under construction. The overpass
is an innovative structure composed of two master girders connected by 25 m lattice cross members supporting the floor of the overpass-restaurant at the bottom and the roof at the top. The
restaurant, installed at the center of the four
structure and roof bearings, and supported by
70 m brackets, extends as far as and above both
service stations.
A
A vibration problem
The structure is slender. Movements of the
brackets induce significant vertical movements
at the mid-span due to the ratio of the length
between the cantilevers and the central span.
These 70 m long very flexible cantilevers can
vibrate under the effect of wind and induce vertical accelerations at mid-span at the restaurant
that can disturb users.
Therefore, the TotalFinaElf company appointed
Freyssinet to find a damping solution for this
structure to lower movements and accelerations
to values that would guarantee the comfort of
their future customers.
A maximum vertical acceleration of 0.1 m/
sec/sec was selected as a comfort criterion.
The Technical Department of Freyssinet
International proposed the use of four
TRANSPEC SHA® hydraulic shock absorbers at
each end of the brackets, to reduce the vibration
phenomenon.
Hydraulic shock absorbers
Based on a model of wind effects carried out by
the SETESCO design office, Sigmatec
Engineering analyzed the dynamic behaviour of
the footbridge using a modal analysis of the
undamped structure and a time history calculation by direct integration of the response of the
damped structure subject to dynamic pressures
induced by wind, modeled by harmonic frequency functions, the natural frequencies of the
undamped structure. The undamped structure
is subject to resonant frequencies, the most significant of which vary firstly between 1.03 and
1.04 Hz causing torsion about the longitudinal
axis of the bracket in phase and in phase opposition, and secondly between 1.16 and 1.25 Hz
causing vertical vibration of the brackets in
phase and in phase opposition. The sensitivity
study defined the damping performances and
stiffness characteristics required, and was used to
select the shock absorbers. TRANSPEC SHA®
Freyssinet magazine
16
May / August 2001 - No. 211
110 – 450 units were used with a nominal capacity of 110 kN. The shock absorbers developed
by the Technical Department of Freyssinet
International and made by the PPC company
were installed at the ends of each span. They
connect the structure to the ground through a
cable stayed mast. The length of the TRANSPEC
SHA® is 1 570 mm including the attachment clevis, and the outside diameter is 225 mm. It is
hinged at its base to a concrete foundation and is
embedded at the top at its connection with the
cable stayed mast. The stroke of the TRANSPEC
SHA® is 450 mm, and they are installed preadjusted such that the distance is 200 mm when
closed (when the structure moves down) and
250 mm when open. This hydraulic shock
absorbing device was determined using a nonlinear damping law F = Cvα. The hydraulic regulation device is adjustable and validated by insitu tests.
Participants
Client: TotalFina Elf.
Main contractor: Architect Samyn, SAI Company.
Design Office: Setesco.
Structural dynamic analysis: Sigmatec.
Specialized contractor: Freyssinet Belgium.
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Australia
TechSpan® arches
Barcoo
Outlet Tunnel
The Baulderstone Hornibrook company is building a flushing
tunnel for the evacuation of water from the Patawallonga lagoon
to the ocean in the Glenelg district in Adelaide.
he adopted solution uses TechSpan®
arches, due to their engineering advantages and the flexibility of construction
using this process. The structure, 4.5 m span
and 5 m high, is composed of precast concrete
elements according to the recommendations
made by the consulting engineer Connell
Wagner, forming keyed half shells. The 2.5 m
wide arches are manufactured by PCP Pty Ltd
in Kilkenny.
The TechSpan® process proposed by
Reinforced Earth Company offers technical
and financial advantages. Technically, the
structure must firstly support the loads and
forces from waves, and secondary it must
respect severe durability requirements
imposed on structures in the saltwater environment. Thus, 200 m of tunnel is being
placed inside a coffer dam and will be permanently submerged on the sea floor.
Engineers at the Reinforced Earth Company
chose TechSpan® arches based on the funicular curve theory, and made the best use of
the properties of concrete by creating a
150 mm thick arch that can bear a 12.5 m
of sand and the weight of future 40-tonne
trucks carrying sand in the region. Apart
from the arches, Reinforced Earth Company
also participated in the design and supply of
precast base slabs for the raft, adapted
to the geological variations of the seabed,
in this case composed mainly of clay
T
and sand. Each slab was designed taking
account of the type of seabed.
“The structure must withstand loads and forces
due to waves, while respecting durability
requirements imposed on structures in a salty
environment.”
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Reinforced Earth
Architecture
Better integration
into the environment
Reinforced Earth is in contact with nature at all times and is
continuously developing technologies and products designed
for conservation and protection of the environment.
he initial characteristics of Reinforced
Earth products such as their placement
(for which no concrete pouring, geographic modification of sites or heavy machines
are necessary), their faster construction and
their small influence on the backfill, combined
with architectonic forms, textures and the
variety of colors of concrete surfaces, enable a
harmonious integration of the structures into
urban and rural sites. Each project is a special
case that needs different engineering and plastic solutions, as illustrated by the following
four structures.
double H steel profiles anchored into cast
in situ foundations.
T
Participants
Client: SACYR SA.
Main contractor: AENA.
Design Office: Setesco.
Specialized contractor: Tierra Armada SA.
Reinforced Earth
Contractor producing
works of art
Noise absorption walls
for sound protection
In terms of protection of the environment,
Tierra Armada SA has just completed construction of a noise absorption screen wall
designed to protect a residential area from
noise at Barajas Madrid airport (Spain). It is a
conventional 2 650 m2 wall with buttresses,
9 m high, with a porous concrete sound
absorbing screen on the facing.
The noise absorption screen wall is made based
on mortar with wood and cement fibers. The
grooved finish of the surfaces provides a variety of different decorations and colorings, in
harmony with the environment. Its main
advantages are its high sound insulation,
mechanical strength, durability, easy maintenance, and that it can be adapted to all types of
ground.
Due to the unusual height of the noise
absorption screens, erection was done using
Freyssinet magazine
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May / August 2001 - No. 211
There has been a growing trend in Texas for
owners of proposed retaining walls to specify
unusual facing panels which make an architectural statement for their project. No owner has
been more active in this regard than the Texas
Department of Transportation (TxDOT),
where Mr. Mark Bloschock, Engineer for
Special Projects in the Bridge Division, has
provided both coordination and inspiration.
He has served as the coordinator between
TxDOT’s various geographical Districts and
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Reinforced Earth
– the wagon and particularly the wheat wall –
because you really pulled it off.”
The experience of creating wagons, windmills,
wheat fields, birds, medallions, viaducts, etc.
has given RECo the confidence that it can
continue to play a major role in meeting the
special architectural needs of its clients in
Texas, and beyond.
the retaining wall industry, including The
Reinforced Earth Company (RECo). His
efforts have involved various feasibility studies,
modelling of structures, and the evaluation of
methods of construction. His inspiration
comes in the form of encouragement to the
various Districts that are planning projects.
Mr. Bloschock cites that “It is a very competitive
thing among our District Engineers and therefore
our Districts are trying something different,
pushing the edge, taking a risk, …that sort of
thing.” He added, “The smaller Districts feel
they need to get out there and put themselves on
the map. The artistic thing is something we
developed internally. The wagon was developed
by them (the Childress District). They initially
had a lot of very complex art. We kept the level
of detail down, but kept folks really interested in
something that was unusual.”
RECo has been instrumental in this process by
offering specialized designs performed by its
engineering staff in Euless, Texas and by supplying high-quality precast panels from its
manufacturing plant in Waco, Texas. The artwork is typically formed by using full-size
blockouts made from templates that are prepared with precision by RECo’s engineers.
These templates are used at RECo’s manufacturing plant to fabricate the blockouts, which
in turn are carefully set at exact locations
within the forms. Finally, close control by the
project manager brings the pieces together.
The results are remarkable; as Mr. Bloschock
states, “I think everybody who looks at this
doesn’t really see the joints and doesn’t see any
translation between the joints – they are seeing
the art. RECo ought to be pretty proud of that
A slope stabilized by
terraced walls
The embankment needed to be stabilized as
part of the work to widen the RD908 road in
the Hérault department in France; this was
done by two Reinforced Earth structures to
cross over two valleys in the commune of
Colombière-le-Poujol. This solution reduced
the surface area occupied by backfill. The
largest structure with an area of 2 100 m2 and
a height of more than 28 m, is the result of an
architectural study carried out by the architect, André Mascarelli so that it would blend
well into the environment. The adopted solution makes use of TerraClass surfaces laid out
in four terraces. The surfacing consists of
washed gravel from the Vergèze quarry with
an architectonic finish composed of horizontal grooves on the facing to suggest dry stone.
Full height walls
adapted to curved
structures
600 m of TechSpan tunnel and 10 000 m2
of retaining walls need to be constructed as part
of the extension project to the Kwinana Freeway
in Western Australia. In July 2000, the West Rail
Company appointed Thiess Contractors to
perform work on extension of the railway
that passes under the new expressway. The
Reinforced Earth and TechSpan processes were
then chosen for large sections of railway cut
and cover tunnels. The project includes up
to 600 meters of TechSpan that is now being
constructed.
The Western Australian Main Roads
Department wanted the bridges to be provided
with abutments made from full height panel
walls. Therefore, Reinforced Earth Company
developed a unique integrated retaining wall
and bridge supporting column system for
thirteen bridges that formed this part of
the contract.
To erect these massive 8.5 m high panels the
contractor was first required to prepare props
and propping blocks to hold the panels in place
from the front whilst backfilling took place.
Once the panels are in position a full height precast concrete bracket is fitted to the back of the
panel. This bracket, held in place by an anchor
pin, creates the void in which the concrete column is poured after backfilling.
A further advantage and a unique feature of the
full height panel option is the curvature of the
wingwalls. The panels themselves are formed to
incorporate a radius 20m curve to the face that
certainly adds to the aesthetics of the completed
structure.
Full height panels are likely to prove to be a popular alternative for designers and contractors in
the future. Their ease of installation and aesthetics of fewer joints have already won their
second project with Barclay Mowlem BGC Joint
Venture placing an order for a further four
bridges at Northam Bypass in Perth.
An ogival arch was poured in situ near the
bottom of the reinforced earth wall, to form a
passage to be followed by the stream at the
bottom of the valley.
Participants
Client: Hérault General Council
Engineer: Hérault Development Authority.
Architect: André Mascarelli.
Main contractor: BEC.
Specialized contractor: Terre Armée.
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Egypt
Soil consolidation
The new
Alexandria
shopping centre
Menard Soltraitement was appointed to perform soil improvement
work and earthworks on Lake Mariout, where a shopping centre will
be built.
he greater Alexandria area already
extends for more than 20 kilometers
along a narrow coastal strip along the
Mediterranean, and its population is increasing sharply in the same way as everywhere else
in Egypt. The only way to build any more
large infrastructures is to spread inland
towards the 60-kilometer long Lake Mariout.
T
Land reclaimed on this semi-marshy salt water
lake has been affected by large settlements, as
demonstrated by the many buildings in which
the first floor balconies are now at road level.
During the year 2000, Menard Soltraitement
successfully bid for a contract for the design
and execution of soil improvement work and
earthworks in order to build a 220 000 m2
shopping centre on reclaimed land on Lake
Mariout, close to the international airport and
the motorway between Alexandria and Cairo.
This shopping centre will eventually be operated by the Carrefour company which has
decided to make major investments to expand
in Egypt.
Pre-consolidation
The nature of the ground, composed of 7 to 8 m
thick layers of soft clay and silt and then loose
sand, makes special treatment essential to
guarantee the durability of the construction.
The technical solution presented by Menard
Soltraitement as a variant to the basic solution
consisting of a floor supported on piles, which
is very expensive for an area this large, is based
on preconsolidation of the clay layer using
vertical drains together with preloading, and
the use of driven stone filled pillars. The solution proposed by Menard Soltraitement is now
well advanced for the definition of the shopping centre project, and takes account of the
desire expressed by the customer to be able to
move the location of the buildings anywhere
within the covered area, for architectural
reasons. Therefore, the grid used for drains,
pillars and preloading heights were calculated
by Sigmatec Engineering (Menard Soltraitement’s digital calculation and simulation subsidiary) to achieve a differential and long term
settlement for a uniformly distributed load of
2T/m 2 and point loads of up to 70T at
unknown locations. The grid of drains and
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Egypt
preload heights were adapted to the durations
determined in planning.
Heavy construction means
The soil improvement and backfill on an area
of 220 000 m2 necessitated the placement of
1 250 000 m3 of materials, the installation of
1 500 000 m of vertical drains (more than six
times the distance from Alexandria to Cairo)
and the construction of 6 500 driven stone
filled pillars. The work was split into four
phases for which deliveries are staggered from
September 2001 to July 2002. The first segment of the work currently in progress consists of 72 000 m2 and 45% of the work, but it
must be completed in only 30% of the total
time assigned to the soil improvement and
earthworks. This is the area in which the first
buildings in the shopping centre will be built
in September 2001, while soil improvement
and earthworks continue on areas set aside for
the future extension of buildings and car
parks. It is planned that the shopping centre
will be opened in September 2002.
The work actually started in the month of
September 2000 with the construction of a
1070 m dike around the site and across lake
Mariout, followed by pumping of 300 000 m3
of trapped water. Specialized equipment
belonging to Menard Soltraitement was
shipped from Europe during this period.
Backfill in the first area with a draining work
platform composed of sand was terminated in
January 2001, following this the installation of
vertical drains (1500 units per day), the construction of driven stone filled pillars (40 units
per day) and work on applying the preload was
commenced. At the present time, this preload
is being applied at a rate of 10 000 m3 per day
and the same cycle will continue in the second
phase of the works. More than a hundred
persons are working on this project. The geotechnical monitoring of the site is done using
120 measurement instruments installed at
depths of up to 15 m.
ALEXANDRIA SHOPPING CENTRE
PROJECT SUMMARY
Building areas
Car park areas
Load conditions
70T footings,
Uniformly distributed load 2T/m2
Uniformly distributed load 2T/m2
Grid of vertical
drains
From 1.10 m to 1.25 m
From 1.25 m to 1.50 m
Participants
Grid of driven
Stone filled columns
5.5 m
7m
Client: MAF MISR.
Main contractor: CIA International (Orléans).
Specialized contractor: Freyssinet Egypt
under license from Menard Soltraitement
(Soil improvement and earthworks).
Preconsolidation
time
5 to 7 months
7 to 9 months
Height of preloads
5.7 m to 6.2 m
5.2 m
Freyssinet magazine
21
May / August 2001 - No. 211
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Australia
Building
The Aurora
Place glass roof
The enormous spider web shaped glass roof
built by Austress Freyssinet to join the two
towers in Aurora square is the distinctive
symbol of this urban complex.
he canopy is multi-purpose - to act as a
windbreak for the downward force of the
wind between the two new towers, an architectural link for the two projects and a signature
piece of urban architecture. Austress Freyssinet
was contracted to design and build the glass
canopy in keeping with the overall architectural
concept, conceived by Italian architect Renzo
Piano. Delivering the architectural vision whilst
keeping to the clients budget was a challenging
aspect of the project. Located between Phillip and
Macquarie Streets in Sydney is the twin tower
development of Aurora Place. Adjacent to
Macquarie Street is the 20-storey Residential
Tower with the 45 storey commercial Tower on
Phillip Street. The concept for the glazed canopy
as envisaged by Renzo Piano, was for the canopy
of glass supported by a “spiders web”. The canopy
would provide protection from the elements in
the Piazza area whilst allowing maximum transparency through the glass and it’s structural elements. The canopy has a plan area of approximately 650m2 and is suspended between the 25
storey residential building and the 45-storey office
building in Macquarie Street, giving a maximum
span of about 30 m. A cable net provides support
for the frameless glass, formed into an anticlastic
surface to ensure structural resistance to both
downwards and upwards loading.
The canopy is a particulary complex structure to
design, each component connection and glass panel
required individual design and detail drawings. The
glass surface is suspended from the cable net via
hangers located at each of the 300 intersection
points of the cable net. Another unique feature is
that the glass is wrapped into a shape that will provide positive falls to a single drainage point at the
northern edge of the canopy. The concept of the
typical cable net, as proposed and developed by
T
Freyssinet magazine
22
May / August 2001 - No. 211
Austress Freyssinet is the 18mm diameter, high tensile, stainless steel rods connected at each intersection via stainless steel cat nodes. The glass is typically 16mm thick fully toughened heat soaked laminated and patch supported at each corner via stainless
steel cast spiders. The link between the glass plane
and the cable net is via varying diameter (and
length) stainless steel circular hollow sections 22mm
to 70mm diameter. The north and south edges of
the cable net are supported via edge cables of 44mm
diameter from which these cables provide the means
to tension the net prior to placing the glass.
Participants
Architect: Renzo Piano.
Project leader: Bovis Lend Lease.
Design: Lend Lease Design Group/Ove Arup.
Specialized contractor: Austress Freyssinet.
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Page 22
Thailand
Crossing over the Chao Praya
Wat Nakorn-In
project
Freyssinet Thailand Ltd has been working on phase EW-1
of Wat Nakorn-In bridge between Bangkok and Thonburi,
since the beginning of the year 2000.
he Sumitomo Construction and Italian Thai
Development joint-venture is the main contractor for this project. It comprises firstly the
construction of a cast-in-situ balanced cantilever
box girder bridge over the Chao Praya river (built
using a travelling formwork) and the access
viaducts on the Thonburi side using the span by
span cast-in-situ box girder method. It also
includes the construction of the access viaducts on
the Bangkok side erected with an overhead truss
T
using the span by span method for the segmental
box girder and three main bridges crossing over the
Bangkruai Sanoi road on Thonburi side, and the
Pitboonsongkram road and the Pracharat road on
the Bangkok side, constructed by the precast segmental method. The work done by Freyssinet
Thailand applies to technical assistance for construction methods and prestressing work, the supply and installation of more than 700 tonnes of tendons and 1 356 Freyssinet 19C15 type C anchor-
ages in 78 of the box girder viaducts. Each span
comprises six 40 m long 19C15 cables and two
80 m long continuous 19C15 cables. Freyssinet is
also responsible for the conceptual and detailed
design of the existing overhead erection gantry to
adapt it to the project, including the production of
the construction sequences. The project started in
April 2000 and will be completed in July 2001. It
will be opened to traffic in the Bangkok North
region at the beginning of the year 2002.
United Kingdom
Repairs
M50 Motorway, The Oaks
Bringing a motorway bridge up to standards.
he Oaks Bridge overpass carries the C2104
road between Strensham and Twyning over
the M50 motorway between junction 8 on
the M5 and junction 1 on the M50 in the
Worcestershire. Freyssinet UK was appointed to
carry out the complete refurbishment of the
bridge deck (including concrete repair, re-waterproofing, replacement joints, new kerbing, resurfacing, and new safety fencing on the
approaches), the work to break out the existing
concrete handrail and recast to a new profile,
T
replacement of the steel parapets with aluminium parapet. The four wing walls were recast and
tied together below carriageway with high
strenght bars.
Freyssinet chose a cantilevered gantry system as
a working platform to carry out hydrodemolition of the existing concrete handrails and also as
a falsework support to formwork for the replacement concrete. The gantry system was partially
prefabricated off-site, then erected (and dismantled) during overnight closures of the M50. The
Freyssinet magazine
23
gantry was fully enclosed, allowing 24 hour
working to proceed for both hydrodemolition
and replacement works over the live motorway
without the need for lane closures. In all 40 m3 of
concrete was removed by hydrodemolition.
Participants
Client: Highways Agency.
Engineer: W.S.P. Group Plc.
Main contractor: Freyssinet Ltd.
May / August 2001 - No. 211
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Page 2
The glass roof between the
Philip Street and Macquarie Street
twin towers was designed
by the architect Renzo Piano
and built by Freyssinet.
Photograph : Adrian Hall
reyssinet