Connaect Third Edition 2009

THE MAGAZINE OF THE GLOBAL BBR NETWORK OF EXPERTS

Peak of perfection BBR VT CEO on Swiss quality

and a return to true values

www.bbrnetwork.com Third Edition 2009

New technology for Russia

Innovative and sustainable approach to cement silos

Bridges linking EuropeFree cantilever package delivers timely solution in Poland

Staying power in ValenciaCalatrava’s masterpiece – executed with the latest BBR stay cable technology

The real thingState-of-the-art distribution facilities in Aus-tralia for world’s best known brand

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BBR VT International Ltd is the Technical Headquarters and Business Development Centre ofthe BBR Network located in Switzerland. The shareholders of BBR VT International Ltd are: BBRHolding Ltd (Switzerland), a subsidiary of the Tectus Group (Switzerland); KB Spennteknikk AS(Norway), BBR Polska Sp. z o.o. (Poland) and VORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG (Austria/ Germany), all members of the KB Group (Norway); BBR Pretensados y Técnicas Especiales,S.L. (Spain), a member of the FCC Group (Spain).

The BBR Network is recognized as the leading group of specialized engineeringcontractors in the field of post-tensioning, stay cable and related constructionengineering. The innovation and technical excellence, brought together in 1944by its three Swiss founders – Antonio Brandestini, Max Birkenmaier and MirkoRobin Ros – continues, more than 60 years later, in that same ethos and enter-prising style.From technical headquarters in Switzerland, the BBR Network reaches outaround the globe and has at its disposal some of the most talented engineersand technicians, as well as the very latest internationally approved technology.

THE GLOBAL BBR NETWORKWithin the Global BBR Network, established traditions and strong local roots arecombined with the latest thinking and leading edge technology. BBR grants eachlocal BBR Network member access to the latest technical knowledge and re-sources – and facilitates the exchange of information on a broad scale and withininternational partnering alliances. Such global alliances and co-operations createlocal competitive advantages in dealing with, for example, efficient tendering, avail-ability of specialists and specialized equipment or transfer of technical know-how.

ACTIVITIES OF THE NETWORKAll BBR Network members are well-respected within their local business com-munities and have built strong connections in their respective regions. They areall structured differently to suit the local market and offer a variety of construc-tion services, in addition to the traditional core business of post-tensioning.

BBR TECHNOLOGIESBBR technologies have been applied to a vast array of different structures – such as bridges, buildings, cryogenic LNG tanks, dams, marine structures, nu-clear power stations, retaining walls, tanks, silos, towers, tunnels, wastewatertreatment plants, water reservoirs and wind farms. The BBR brands and trade-marks – CONA, BBRV, HiAm, DINA, SWIF and CONNAECT – are recognizedworldwide.The BBR Network has a track record of excellence and innovative approaches– with thousands of structures built using BBR technologies. While BBR’s his-tory goes back over 60 years, the BBR Network is focused on constructing thefuture – with professionalism, innovation and the very latest technology.

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MALAYSIABBR Construction Systems (M)Sdn BhdNo. 17, Jalan PJS 11/2Subang IndahBandar Sunway46150 Subang JayaSelangor Darul Ehsan

Tel +60 3 5636 3270Fax +60 3 5636 3285

[email protected]

PHILIPPINESBBR Philippines CorporationSuite 502, 7 East Capitol BuildingNo.7 East Capitol DriveBarangay KapitolyoPasig City 1603Metro Manila

Tel +63 2 638 7261Fax +63 2 638 7260

[email protected]

SINGAPOREBBR Construction SystemsPte LtdBBR Building50 Changi South Street ISingapore 486126Republic of Singapore

Tel +65 6546 2280Fax +65 6546 2268

[email protected]

THAILANDSiam-BBR Co Ltd942/137.1 5th FloorCharn Issara TowerRama 4 RoadKwaeng Suriwongse, Bangrak10500 Bangkok

Tel +66 2 237 6164-6Fax +66 2 237 6167

[email protected]

VIETNAMsee Singapore

AUSTRALIAStructural Systems (Northern)Pty Ltd20 Hilly Street, MortlakeNew South Wales 2137

Tel +61 2 8767 6200Fax +61 2 8767 6299

[email protected]

Structural Systems (Northern)Pty LtdUnit 1, 12 Commerce CircuitYatala, QLD 4207

Tel +61 7 3442 3500Fax +61 7 3442 3555

www.structuralsystems.com.au

Structural Systems (Southern)Pty LtdPO Box 1303112 Munro StreetSouth MelbourneVictoria 3205

Tel +61 3 9296 8100Fax +61 3 9646 7133

[email protected]

Structural Systems (Western)Pty LtdPO Box 6092 - Hilton24 Hines Road, O‘ConnorWestern Australia 6163

Tel +61 8 9267 5400Fax +61 8 9331 4511

[email protected]

FIJIsee New Zealand

NEW ZEALANDBBR Contech6 Neil Park Drive, East TamakiPO Box 51-391PakurangaAuckland 2140

Tel +64 9 274 9259Fax +64 9 274 5258

[email protected]

BBR Contech38 Waione Street, PetonePO Box 30-854Lower HuttWellington 5040

Tel +64 4 569 1167Fax +64 4 569 4269

[email protected]

BBR Contech7A Birmingham DriveMiddletonPO Box 8939RiccartonChristchurch 8440

Tel +64 3 339 0426Fax +64 3 339 0526

[email protected]

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With the world financial crisis dominating the news inrecent months, you might expect business confidence tobe at a low ebb everywhere – but within the BBRNetwork, we are ready! We believe that any crisis alsopresents opportunities – on this occasion, there aremany accelerated infrastructure projects coming up invarious countries to which our technology and skills areideally suited.

The BBR Network approaches each new challenge withcontinued professionalism and yet more innovative solutionsbased on the finest Swiss technology – as you will discoverwhen you turn the pages of this edition of CONNAECT.

Clients all around the world are now experiencing andappreciating the benefits of our very latest and moststringently tested technology – and when this comes togetherwith the skill of BBR Network members, BBR becomes acompelling brand. Our brand is further strengthened by thesharing of knowledge and resources between BBR Networkmembers – the joint ventures and collaborations during thepast 12 months have delivered some outstanding results.Through our people and technology, we can help to delivercertainty of outcome – not only for main contractors andtheir clients, but also for the communities for whom thestructures are created.

With our dedicated teams working together around the world– and our always up to date and fully certified technology –the BBR Network is in a very strong and competitive positionas the world begins to feel the effects of this recession.

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The real thingState-of-the-art distribution facilities inAustralia for world’s best known brand

Bruno ValsangiacomoChairmanBBR VT International Ltd

Marcel PoserCEOBBR VT International Ltd

EDITORIAL OFFICEBBR VT International LtdTechnical Headquarters and Business Development [email protected]

EDITOR Jane SandyCONTRIBUTING EDITOR Thomas RichliDESIGNER Caroline DonnerCONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Daniel Senn

CONTRIBUTORSPaul Blundell, Jeff Booth, Tomasz Borsz, Peter Bruder, Chang Chee Cheong,Diana Cobos Roger, Günter Damoser, Gustavo Delgado, Miss Foo, RobertFreedman, Peter Higgins, Warwick Ironmonger, Hugo Jackson, Robin Kalfat,Andrew Kiker, Christian Leicht, Juan Linero, Bartosz Łukjaniuk, Hudson Lun,Daniel O’Leary, Paul Maleszka, Mr Manjunath, Jeff Marchant, Kamalakar Naidu,David Olivares, Marcin Ornat, Terry Palmer, Marcel Poser, Janine Ralev, RobertRobinson, Mark Sinclair, Keith Snow, Shaun Sullivan, Piotr Stasyk, RudolfVierthaler, Thomas Weber, Paul Wymer

PUBLISHER BBR VT International LtdNUMBER OF COPIES 11,000Every effort is made to ensure that the content of this edition is accurate butthe publisher accepts no responsibility for effects arising there from.© BBR VT International Ltd 2009

SOURCES AND REFERENCESBridges sectionDelivering certainty: en.wikipedia.org & www.kuala-lumpur.wsBuildings sectionThe real thing: www.thecoca-colacompany.comTanks & Silos sectionSuperior storage solutions: www.lafarge.com, www.industryeurope.net &www.polski-cukier.plSpecial Applications sectionLongest in Europe: www.bmv.deLandmark Structures sectionHighest tension: www.skycityauckland.co.nzScaling new heights: www.sydneytoweroztrek.com.au ‘

Editorial, sources and references

2 CONNÆCT

Talking BBR

4 PEAK OF PERFECTIONBBR VT CEO on Swiss quality and areturn to true values

7 SWISS QUALITY ASSURANCEWorld record breaking BBR testing,quality systems and technologies

10 CONFERENCE NEWSConference report including news ofthe 2009 Global BBR Networkconference and Project of the Year2008

Bridges

11 BRIDGES LINKING EUROPEWyzsków Bridge, Poland

14 FIRST USE OF BBR VT CONA CMIIN WESTERN AUSTRALIAPerth Bunbury Highway Bridges, Cityof Mandurah, Australia

15 PT FULFILLS VISIONBridges, Blauwe Stad, Netherlands

15 REDUCING TRAFFIC VOLUMESBridge BU2, Burgdorf, Germany

16 ECONOMIES WITH MOVABLECOUPLERSA9 Motorway Bridges, Austria

18 CROSS-BORDER LAUNCHAlbury-Wodonga Bridge, Australia

19 NOTABLE AND COMMENDEDZallaq Bridge, Kingdom Of Bahrain

20 IMPROVING SAFETY & TRAFFICFLOWRailway Overbridge, Hamilton, NewZealand

21 BRIDGE OVER LIVE TRACKSLipa-Štore Bridge, Croatia

22 SPEEDY INFRASTRUCTUREPARTNERSHIPE18 Motorway Bridges, Langåker –Bommestad, Norway

23 BRIDGE DECK ENGINEERINGSecond Vivekananda Bridge Project,India

24 LAUNCHING DOWNHILLSt Andreu de la Vola and Eix delLlobregat Bridges, Spain

24 SHAPING A SOLUTIONZarqa College Bridge, Jordan

26 LATERAL BRIDGE SLIDINGRingwood Rail Bridge, Victoria, Australia

28 DELIVERING CERTAINTYKampong Pandan Flyover, KualaLumpur, Malaysia

Buildings

31 THE REAL THINGCoca Cola Amatil Storage &Distribution Facilities, Sydney, Australia

35 INDIAN FIRST FOR PT WITH STEELMulti-level Car Park, Pune, Maharastra,India

36 TOWARDS ZERO WASTERecycling Plant, Auckland, New Zealand

37 SHAPING THE MUMBAI SKYLINEOberoi Commercial Tower – 1,Mumbai, India

37 VIBRANT GEM BY THE BAYFloating Stadium, Marina Bay, Singapore

38 PROOF OF PT VERSATILITYBurjuman Centre Extension, Dubai,United Arab Emirates

39 RING OF CONFIDENCESports Arena, Łódz, Poland

42 RACE AGAINST TIMEWarehouse at Pioneer Walk, Singapore

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Calatrava's elegant new masterpiece in Spain providesnot only a focal point for Valencia, but alsoreassurance that the very latest technology has beenapplied – the BBR HiAm CONA Stay Cable system.

Part of a major pan-European highway, the newRiver Bug Bridge in northern eastern Poland was acomplex free cantilever construction requiring twosets of form travelers.

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43 HIDDEN STRENGTHThe Lofts, Burj Dubai Development,United Arab Emirates

43 CANALSIDE INNOVATIONClancy Quay, Dublin, Ireland

44 LARGEST JOINT-FREE PT SLABBusiness Park Warehouse, Auckland,New Zealand

44 AN ARCHITECT’S DREAMRadisson SAS Hotel, Dubrovnik,Croatia

45 TOWERING TECHNOLOGYCaja Madrid Tower, Spain

46 GREEN AND LEANNew Commonwealth Bank Campus,Sydney, Australia

Tanks & Silos

47 SUPERIOR STORAGE SOLUTIONSSugar & Clinker Silos, Poland

50 WINNING ALTERNATIVESOLUTIONKilmore Headworks Upgrade, Australia

52 NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR RUSSIASilos, Shurovo Cement Factory, Russia

53 AWARD FOR LNG STORAGESouth Hook LNG Tanks, PembrokeDock, Wales

54 UP, UP AND AWAY!BGC Cement Silo, Perth, Australia

54 COMPLETION IN CARTAGENA4th LNG Tank, Cartagena Spain

Special Applications

55 LONGEST IN EUROPEGrümpental Bridge, Germany

58 ACCOMMODATINGTOMORROW’S LEADERSGround stabilization, Wellington, NewZealand

59 EXTENDING OIL PRODUCTIONSleipner B Compression, North Sea

59 SOLUTION FOR DEEP VERTICALEXCAVATIONDeep Excavation, Bangalore, India

60 BRIDGE FOR THE COMMUNITYJohn Paul II Bridge, Pulawy, Poland

61 NEW SENSING TECHNOLOGYBBR WIGAbloc

62 MAKING MOVESChurch Relocation, Raaba, Austria

Stay Cables

63 STAYING POWER IN VALENCIASerrería Bridge, Valencia, Spain

67 UNIQUELY ENGINEEREDInstallation of locked coil rope stays,Córdoba & Zaragoza, Spain

68 COMPLEX CHALLENGEDunajec River Bridge, Brezna, Poland

69 OVERNIGHT INSTALLATIONFort Hatry Railway Bridge, Belfort,France

70 COLLABORATION FOR NZ FIRSTCable Stay Bridge, Auckland, NewZealand

72 SOLUTION OF CHOICERio Seco Bridge, Castellón, Spain

MRR

73 MOVING WITH THE TIMESBridge Seismic Strengthening, NewZealand

76 ELEGANT RETROFIT SOLUTIONWestfield London Development, UK

77 PRESERVING THE PAST FOR THEFUTURESeismic Strengthening, Christchurch,New Zealand

78 SYSTEM IN TRANSITITTS Bearing Replacement, GatwickAirport, UK

Landmark Structures

79 HIGHEST TENSIONSky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand

84 SCALING NEW HEIGHTSSydney Tower, Australia

86 BBR WORLDWIDE DIRECTORY2009

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The Grümpental Bridge in Germany features the longestconcrete arch for a railway bridge in Europe – realized withheavy lifting know-how from the BBR team.

Structural Systems – the BBR Network member in Australia –has been playing a major role in the realization of two state-of-the-art distribution centers for Coca Cola Amatil (CCA).

The Shurovo Cement Works inRussia has three new silos. They wereconstructed using European approvedBBR VT CONA CMI technology.

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Marcel Poser, BBR VT International’sCEO shares his thoughts about theexcellent reputation of Swiss

technology, his views on the current worldfinancial crisis and the way forward not onlyfor BBR, but also for the global community asa whole.

Q: WHAT IS IT WITH SWISS PRECISION?MP: Probably people in Switzerland are born withthis – OK, that sounds boastful, but it’s truenevertheless. Down the years, the Swiss havealways produced innovative, precise and reliabletechnology, it’s something we do well here – wealways seek to achieve the peak of perfection.

Q: WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?MP: I guess Switzerland breeds and attractsperfectionists! The environment we live and workin is a key influence – it’s a well-organized andtidy sort of place, so it naturally follows that wehave very high quality standards for everything weproduce. Today, around 20% of our workingpopulation comes from other countries and Ithink this international blend of expertiseflourishes within a Swiss environment andstrengthens our ability to compete in theinternational arena.

Q: HOW HAVE YOU CAPTURED THIS FORBBR?MP: To an extent, this has happened naturally.Like most companies in Switzerland, we’veattracted a range of international talent onto ourteam and when you add the feedback andsupport of our global network, it becomes apowerful combination – international expertiseand knowledge management, Swiss technologyand world class products.We are absolutely focused on deliveringtechnology that really is leading edge and goingbeyond this, we’ve created a working culturebased on good people around the globe and onstrong knowledge management which thrives onthe sharing of resources and knowledge to deliverthe very best results for everyone.

Q: SO, ARE YOU SAYING THAT BBR ISUNIQUELY PLACED?MP: Exactly – and we’ve gone still further. Wenow live in an age where knowledge is king –instant access to information is crucial tocompeting effectively. Recognizing this, we’ve justlaunched BBR E-Trace – a web-based knowledgemanagement, procurement and quality assurancesystem which allows the BBR Network to procureall products electronically, perform and document allquality assurance procedures online, as well as givingthe network direct access to our technical archive.

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Perfection

“LIKE MOST COMPANIES IN SWITZERLAND,WE’VE ATTRACTED A RANGE OF

INTERNATIONAL TALENT ONTO OUR TEAMAND WHEN YOU ADD THE FEEDBACK AND

SUPPORT OF OUR GLOBAL NETWORK, ITBECOMES A POWERFUL COMBINATION –

INTERNATIONAL EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENT, SWISS TECHNOLOGY AND

WORLD CLASS PRODUCTS.”

‘

“DOWN THE YEARS, THE SWISS HAVEALWAYS PRODUCED INNOVATIVE,

PRECISE AND RELIABLE TECHNOLOGY,IT’S SOMETHING WE DO WELL HERE –

WE ALWAYS SEEK TO ACHIEVE THEPEAK OF PERFECTION.”

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Q: BUT WHAT ABOUT SHARINGKNOWLEDGE WITHIN THECONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AS AWHOLE?MP: Actually, I make a point of taking part inindustry dialogues and fundamental technicalcommittees – personally. You have to drivethese things from the highest level and,despite the time this takes, it’s an investmentin future success. And it’s only in this waythat a company’s technologies and servicescan be thoroughly understood, regulated andpromoted.

Q: HOW WILL THE CURRENTFINANCIAL CRISIS AFFECT BBR?MP: We have all been here before, but sure,there will be some effects. Our financialposition at BBR VT International is very stable– while we are committed to constantlyimproving our technologies, products andour people, we do this in a measured way.The development work we have undertakenover recent years makes BBR a safe andsustainable choice for our customers – andwe have put a lot of development effort intotechnologies well-suited to infrastructureprojects which, in the current environment,are the ones earmarked to be accelerated inmany countries. For a professional andinnovative organisation like the BBRNetwork, although times might be tough, outof a crisis will come opportunities – we willbe helping our members and we will behelping each other as a network to align ourbusinesses to capture these.

Q: WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THERE AREOPPORTUNITIES IN A CRISIS?MP: The opportunities are three-fold – forthe whole of our planet, our cultures andindividuals within them. I hope that this is achance to move away from the bad practiceof the past and think longer term. Thecurrent financial crisis has its roots inunsustainable practice – things like lack ofknowledge, short-term profiteering andunethical behavior generally. As the globaleconomy recovers, the something-for-nothingculture will hopefully reduce and we willbegin to look ahead – but while consideringwhole-of-life cycles this time.

Q: WILL THIS RECOVERY HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON?MP: Certainly it’ll take a couple or threeyears before values get to where they shouldreally be, but the focus will be on true values– the message will be loud and clear thatcheaper is not necessarily the best for ourfuture. While you always need to optimize

costs, it should never be by simple and blindcost-cutting. Although it sounds harsh,sometimes you first have to spend one dollarto make two. If you try to make one dollarwithout spending anything, at best you willend up where you were before and at worstthere will be negative results – in the short-to-medium term, this will all backfire. Thereneeds to be a finely tuned balance betweenspending where you have to spend andoptimizing where you can optimize. Thisdoesn’t just apply to money, but to effort aswell – if you put a lot in, you’ll get a lot back.This is especially valid for times like these.And there are definitely areas where you canoptimize, but this must be done carefully!

Q: DO YOU THINK THIS IS THE ENDOF GLOBALIZATION?MP: No, no – it will continue but I believethat it will take on a more responsible andsustainable form. For example, there will bea stronger focus on true knowledge –business will rely on people who live andwork in the markets in which they operate.This has been the BBR market model – bybuilding a network of local organisations whorun businesses in various regions of theworld, you benefit from optimized costswhere globalization or centralization makessense, while customers have the hugeadvantage of local expertise and local marketknowledge, combined with the backing ofshared international know-how.

Q: WHY IS BBR AHEAD OF THE GAME?MP: Well look, it’s all in the development andthe quality of our people around the world.

Within the BBR Network we have alwayswalked the walk first, before we have talkedthe talk – marketing is good, but if you scratchthe surface you might discover that companieshaven’t actually done the work. You only haveto look at the testing we’ve completed – andwe actually did more than was required – toknow that there is substance behind ourclaims ... and lots of engineering work! We alsoinvest in the BBR Network. We encourageand facilitate the sharing of knowledge andresources between members.

Q: HOW HAS BBR REMAINEDSUCCESSFUL FOR SUCH A LONGTIME?MP: We’ve been around for a long time –and experience is very important – but youhave to be careful that it does not makeyou blind to where things are going andhow all sorts of conditions change overtime. You need to look beyond theboundaries and align with the ever-changingneeds of the market – become a ‘listeningorganisation’ which truly hears what themarket wants. OK, so we’ve got over 60years’ experience with the BBR Network,but going the extra mile has become ahabit for us – and it’s something that wehave been doing very well indeed!However, we must bear in mind that suchthings do not happen by accident, so it isparticularly fitting that I should express mythanks now to the shareholders and boardof directors of BBR VT International fortheir vision and confidence over the pastfive years, which has placed us in thisenviable position. l

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Investment in the development and testing of new technologies for the constructionindustry have put the BBR Network in a market-leading position. The BBR VTInternational team has now broken their own world record while carrying out

certification testing of high capacity tendons to the Guidelines for European TechnicalApproval (ETAG) 013 specifications. They achieved a record tendon capacity of over20,000,000 N – more than seven times the weight of an Airbus A380 aircraft! ‘

Swiss quality assurance

8 CONNÆCT

Over recent months, the team has performedtests on a variety of sizes and configurations ofBBR VT CONA CMX anchorages – rangingfrom 1 to 73 strands. So far, we have carried out122 static, 78 fatigue and 33 load transfer tests –and we’re still counting! In addition to themandatory tests, we have successfully performeda large number of special installation, stressing,

deviator / saddle and grouting tests. Today,we have the best technology available –backed by the European Technical

Approval (ETA) and the associatedCertificate of Conformity (CE) we have

secured.

STATE-OF-THE-ART POST-TENSIONING The BBR Network offers a complete range ofpost-tensioning (PT) systems which have beenapplied to a vast array of different structures –such as bridges, buildings, tanks, dams, powerstations and just about any other structure youcan think of.In addition to the BBRV wire PT technology andBBR CONA strand systems that have been usedsuccessfully for many decades, we have createdsome completely new technology – the BBR VTCONA CMX family – which incorporatescurrent market needs with all the advances andknowledge gained over the past 60 years by theBBR Network.

ASSURING QUALITYBBR E-Trace is an integral part of the BBR VTCONA CMX quality assurance. The internet-based software links all members of the BBRNetwork – including BBR PT SpecialistCompanies, BBR component manufacturersand BBR headquarters. This comprehensiveweb platform fulfils the vision of e-commerce.It covers supply chain management,procurement and communication, as well asproviding an engineering database and qualitymanagement system which includestraceability and document control.

The BBR VT CONA CMX range consists of fivesystems which cover the entire spectrum of post-tensioning needs:

u BBR VT CONA CMI – internal post-tensioningsystem

u BBR VT CONA CMM – unbonded post-tensioning system

u BBR VT CONA CME – external post-tensioning system

u BBR VT CONA CMF – flat anchorage post-tensioning system

u BBR VT CONA CMB – band post-tensioningsystem

BBR products continue to promote fasterconstruction programs through early strengthconcrete stressing which reduce the constructioncycle time. BBR technologies remain the benchmarkfor compactness in the anchor zone. Furthermore,a wide product range and size offering promotesthe use of only what is really needed.

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STAYING POWERThe BBR HiAm CONA parallel strand stay cablesystem is unrivalled anywhere on the planet.Developed by our own engineers in Switzerland,its high static strength, leak tightness and superiorfatigue resistance – ‘HiAm’ stands for highamplitude fatigue resistance – makes it attractivefor the most challenging of projects and thus itappeals to engineers and clients alike. The BBRDINA/HiAm wire stay cable system – composedof 7 mm wires – and the BBR Carbon systemcomplement the stay cable family of BBR. Toassure the highest quality product, all of thesystem components are subjected to the moststringent testing and quality assurance procedures,based internationally recognized codes andrecommendations.

AND THERE’S EVEN MORE!The BBR Network offers extensive experience in related constructionengineering systems, such as rock and soil anchors, heavy lifting,launching, balanced cantilever, advanced shoring and other temporaryworks construction methods and techniques. l

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10 CONNÆCT

Every year, the BBR Network meets at an annualconference – providing both a forum for theexchange of information and an opportunity to getto know other BBR Network members informally.

SYDNEY 2008In 2008, the BBR Network got together in Sydney,Australia where, besides a number of BBRtechnology updates, the international BBR familyparticipated in a charity golf tournament – and still

had the energy to climb the SydneyHarbor Bridge! The conferencereached its climax with the formalBBR dinner – during which thewinner of the 2008 BBR Project ofthe Year award was announced.

PARIS IN SPRING 2009In April 2009, our annualconference will take place in Paris –

a perfect time to be in that great city which issure to inspire some productive discussions andknowledge-sharing. BBR Network members willbe presenting information about challengingapplications and the team from BBRHeadquarters will give updates on commercialand technological developments. Of course,several social events will complement theconference.

With many dams worldwide requiring upgrading tomeet revised safety standards, work carried out onthe Ross River Dam is an excellent example of aspecial post-tensioning application and the leadingedge technology employed by the BBR Network.Australian BBR Network member Structural

Systems executed the permanentanchoring and trunnion restrainttendon works. Using BBR CONAground anchors, the team havehelped to secure the dam for thelocal community.

Among the vast number of applicants, the RossRiver Dam project convinced the jury mostbecause the project so perfectly demonstrates thelong-standing capability of the BBR Network in theuse of specialist large capacity tendons for theupgrading of dams around the world.As a result of their excellent work on this project,Structural Systems have recently been awarded thecontract for upgrading the Catagunya Dam inTasmania where the task will feature the installationof permanent anchors with the highest breakingload ever installed in Australia!

BBR Conference News

GLOBAL BBR NETWORK CONFERENCE

International networking

ROSS RIVER DAM UPGRADING, AUSTRALIA

BBR Project of the Year 2008

11CONNÆCT

Bridges linking EuropeAs part of the widening of an important pan-European highway route, a new bridge hasbeen built over the River Bug in Poland. Piotr Stasyk of BBR Polska, the BBR Networkmember in Poland, explains how this free cantilever structure was realized. ‘

WYZSKÓW BRIDGE, POLAND

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12 CONNÆCT

The task, consisted of three parts – modernizationof a two lane road, widening of the existing roadand a most important part of the task – buildingthe Wyszków bypass and, by the free cantilevermethod, constructing a bridge over the River Bug.

DESIGN CONCEPTTwo independent structures were designed as acontinuous nine span beam with a total length of 600 m. Three main spans (80 m + 136 m +80 m) were built using the free cantilever methodand were cast in-situ, while the side spans werebuilt using traditional formwork. The height of thebox girder is 7.5 m at the top of the piers and3.1 m in midspan. All tendons have been designedas internal, 19-150 type – and the steel usedweighed in at a total of 518 t. The 38 tendons for

The S8 Express road in north-eastern Poland is part of pan-European transit passageway

linking the Baltic countries and Finlandwith Poland and the rest of Europe. Thegrowing volume of traffic hasnecessitated widening of the road toincrease capacity.

13CONNÆCT

negative moments during the cantilevering phaseare located in the deck slab and post-tensioningfor the final stage was laid out to accommodatethe bending moment.

ADDITIONAL FORM TRAVELERSThe original schedule called for completion of bothstructures using only one pair of form travelers.Such were the delays, caused by a harsh winterand flooding, that the only way to make up timewas by adding a further pair of form travelers.Adopting this approach meant that one specialistteam – consisting of an engineer and sixtechnicians who had originally been designated tooperate one pair of travelers – then had to worksimultaneously on two pairs. In addition, twodifferent types of traveler were used forconcreting. In spite of this, we managed tomaintain a one week cycle for concreting – mainlythanks to the experience of our specialist teamwhich has much experience gained over a longhistory of free cantilever projects!

THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLETThe co-ordination of simultaneous work on fourtravelers, located on both sides of the river, anderecting side spans was a real challenge. Therequirement to maintain a weekly cycle, even in

winter, forced the contractor to take additionalmeasures with regard to the concrete – specialtents and heating machines were used. And,despite freezing night-time temperatures, workcontinued around the clock. Concreting of thebridge superstructure was completed in spring2008.

ANOTHER ‘PACKAGE’ DEALIt is worthy of note, that the Wyszków contract isanother example of a ‘package deal’ that BBRPolska has agreed with a contractor PRM “MostyŁódz” S.A. – as described in the previous editionof CONNAECT. Our scope of work here alsoincluded the design of temporary supports, pre-camber deflection calculations, supply of stressingbars up to 50 mm diameter, supply andinstallation of 36 pot bearings and two 3-moduleexpansion joints. Our experience from Wyszków proves that weare able to operate on any cantilever bridge –with any type of form traveler – and completethe bridge on time. To date, all free cantileverbridges built in Poland since 1998 have beenconstructed with the expertise of the BBR team.l

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“TO DATE, ALL FREE CANTILEVER BRIDGES

BUILT IN POLAND SINCE1998 HAVE BEEN

CONSTRUCTED WITHTHE EXPERTISE OF

THE BBR TEAM.”

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER GDDKiA, Warsaw

MAIN CONTRACTORPRM “Mosty Łódz” S.A.

DESIGNER Profil Sp. z o.o.

TECHNOLOGY BBR CONA internalBalanced cantilever

BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR Polska Sp. z o.o. (Poland)

14 CONNÆCT

The Southern Gateway Alliance is an alliancebetween Government, consultants GHD andLeighton Contractors. The scheme had fourincrementally launched bridges in which we wereinvolved. The design was changed to incorporatethe new BBR VT CONA CMI multistrand system. The project consists of two bridges over theSerpentine River and two over the Murray Riverwith individual bridges for each direction of traffic.Each of the Serpentine bridges consisted of sevensegments giving them an overall length ofapproximately 110 m. Four sets of launching jackswere used for the incremental launching, as eachbridge was constructed and launched in tandem.The Serpentine bridges had approximately 100 tof post-tensioning with 1206, 1906 and 3106anchorages and couplers.The Murray River bridges started shortly after thecompletion of the Serpentine River bridges. Each

of these bridges consists of 18segments with an overall length ofapproximately 280 m. The launchingequipment from the Serpentine

bridges was re-located and used for the launchingof the Murray bridges. The Murray bridges hadapproximately 170 t of post-tensioning with 1206,1906 and 2206 anchorages and couplers. l

First use of BBR VT CONA CMI in Western Australia

Hudson Lun, of Australian BBR Network member Structural Systems, writes that the Southern Gateway Alliancerecently began construction of a dual carriageway around the city of Mandurah to remove congestion and

improve the traffic flow into this popular wine region in the south west of Western Australia. This link will form partof the New Perth Bunbury Highway.

PERTH BUNBURY HIGHWAY BRIDGES, CITY OF MANDURAH, AUSTRALIA

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Main Roads Western Australia

MAIN CONTRACTOR Southern Gateway Alliance

DESIGNER Wyche Consulting

TECHNOLOGY BBR VT CONA CMI internalLaunching

BBR NETWORK MEMBERStructural Systems Limited (Australia)

15CONNÆCT

Spanstaal, the BBR Networkmember for the Netherlands,Belgium and Luxembourg, reports

on the post-tensioning of two bridgesfor the Blauwe Stad (Blue City) project– a newly developed recreation area inthe north east of the Netherlands,between the cities of Scheemda andWinschoten.

This area, formerly reclaimed fromthe North Sea for agriculture, isnow being developed forrecreational use – and 800 ha willbe used for water storage, as wellas for water recreation. Adjacent tothis, five different housing areas willbe created with a total of 1,500houses on plots of up to 7,500 m2

each. Construction will be realizedin different stages and is part of awider ecological infrastructure planin which, with the prospect ofclimate change, water storage willplay an important role. For such a visionary development,the use of the very latest technologyin the field of post-tensioning – theCE-marked BBR VT CONA CMIsystem – was specified.Two lightweight prestressed bridgesare being built within this project totake a new road over thewaterways. To meet the demandsof heavy PT forces within a lowerconcrete density, we chose to usethe BBR VT CONA CMI 2206system.

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BBR Network member, Spankern, was commissioned to carry out thepost-tensioning work for the 48 m long BU2 bridge in Burgdorf,Germany. The superstructure consists of two concrete girders and atop slab – for each girder, eight BBR VT CONA CMI 1506-150 1770tendons were used.The B188 federal highway is an important East-West connectionbetween Hannover and Wolfsburg in Germany. This heavily-traffickedroad carries more than 20,000 vehicles per day – crossing the city ofBurgdorf and creating a lot of noise and fumes for the localpopulation. To alleviate the situation, a new 7.6 km bypass, along with variousbridges, is under construction. The new overpass bridge BU2 is part ofthe bypass and traverses the existing B443 highway. l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Projectorganisation Blauwestad

MAIN CONTRACTORBallast Nedam Infra North-East

DESIGNER D.H.V.

TECHNOLOGY BBR VT CONA CMI internal

BBR NETWORK MEMBER Spanstaal B.V.(Netherlands)

BRIDGES, BLAUWE STAD, NETHERLANDS

PT fulfills vision

BRIDGE BU2, BURGDORF, GERMANY

Reducing traffic volumes

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Niedersächs. LB für Strassenbau und Verkehr

MAIN CONTRACTOR Mölders Baugesellschaft mbh

DESIGNER Mölders Baugesellschaft mbh


BBR NETWORK MEMBER Spankern GmbH (Germany)

Materials supply, installation and constructionwere carried out in accordance with theEuropean Technical Approval Guidelines (ETAG)013 and were well appreciated by the clients –who were delighted that their innovative projecthad an equally innovative PT system which fulfilledthe latest demands.For Spanstaal, this was our first use of the systemin compliance with ETA guidelines – and we werealso happy about the very positive experiencegained! l

16 CONNÆCT

Built in the early 1980s, the A9 links the A2 SouthMotorway with the A1 West Motorway. Themotorway has already been upgraded to copewith increased traffic by widening and, for somebridges, additional decks have been constructedalongside existing ones.

LAYOUT OF THE STRUCTURESThe two additional bridges, B2.2 and B2.3, arelocated to the south of the Bosruck Tunnel.Bridge B2.2 is a continuous box-girder with atotal length of 550.32 m, consisting of 13 spanswith lengths ranging from 29.22 m up to 48.87 m,while bridge B2.3 has a total length of 312.86 m,consisting of seven spans of different lengths from29.25 up to 48.95 m. The single-cell box-girder is3.75 m high and the top slab is 14 m wide.

DECK ERECTIONThe deck structure is erected on conventionalformwork, span-by-span and has 20 sections intotal. For each section, the first stage involvesconcreting the bottom slab and in the secondstage, the two webs together with the top slabare concreted.

POST-TENSIONINGThe post-tensioning for the structure is providedby BBR VT CONA CMI 1206-150 1770 bonded

Two new bridges are being built alongside existing ones on Austria’sA9 Pyhrn Motorway. Rudolf Vierthaler of VORSPANN-TECHNIK,the Austrian BBR Network member, describes how his company

used moveable couplers, to the requirements of European TechnicalApproval Guidelines, in the post-tensioning operation – a first in Austria.

Economies with moveable couplers

A9 MOTORWAY BRIDGES, AUSTRIA

17CONNÆCT

tendons, as outlined in ETA-06/0147, with eighttendons per web.In order to obtain consistency in the distributionof the compression forces within the structure,half of the tendons are stressed at theconstruction joints and elongated by fixedcouplers, while the other tendons are elongatedby moveable couplers, situated about two metersfrom the joint. The latter tendons are stressed andelongated by fixed couplers at the nextconstruction joint.The only alternative solution would be toproduce tendons of a length equal to that of thetwo construction sections, without movablecouplers. The advantage of moveable couplers isthat the additional handling and intermediatestorage of the long tendons – which protrudefrom the construction joint, ready for stressing atthe end of the next section – can be avoided.

ECONOMIES WITH MOVEABLE COUPLERSThis was the first time that moveable couplershad been used under European Approvalcriteria in Austria. In this particular case, thecosts for the moveable couplers are covered bythe savings made in terms of labor tomanipulate tendons for succeeding sections, asmentioned above.As it was the first use of moveable couplersaccording to ETA requirements, a trial assemblywas carried out prior to application on site.Since then, moveable couplers for more thanten sections have been successfully installedand stressed for the bridges in Ardning. l

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Technical insight: Fixed and moveable couplers

Basically, the function of a coupler is toconnect two tendons – this applies toboth fixed couplers and movablecoupler types.

BBR FIXED COUPLERSThe tendon in the first constructionstage is installed, stressed and anchoredin the fixed coupler which is placed inthe section joint between the first andsecond stage. Afterwards, the secondstage tendon is put in place andcoupling is achieved by pushing thestrands into the already tensionedcoupler anchor head.It is good practice to design at least30% of all tendons to be continuous ina section joint in order to obtain aneven distribution of the prestressingforce in the structure. This means thatvery long protruding tendons, from thefirst stage, have to be stored

temporarily on the deck and this leadsto time consuming handling.

BBR MOVEABLE COUPLERSThe moveable coupler serves tolengthen unstressed tendons andhelps to overcome handling problems.Once the first construction stage iscompleted, the moveable coupler ismounted next to the joint andconnected to the unstressed firststage tendon. At the same time, thestrands of the second stage tendonare pushed into the coupler. Finally,after concreting the second stage, thecomplete tendon is stressed overboth stages. The axial movementduring stressing is ensured by acylindrical sheathing box appropriatefor the expected elongation at thelocation of the coupler.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER ASFINAG

MAIN CONTRACTOR Massivbau GmbH

DESIGNER Schimetta Consult

TECHNOLOGY BBR VT CONA CMI internalBBR VT CONA CMI moveable coupler

BBR NETWORK MEMBERVORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG (Austria)

Passiveanchorages

First construction stage Second construction stage

First constructionstage

Stressedtendon

Unstressedtendon

BBR fixedcoupler

BBR fixedcoupler

BBR moveablecoupler

Second construction stage

18 CONNÆCT

The project was initiated to increase traffic flowthrough the border and reduce traffic congestionin the urban surrounds of Albury and Wodonga.

OVERVIEWThe Albury-Wadonga Murray River Bridge is atwin bridge with a main span of 50 m over 11 spans. The total length of the north bridge is197 m and the south bridge is 210 m.It is a concrete in-situ bridge, forming part of theHume Freeway, which consists of box girders thatwere incrementally launched from the south sideof the river in Victoria, towards the northern sidein New South Wales. The project was funded byboth the RTA and Victoria Roads and costapproximately A$ 15 million.

CONSTRUCTIONAbiGroup Contractors Pty Ltd were the maincontractor and we were subcontracted toFitzgerald Constructions Pty Ltd to perform post-tensioning design and installation and fixing ofpassive reinforcement. The bridge wasincrementally launched, with post-tensioning beingadopted to assist in the launching of eachsegment and provide long term durability with itslongitudinal continuity and trensverse tendons.

Each segment consisted of:u 4 x 31 strands in bottom flange

for the launching tendonsu 2 x 31 strands in each wall for the

continuity tendons (4 in total)u 12 x 5 strands for the

longitudinal tendonsu 11 x 5 strands for the transverse

tendons

All tendons were 15.2 mm diameter, the multi-strand system was the BBR CONA internal 3106.Coupling in the launching tendons was the 3106,Type K and the slab system was our own 506post-tensioning system.

PT METHODOLOGYThe launching tendons and longitudinal tendonswere coupled at the end of each segment. To

The Albury-Wodonga Murray River Bridge crosses the Murray River at the border between Victoria and NewSouth Wales in Australia. Andrew Kiker from Structural Systems, the BBR Network member in Australia,reports on the construction of the twin bridges which were incrementally launched across the river.

Cross-border launch

ALBURY-WODONGA BRIDGE, AUSTRALIA

19CONNÆCT

optimize construction cycles for each segment, itwas decided to prefabricate the launching tendonsand roll them over a purpose-built handrail thatcould accommodate the temporary storage of suchtendons. The transverse tendons wereprefabricated on the ground and stored in a 15 mcrate which was lifted by a crane and placed on thedeck for easy installation of each tendon.The launching tendons were prefabricated andplaced over handrails. Once the previous segmenthad been launched, the tendons were already inplace for the next segment. The continuity tendonswere installed at one time, with 31 strands travelingthe length of the bridge and then hooked up to themain group of strands which were laid in full alongthe ground. An articulated all terrain crane thenpulled the dummy strand, with the main tendon,back through the bridge.

TIMELY COMPLETIONA high level of cohesion and understandingbetween such elements of post-tensioning andreinforcement meant Structural Systems was thebest subcontractor for the job. As a result, onesegment per week was cast – and essentially themain bridge structure was completed within 12months. This method of construction ensured theproject was completed on time for the officialopening. It was a very public affair with thousandsof onlookers witnessing the historic occasion.AbiGroup were delighted by the professionalismand efficiency of its subcontractors and it provesonce again that post-tensioning is a most viableoption in bridge construction. l

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This US$ 16 million project comprisesthe construction of a seven span bridgeacross Zallaq Highway together with theassociated roadways. The project willextend the dual three-lane Sheikh BinSalman Highway southwards, from itscurrent termination point north of ZallaqHighway, over Zallaq Highway and intothe grounds of Bahrain University.Once the bridge is completed, theexisting crossroads will be a thing ofthe past, and vehicles will be easily ableto safely access Zallaq, the BahrainInternational Circuit, the University ofBahrain and various towns and villagesin the southern part of the Kingdomthrough the Sheikh Khalifa bin SalmanHighway – and traveling time to theseplaces will be reduced by about 20 minutes.Each of the two bridge superstructuresconsists of a 2.65 m deep post-tensioned, in-situ reinforced concretebox beam over intermediate piersupports, to create an overall bridgelength of 240 m. This length is decidedby seven spans including two 25 m end-spans, four intermediate 35 m spans –and a fifth intermediate maximum spanof 50 m, bridging Zallaq Highway.This project is notable for the BBRNetwork in that it was the firstapplication in the Middle East of theETAG-013 approved BBR VT CONACMX pre-stressing range. The 3106 BBR

VT CONA CMI multi-strand systemand the 3106 BBR VT CONA CMI, TypeFK coupler system were effectively usedto post-tension the bridge super-structure.Prior to post-tensioning workscommencing on the bridge, weundertook a full-scale grout trial toensure nothing was left to chance inconstruction of the superstructure –and the professionalism extended bythe Structural Systems team throughoutthis trial was commended by Hyder, thebridge designer.The Ministry of Public Works hasacknowledged that the bridge was animportant component in the overallroad network development plan andhas expressed satisfaction with thespeed and efficiency of the companiesinvolved in the building of the bridge.The bridge is expected to boostmovement between Bahrain, Saudi-Arabia and Qatar, once the FriendshipCauseway is built. l

BBR Network member, NASA Structural Systems, successfullyprovided post-tensioning shop drawing, supply, installation, stressingand grouting services on the Zallaq Bridge project in the Kingdomof Bahrain. Warwick Ironmonger, General Manager, describes theproject and his company’s work.

Notable and commended

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Ministry of Public Works andHousing, Kingdom of Bahrain

MAIN CONTRACTORHafeera / IJM Construction J.V (Bahrain)

DESIGNER Hyder Consulting Ltd (UK)

TECHNOLOGYBBR VT CONA CMI internal

BBR NETWORK MEMBER NASA (BBR)Structural Systems (United Arab Emirates)

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Victoria Roads & RTA

MAIN CONTRACTOR AbiGroup Contractors Pty Ltd

DESIGNER Hyder Consulting Ltd (UK)

TECHNOLOGY BBR CONA internalLaunching


ZALLAQ BRIDGE, KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

20 CONNÆCT

RAILWAY OVERBRIDGE, HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND

Improving safety & traffic flow

The New Zealand Transport Agency is constructingthe new State Highway 1 Avalon Drive Bypass inHamilton to reduce congestion, improve safety, andseparate inter-regional state highway traffic awayfrom internal city traffic. The new free-flowing highcapacity route will reduce travel times, improve tripreliability and at the same time improve thesurrounding residential and retail environment.

NEW RAIL OVERBRIDGEThe bypass includes a new railway overbridge,constructed over a lowered road and replacing aformer railway level crossing. The bridge carriesfreight and passenger services on the North IslandMain Trunk Line, with this particular section carryingmore freight than any other in New Zealand. In atwo month project, BBR Contech worked withmain contractor Brian Perry Civil and designerONTRACK to post-tension the bridge’s cast insituconcrete deck.

MORE COMPLEX THAN MOSTThe post-tensioning process was considerably morecomplex than for most similar bridges – mainlyowing to the extensive use of reinforced steel inthe bridge deck, which was 1.5 m thick, 19 m wideand about 26 m long. The work required post-tensioning tendons to be carefully interwoven withthe heavy layers of conventional reinforcing. In total,61 BBR CONA internal 1905 tendons, wereinstalled in the bridge decking – comprising a totalof 31 t of prestressing strand. Fortunately the project had minimal effect on trainscheduling, with two temporary tracks – oneelectrified – built to cope with the load. Once thebridge was complete, track, signaling andelectrification equipment was relocated, enabling asimplified track layout and fewer, more streamlinedconnections. ‘

Amajor highway running through New Zealand’s largest inland cityis being transformed from a busy urban road into a twokilometer bypass. A complex post-tensioning operation has been

executed for a new railway overbridge, Keith Snow and Terry Palmerfrom BBR Contech – the BBR Network member in New Zealand –report on the project.

21CONNÆCT

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TEAM & TECHNOLOGY OWNER ONTRACK

MAIN CONTRACTOR Brian Perry Civil

DESIGNER ONTRACK

TECHNOLOGY BBR CONA internal

BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR Contech (New Zealand)

BBR Adria, the BBR Network member in Croatia, has been contracted to provide thepost-tensioning for a bridge over the main Zidani Most to Maribor railway line.The Lipa-Store bridge consists of a single prestressed concrete box girder across sevenspans. The first six spans are being built using the incremental launching method, as thereis live traffic on the railway track beneath. The last span will be cast in-situ and make theconnection with the other side. For the prestressing, we are using BBR VT CONA CMItendons in plastic ducts. The overall length between the abutments is 187.50 m and thebridge is on a 1.5% gradient. l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Javna agencija za železniški promet RepublikeSlovenije (Public agency for railway transport ofRepublic of Slovenia)

MAIN CONTRACTOR CM Celje, d.d.

DESIGNER V. Acanski, B.Sc. Civ. Eng.


BBR NETWORK MEMBER BBR Adria d.d. (Croatia)

Bridge over live tracks

LIPA-ŠTORE BRIDGE, CROATIA

BENEFITS ALL ROUNDThe railway overbridge is delivering a number ofbenefits to owner ONTRACK and road usersalike. It has reduced track maintenance re-quirements and improved safety, and it meansmotorists no longer have to stop for trains at thelevel crossing. In addition, underpasses enablechildren to walk to school safely – away from abusy road and railway line. l

22 CONNÆCT

Working hand-in-hand with maincontractor Skanska to deliver anambitious Public Private Partnership(PPP) motorway project valued atapproaching € 80 million for Statensvegvesen, the Norwegian highwaysdepartment, Spennteknikk – the BBRNetwork member in Norway – is verybusy right now!On average, every day as many as20,000 cars pass through Langåker andaround 25,000 through Bommestad. Thefrequent traffic jams were causing heavycongestion, accidents and having a seriousimpact on the environment. The newmotorway will mean a whole new life forlocal communities and road users alike.The project will see the construction of8 km of four-lane motorway runningfrom Langåker to Bommestad in southeast Norway. We are supplying the post-tensioning for no less than 13 bridges on

the new route. It is anticipated that wewill use around 300 t of pre-stressingsteel – and the BBR CONA internal1506, 1906 and 3106 systems have beenchosen.The PPP approach is a way to speed upthe realization of public sector projectswhich would otherwise wait many yearsto secure government funding. Onefurther advantage for this project, drivenby one main contractor, is that it will becompleted two months ahead of theoriginal schedule – in June this year. l

The new bridge connects the NH2 / NH6 onHowrah side with the NH34 on the Kolkattaside. The 6.1 km bridge consists of an 880 mlong main span, with a 1560 m long approachspan on the Kolkata side and 3670 m ofapproach span on the Howrah side. The total project cost was estimated at Rs.6,400million. We were involved in the construction ofthe main span bridge where deck post-tensioning with the BBR CONA internal systemwas adopted.

BRIDGE OVERVIEWThe 880 m long main-span over the RiverHoogly is a six lane segmental box structure,with seven spans of 110 m each and two endspans of 55 m. The bridge is a two spancontinuous structure having expansion jointsevery 220 m. The 28.6 m wide carriageway haspermanent PT bars coupled through the mainbridge along with internal and externaltendons.

The Second Vivekananda Bridgenear the Dakshineswar Temple,Kolkatta, West Bengal is India’s

first six lane, single plane supportedextradosed bridge. Kamalakar Naidu,Regional Manager of BBR (India) PvtLtd, the BBR Network member in India,reports on the deck construction of thebridge and BBR’s involvement.

Speedy infrastructure partnership

E18 MOTORWAY BRIDGES, LANGÅKER – BOMMESTAD, NORWAY

TEAM & TECHNOLOGY OWNER Statens vegvesen

MAIN CONTRACTOR Skanska

DESIGNER Norconsult/Interconsult


BBR NETWORK MEMBERKB Spennteknikk AS (Norway)

Photographs courtesy of Byggeindustrien magazine.

Bridge deck engineering

23CONNÆCT

SEGMENT CASTINGA short-line precasting construction technique wasimplemented to concrete the 256 three meterwide segments. The casting bed was designed tocast various types of segments by hydraulicallyoperated adjustable, detachable shuttering. Adiverse range of post–tensioned ducts wasprovided for internal and external tendons – in adiagonal, longitudinal or transverse directiondepending on requirements. After attaining theminimum specified concrete strength for thesegment, one third of the transverse post-tensioned tendons were stressed to allow removalof the segment from the casting bed. Then, onattaining full strength, balance transverse tendonswere stressed at the stock yard.

SEGMENT ERECTIONTwo precast parts of the pylon / pier segmentswere positioned and fixed to the pier, making amonolithic structure. The stage-by-stage pylonconstruction was carried out simultaneously withsegment erection, using balanced cantileverconstruction methods. The segments were erected on either side of thepier with the help of movable form travelersplaced over the pier segment. The erectedsegments were coupled with permanent post-tensioned bars and then glued with epoxy to theprevious segments. Later, the permanent post-tensioned bars were stressed to allow the releaseof the form traveler.After completing the tensioning of the internal PTtendons, the form traveler was moved to the next

position to complete the process ofsegment erection until the final pour.A similar procedure was followed atthe remaining pier locations andsegment end joints are integrated toprovide continuity for the mainbridge. The long external PTtendons were connected andstressed to present the whole mainspan as an interlinked unit. l

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TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER NHAISecond Vivekananda Bridge Toll Corporation

MAIN CONTRACTOR L&T-ECC Division

DESIGN / SUPERVISION CES-PB

TECHNOLOGYBBR CONA internalBBR CONA external

BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR (India) Pvt Ltd

SECOND VIVEKANANDA BRIDGE PROJECT, INDIA

24 CONNÆCT

The diversity of Cataluña’s terrain, whichalternates between very mountainous areas andplains, led the designers to choose theincremental launching method as their preferredconstruction method.

TWO BRIDGESThe Sant Andreu de la Vola bridge is a compositestructure in Manlleu, Cataluña, on the Vic-Olot

This structure is located over the roadconnecting the capital city, Amman, with thesecond largest city in Jordan. Zarqa CollegeBridge is an overpass which passes above one ofthe busiest highways in Jordan.The Zarqa College Bridge consists of twoseparate bridges, each one is 10.2 m wide and,due to local planning restrictions, Zarqa CollegeBridge had to have a 45 degree skew angle with40 and 42.40 meter spans respectively.For the design of this bridge, considerations ofeconomy and aesthetics, as well as more practicalmatters relating to speedy construction, were ofgreat importance. Accordingly, the designer cameup with this innovative deck shape which allowedthe whole 82.40 m of deck to be poured in oneoperation. The parabolic shape provided theaesthetic appeal and the skew angle – and

Shaping a ...ZARQA COLLEGE BRIDGE, JORDAN

LAUNCHING METHODOLOGYBoth bridges were launched with two heavy liftingpulling jacks and one heavy lifting retaining jack.We used the same equipment for both bridges.The pulling and retaining jacks have a capacity of850 kN, with seven compacted steel strands andthe stroke of each jack is 400 mm. With thisstroke capacity, we reached launching speeds ofseven meters per hour. All jacks weresynchronized by means of programmable logiccontrollers. A retaining force was set and, once

Halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees andonly seventy miles from Barcelona, two steel motorway bridgeshave been constructed. Gustavo Delgado Martín of BBR PTE –

the BBR Network member in Spain – describes the innovative solutionfor composite steel bridges with a downward gradient.

Launching downhill

motorway. It was built using theincremental launching method. Thebridge deck is 156 m long, dividedinto four spans (33 m + 2 x 45 m+ 33 m) with a gradient of 2.68%.The launching was executeddownhill from the top abutment intwo phases – the first one for alength of 75.5 m and the secondone for a length of 80.5 m. Thetotal weight to be launcheddownwards was 3826 kN.Meanwhile, Eix del Llobregat bridgeis a composite structure located inPuig-Reig, also in Cataluña, on theC-16 Barcelona-Puig Cerdamotorway. The whole bridge wasconstructed by two methods:u Installation by crane (340 m)u Launching method (107 m)The bridge deck launched was107 m long, divided in two spans(60 m + 47 m) with a gradient of1.00%. The launching was carriedout downwards from the top abut-ment and in only one phase. Thetotal weight launched was 7289 kN.The deck connection operationoccurred approximately 16 m fromthe center pier.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGY (St Andreu de la Vola)OWNER Generalitat GISA

MAIN CONTRACTORJV Tunel De Bracons (FCC + Guinovart)

DESIGNER Technical Services, FCC Construccion

TECHNOLOGY Launching

BBR NETWORK MEMBER BBR PTE (Spain)

25CONNÆCT

facilitated the single pouring operation whichspeeded the construction operation.For BBR VT CONA CMI technology, this bridgerepresented a ‘first’ in Jordan for three reasons:u the shape of the decku the use of 31 strands in each cableu the construction with a European Approved

(CE-marked) PT systemBoth bridge decks were successfully completed infour months.

neoprene-teflon sliding bearings.These bearings were provided withlongitudinal guides to prevent thebridge from decentering duringlaunching.The underside of the metal flangeswas treated with a special paint toreduce friction and, for eachlaunching phase, was lubricated infront of each bearing to preventexcessive friction. l

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... solution

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Ministry of Public Works & Housing, Jordan

MAIN CONTRACTORMarwan Al Kurdi & Part.ners Co. Ltd

DESIGNER Troïs Engineering Ltd


BBR NETWORK MEMBERMarwan Al Kurdi & Partners Co. Ltd (Jordan)

the pulling force reached the retaining force plusthe friction force between the structure and thesupports, the bridge started to move. Themovement of the pulling jacks was synchronizedin displacement. All the jacks were anchored to anauxiliary steel structure to the abutment, and thesteel strands end in PT anchorages which wereconnected to the bridge by means of an auxiliarystructure.Launching was performed by sliding the bottomflanges of the two metal girders over temporary

TEAM & TECHNOLOGY (Eix del Llobregat)OWNER CEDINSA

MAIN CONTRACTORJV Eix Bergueda (FCC + COPCISA + COPISA + COMSA)

DESIGNERCESMA + Technical Services, FCC Construccion

TECHNOLOGY Launching


ST ANDREU DE LA VOLA AND EIX DEL LLOBREGAT BRIDGES, SPAIN

26 CONNÆCT

With new road systems being built, interfacing these with the existinginfrastructure creates many challenges that require carefully engineeredsolutions. Mark Sinclair reports how Structural Systems – the BBR

Network member in Australia – recently completed the sliding operations to move anew rail bridge into position in just a few hours, during a railway shutdown. Thisimportant rail bridge, located in Melbourne’s Eastern Suburbs, was a crucialcomponent in the US$ 2bn+ Eastlink project

DEVELOPING LAUNCH SYSTEMOur expertise was sought to develop andoperate the lateral launching system. The client’sinitial concept was to set up a frame withrelocatable hydraulic jacks to ratchet along andpush each of the two bridges individually intoposition. This required eight jacks acting in unisonto launch the four spans of the first bridge, thenthese were set-up again to jack the secondbridge. Our proposal was technically different, inthat pulling tendons would be set up in fivelocations, with adjacent spans temporarily linkedtogether – saving three jacking points – and thelinking of both the single line bridges together,such that both bridges were launchedsimultaneously. Thiess John Holland, our client, wasvery supportive of this proposal as it saved aseparate launching operation. The penalty costsfor delaying the reopening of the railway wereUS$ 1,200 per minute!

DESIGN AND KITThe design of the system was awarded toStructural Systems, and it incorporated the use offive large 145 t capacity 1.4 m stroke pulling jacksusing ø 56 mm pulling tendons in 1.35 mmodules. A separate pull back system wasdetailed should the need arise to correct for anyjamming or misalignment during the main launch.

The new 39 km long Eastlink motorway runsfrom Donvale in the north to Frankston in thesouth via Dandenong, through Melbourne’sEastern suburbs. Where the new freeway meetsthe very busy existing Lilydale and Belgraverailway lines, a crossing was required. The existingtwin track rail line was on an embankment andthe proposed motorway was to pass underneaththe live railway. The chosen solution was to builda new rail bridge adjacent to the tracks and slideit into position one weekend during a possession.The alternative – a road tunnel under the railway– was not possible because of the shallow depthavailable.Structural Systems worked on several structuresfor this mammoth project which includedcomplete substructure construction to selectedbridges and specialist post-tensioning operations.At Ringwood, the rail bridge consists of twin steelstructures of four simply supported spans, with atotal length of 106 m. Each of the twin singletrack bridges has a weight of 920 t. Our works,under a separate package, involved the provisionand stressing of ø 75 mm bars for ø 1800 mmpiles, which connect through 17 m long 130 tprecast headstocks – these were fitted in earlierrail possessions using a 500 t capacity crane. Thefive headstocks were post-tensioned on site, instages to match the construction loadings.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGY OWNER Eastlink

MAIN CONTRACTORThiess John Holland

DESIGNERCW-DC / Baigents & Structural Systems(launching system only)

TECHNOLOGYBBR CONA internal BarsLaunching


Lateral Bridge Sliding

RINGWOOD RAIL BRIDGE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

27CONNÆCT

As part of the design package, temporaryconnection details were required to allow thesteel bridge to connect to the launching system,but also to the substructure to allow for reactionof the jacking loads. Considerable detailedmethodology was developed and reviewed bynumerous parties, given the criticality of thelaunch and the high penalties should delays occur.

OPERATION PHASEThe operation phase was separately awarded toStructural Systems, and required two launches,which included a trial launch approximately onemonth ahead of the main launch. The trial launchof 3 m was to prove the reliability of many items,including the jacking system. Some adjustment tothe sliding bearings was undertaken as theirperformance during the trial launch was marginal. A window of five hours was allocated for thelaunching process. In order to guarantee atrouble-free operation, spare jacks, a pump,generator, and specialist hydraulic service teamwere on site should they be required. Like much of Australia, Melbourne was in droughtuntil the weekend of the launch – whenpersistent rain was the order of the day. Some8,000 m3 of embankment was moved with a fleetof earth-moving gear and final preparations werecompleted to allow for the launching works.Launching of the 16.25 m was completed in underfour hours with no difficulties or requirement touse the pull back system – although it was ready tobring into action. Subsequent works werecompleted and the railway reopened comfortablyahead of schedule. l

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Bridge slidingu Twin 4 span simply supported steel bridge structures, total: 106 mu Spans: 18.863 m, 37.212 m, 26.808 m & 23.850 mu Total weight: 1,840 t (2 x 920 t)u Slide distance: trial – 3 m, main launch – 16.25 m, total – 19.75 m u Launch time: under 4 hours u Equipment: 5 x 145 t x 1.4 m stroke jacks, 10-port isoflow pumpu Actual pulling forces: 143 kN to 284 kN (different nodes)

Post-tensioning tendonsu 20 – 15 or 20 x ø 15.2 strandsu 75 mm bars 4.0 m to 5.5 m long, minimum breaking load 4,311 kNu Multi anchorages each end of the tendon 1506 & 2206u Duct size: ø 95 / ø 105 mm

Facts & Figures

“LAUNCHING OF THE 16.25 M WASCOMPLETED IN UNDER FOUR HOURS WITHNO DIFFICULTIES OR REQUIREMENT TO USE

THE PULL BACK SYSTEM – ALTHOUGH IT WASREADY TO BRING INTO ACTION.”

28 CONNÆCT

This project was for the construction of a flyoverabove the existing Jalan Tun Razak bridge androundabout. It connects the busy commercialarea at Jalan Sultan Ismail with the housing area ofJalan Kampong Pandan and the scheme objectiveswere to improve traffic circulation and access tothe roundabout.

CONSTRUCTION INTERFACESAt the same time, there were two other projectsin progress – the SMART tunnel and KL-PutrajayaHighway Ramps. The original method ofconstruction was detailed as precast segmentalconstruction span-by-span, using an expensiveoverhead launching gantry. If the handing over ofa pier were to be delayed due to othercontractors, the launching gantry could notadvance forward.

ELIMINATING RISKBy adopting an alternative design,based on balanced cantileverconstruction using form travelers,the sequence of construction couldbe changed according to availabilityof piers – giving the advantage ofboth flexibility and economics. BBRMalaysia, through the use of formtravelers and prestressingtechnology, combined with CEPAS’finely-tuned and well-proven designexpertise, optimized the design andconstruction method for thesuperstructure. The owner’s require-ments were to maintain the spanlengths, shape and outer dimensionsof the bridge superstructure.

BRIDGE SUPERSTRUCTUREThe flyover is a multi-span bridgestructure consisting of 12 spanswith an overall length of 568 m. u Part A: 40 m + 56 m + 56 m +

40 m Total = 192 mu Part B: 40 m + 56 m + 56 m

+48 m + 40 m Total = 240 mu Part C: 40 m + 56 m + 40 m

Total = 136 mParts A and C were built usingconventional staging over existingmedian. After stressing thelongitudinal BBR CONA 1906

tendons, the strands were coupled using K-couplers to construct the next span. Part B wascarried out using the balanced cantilever methodbecause of the busy traffic at the roundabout andexisting Tun Razak flyover.The superstructure consists of two single cell boxgirders of varying depth from 3.2 m to 2.4 m. Thetwo box girders are structurally independent ofeach other by a gap of 200 mm. Each box has a9.45 m deck width, designed to carry twocarriageways.

PRESTRESSED DIAPHRAGM CROSSHEADON SINGLE PIERDue to site constraints and in order to minimizethe interference with the existing traffic flow, mostof the piers were formed by a single column witha wide crosshead. The prestressed crosshead iscapable of carrying two single cell box girderswhich are monolithically connected to thecrosshead.This was made possible by combining thecrosshead with the diaphragm. Transversetendons, consisting of ten BBR CONA 1906tendons, were provided to transfer the loadsfrom each box girder to the single central pier. This prestressed diaphragm crosshead is alsomonolithic to the single pier. The top of pier wasenlarged into a flare head which is aestheticallypleasing. Such a monolithic connection withoutbearings also fulfilled the stability requirements inthe construction stages of the free cantileveringconstruction. ‘

Chang Chee Cheong, General Manager of BBR Construction Systems – the BBR Network member inMalaysia – describes how BBR technology and expertise delivered certainty for a critical highway flyoverscheme in Kuala Lumpur where there were risks from interfaces with other projects.

Delivering certaintyKAMPONG PANDAN FLYOVER, KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

29CONNÆCT

Local insight: Birth of a capital city

Bordered by mountains on three sides, Kuala Lumpur, or simply KL, is the capital ofMalaysia – the name literally means ‘muddy confluence’ in Malay.

In the 1850s, tin mining rights were granted for this area at the confluence of the Klangand Gombak rivers. Just 150 years later, KL has grown from a small sleepy Chinese

tin-mining village into a bustling metropolis with a population of 1.6 million. Most of central KL has developed without any central planning whatsoever, so the streetsin the older parts of town are extremely narrow, winding and congested. The architecture in

this section is a unique colonial type, a hybrid of European and Chinese forms.Since the early days, increasing numbers of travelers have discovered Kuala Lumpur –

lured by the world’s cheapest 5-star hotels, great shopping and even better food.

30 CONNÆCT

BALANCED CANTILEVERCONSTRUCTION AND SHARING BBRNETWORK RESOURCESThe balanced cantilever method is commonlyused for spans from 100 to 250 m – so this caseof 56 m span maximum is somewhat unusual. Thisis possible due to the peculiar circumstances ofthis project and the availability of travelers lent tous by our Singapore cousins – a very big THANKYOU to them. This is a fine example of thebenefits of the international BBR Network –being able to share such resources.In a typical tendon lay-out for free cantileveringconstruction, the cantilever tendons are usuallystressed at one end only, depending on theconstruction cycle. The anchorages of thecantilever tendons are placed within the deck slabas close as possible to the web. The span bottomtendons are pulled through the ducts after theclosure gap and anchored at blisters within thebox. The following types of prestressing tendons wereused for the Kampong Pandan flyover:u Cantilever tendons: BBR CONA 706u Span tendons: BBR CONA 1206 and 1906The construction was so flexible that a mixed con-struction method was chosen for piers P5 and P8to speed up the work. The segment on one sidewas cast on temporary staging, while the segmenton other side was completed using form travelers.

KEY BENEFITS ANDADVANTAGESThe key benefit of the prestressingtechnology has been to enablebalanced cantilever constructionwhich was a necessity here toensure that there were nointerruptions to the flow of busytraffic at the roundabout and onthe flyover.By combining tendons with formtravelers, a flexible method ofconstruction was used to constructthe Kampong Pandan flyover in anefficient and timely manner, despite

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Public Works Department (Malaysia)

MAIN CONTRACTORSyarikat Muhibah Perniagaan & Perdagangan

DESIGNER CEPAS Plan AG

TECHNOLOGY BBR CONA internalBalanced cantilever

BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR Construction Systems (M) Sdn Bhd (Malaysia)

“THIS IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF THEBENEFITS OF THE INTERNATIONAL

BBR NETWORK – BEING ABLE TOSHARE SUCH RESOURCES.”

being in the midst of other ongoing projects. The prestressed diaphragm crosshead over asingle pier to carry two box girders provided anelegant and effective way to carry the loads tothe substructure. l

31CONNÆCT

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Structural Systems – the BBR Network member in Australia – has been playing a major role in the realization oftwo state-of-the-art distribution centers for Coca Cola Amatil (CCA). The aim of CCA’s ‘Project Jupiter’ is toconsolidate and optimize the company’s distribution. This state-of-the-art high-bay warehouse features a fully-

automated materials handling solution which will cater for the bulk distribution needs of large retailers, while smallercustomers, such as pubs and clubs, will be serviced by a new distribution centre at Eastern Creek. ‘

The real thing

COCA COLA AMATIL STORAGE & DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

32 CONNÆCT

CCA currently has multiple-pick facilities and seven warehouses scattered aroundSydney, covering over 125,000 m2 of space. Project Jupiter will consolidate andsignificantly simplify the management of this process. The combined capacity of thetwo new facilities will reach 90,000 pallet positions – with room to expand.

“THE CONSTRUCTIONMETHODOLOGYRESULTED IN MINIMALDISTURBANCE TO THEHAZARDOUS MATERIALAND SAVED THECONTRACTORSIGNIFICANTREHABILITATION ANDCONSOLIDATED WORKS.”

33CONNÆCT

Working closely with main contractor, VaughanConstructions, Structural Systems has beenimplementing innovative post-tensioned solutionsfor CCA’s new Northmead storage anddistribution center, as well as their distributioncenter at Eastern Creek.

UNIQUE FACILITYShaun Sullivan reports that Structural Systemswas awarded 5500 m2 of suspended slab onground in the internal and external staging areasfor the 32 m high warehouse at Northmead,New South Wales – part of Coca Cola Amatil’spremier manufacturing site in Sydney whichboasts Australia’s most advanced warehousingand distribution operation.Constructed in two stages on an area of re-claimed land adjacent to a creek, the conformingreinforced solution required several meters of soilto be removed and then clean fill compacted inits place. As hazardous material, such as asbestos,was known to be in the sub-base soil, removalwould have been time consuming – and its safedisposal had significant cost implications.

OUR SOLUTIONWe were asked by the contractor, for analternate post-tensioned solution. Using the BBRCONA flat 405 and 505 system, the slabs werecast directly over the ground yet supported onpiles at 6-8 m centers throughout. Theconstruction methodology resulted in minimaldisturbance to the hazardous material and savedthe contractor significant rehabilitation andconsolidated works. On normal suspended slabs, draped tendons areused between the columns, with the tendonsfixed to the formwork to maintain the profileduring the pour. As the ground acts as formworkfor these slabs, draped tendons could not beused here, as there was no suitable material towhich the tendons could be fixed. Thus, onlytendons of minimal drape or a constant profilecould be used. This presented several design

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“IN ADDITION TO THE SAVINGS FORCONSTRUCTION, THE POST-TENSIONED SLABS RESULTED INLARGE JOINT-FREE SPACES ANDALSO PROVIDED EARLIER ACCESSFOR COMPLETION OF THESTRUCTURE.”

challenges as some of the benefitsof post-tensioning were lost.

AVOIDING CLASHESThe first stage of the post-tensionedslab was for the internal staging areaused to support conveyors thatservice the twin masted crane. Dueto the numerous post-fixed holddown bolts of the steel-framedconveyor, congestion in the topsurface of the slab had to be kept toa minimum. Therefore, two layers ofconstant height tendons were used,with the first layer having tendons atorthogonal direction in the bottomand the second layer tendons in thetop. This resulted in comparativelyless reinforcement than the moreconventional single layer of post-tensioning and consequently lesspotential for clashes with holddown bolts. ‘

The product that has given theworld, arguably, its best-known tastewas born in Atlanta, Georgia, on 8thMay 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a localpharmacist, produced the syrup forCoca-Cola®, and carried a jug of thenew product down the street toJacobs’ Pharmacy. It was sampled,pronounced excellent and placed onsale for five cents a glass as a sodafountain drink – made by addingcarbonated water to the new syrup.Dr. Pemberton’s partner andbookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson,suggested the name and penned thenow famous trademark ‘Coca-Cola’ inhis unique script.

The first newspaper advertisement forCoca-Cola soon appeared in TheAtlanta Journal, inviting thirsty citizensto try “the new and popular sodafountain drink”. Hand-painted oilclothsigns reading “Coca-Cola” appearedon store awnings.Dr. Pemberton never realized thepotential of the beverage he created.He gradually sold portions of hisbusiness to various partners and, justprior to his death in 1888, sold hisremaining interest in Coca-Cola. From the early beginnings when justnine drinks a day were served, Coca-Cola has grown to the world’s mostubiquitous brand, with more than 1.4billion beverage servings sold each day.

IN FOCUS: Coca Cola

34 CONNÆCT

SPEED AND EFFICIENCYThe second stage was for the heavily loaded exter-nal staging areas, where trucks are loaded from theconveyor ready for shipping. The loading of thisarea had to cater for fully laden B-double trucksparked side-by-side. As there were no hold downbolts in this area, a single layer of constant heightpost-tensioning – central within the slab depth –was adopted for speed and efficiency. In addition tothe savings for construction, the post-tensionedslabs resulted in large joint-free spaces and also pro-vided earlier access for completion of the structure.

OVER AT EASTERN CREEKMeanwhile, for CCA’s new Eastern Creekdistribution centre in Sydney’s western suburbs,Structural Systems has successfully completed thedesign, supply and installation of over 28,000 m2

of post-tensioned slab on grade for GoodmanInternational Property Developers.

QUALITY FROM CONTROLUsing the bonded flat slab systemagain, the post-tensioned slabswere cast after the foundations,structural steel frame, roofing andpre-cast concrete cladding hadbeen constructed. The stableenvironment – created by thecompletion of the structure –allows greater control of theconcrete pouring and finishing thatassists in achieving a high qualityburnished (polished) surface.

INNOVATIONThe use of innovative edge details– to eliminate pour strips, reduceconstruction costs and improve thesurface finish of the floor – allowedthe post-tensioned tendons to be

stressed through the precast panels. The 28,000 m2

of floor was divided into 14 pours and werecompleted in nine weeks. Due to be operational in early 2009, thedistribution centre will be a landmark in the fieldof green industrial buildings. l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNERCoca Cola Amatil (Northmead)Goodman International (Eastern Creek)

MAIN CONTRACTOR Vaughan Constructions Pty Ltd

DESIGNERStructural Systems Limited (Northmead)OPRA Architects and Costin & Roe ConsultingEngineers (Eastern Creek)

TECHNOLOGY BBR CONA flat


35CONNÆCT

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Infosys Technologies Ltd urgently needed some2200 car parking spaces for staff on theirsoftware development campus in Pune.

PREFAB STEEL STRUCTURETo achieve the client’s tight time schedule, themain contractor had decided upon aprefabricated structural steel frame system, withstructural steel columns and beams, plus a cast-in-situ slab on steel decking. The structure has an overall plan dimension of 95 m x 65 m, with nine 3.25 m high floors. ISUB– 600 steel beam sections were used for themain beam and ISUB – 400 for secondary beams.The entire structure was prefabricated andconnected together using a bolted system.

PT INSTALLATIONThe main contractor, in association with BBR (India)Pvt Ltd, sought to achieve lighter sections, increasedgrids spans – and, ultimately, cost savings – by takingadvantage of post-tensioning technology. For the main 64 m long beams, six BBR CONAexternal tendons of 12.7 mm diameter PE-coatedstrands are provided on either side of the web.For the 20 m, 30 m and 50 m long secondarybeams, two tendons are provided on either sideof the web.The cable profile was maintained with help ofprefabricated steel deviator blocks connected to

the webs. Special prefabricated steel anchorageblocks were also developed to accommodate thebarrel and wedge system to facilitate the stressingof strands using monostrand jacks.

STRESSING OPERATIONThe four stage stressing was carried out by a BBRU-16 monostrand pulling jack. Before concretingthe slab, 50% of design load was induced in twostages of 25% each. Props were introduced forthe main and secondary beams and then the slabdecks were cast. Next, the remaining 50% designload was induced in a further two stages of 25%each. The concrete was allowed to set for sevendays and floor finishing was carried out later.

SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIESBy adopting external post-tensioning technologyfor this steel design, the main contractor was ableto reduce the materials requirement at criticallocations which brought substantial economies inthe overall steel structure. l

External post-tensioning techniques for a prefabricated steel structure wereadopted for the first time in India, reports Mr. Manjunath of BBR (India) Pvt.Ltd – the BBR Network member in India who designed, supplied and installed

the post-tensioning system for this new multi-level car park.

Indian first for PT with steel

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER M/s Infosys Technologies Ltd

MAIN CONTRACTORM/s Geodesic Technologies Pvt Ltd

DESIGNER M/s Geodesic Technologies Pvt Ltd

TECHNOLOGY BBR CONA external

BBR NETWORK MEMBER BBR (India) Pvt Ltd

MULTI-LEVEL CAR PARK, PUNE, MAHARASTRA, INDIA

36 CONNÆCT

Capable of sorting more than 80,000 tonnes ofrecyclable waste a year and converting more than95% into reusable products, the new MRF is sited– appropriately – on top of a former landfill!

COLLABORATION & INNOVATIONBuilt to cater for the people of Auckland andManukau cities, the facility is based on a 4000 m2

post-tensioned slab floor – designed by NewZealand’s BBR Contech in close collaboration withStructural Systems, its BBR Network counterpartin Australia. Together with main contractor MainzealProperty and Construction, a solution wasdeveloped that copes with the weak andpotentially unstable ground beneath the facility.

IDEAL FOR SOFT GROUNDThe 200 mm thick slab is essentially suspendedabove the ground, supported by 128 steel piles

driven into the rock underneaththe former landfill. Created in fourpours on-site, it has a sub-base of100 mm diameter chunks ofcrushed concrete, which enablesany gases rising from the landfill toescape freely – although not intothe plant, as the floor’s under-surfaces are lined with animpermeable polyethylenemembrane. Meanwhile, the floor’selevation and suspended designenables the ground to settle withno impact on the MRF building andits operations.Suspended floors like these are idealfor soft ground conditions as theyenable businesses like the MRF touse land effectively for the long term.

STRONG & SLEEKThe post-tensioned floor is designed to cope withthe MRF equipment and anticipated loads, whichcould increase to as much as 120,000 t ofrecyclable waste a year. Offering benefits of easycare and long-term durability, its smooth, joint-free surface makes it ideally suited to industrialand large commercial applications. l

RECYCLING PLANT, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Towards zero waste

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Visy Recycling New Zealand

MAIN CONTRACTORMainzeal Property and Construction Ltd

CONSULTANT Day Consultants (structural engineer)BBR Contech (slab design)



As environmental sustainability becomes increasingly important to people and businesses worldwide, KeithSnow of BBR Contech – the BBR Network member in New Zealand describes the creation of the mosttechnologically advanced materials recovery facility (MRF) in the Southern Hemisphere.

37CONNÆCT

With a seating capacity of 30,000 people, the Marina Bay Floating Stadium –next to the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, in Singapore – will be the venuefor major events on the waters of Marina Bay until 2012.

With the closure of the National Stadium, the Singapore Government decided that thistemporary stadium would be a cost-effective solution.The five storey stand consists of 30 segments and five 4 m wide pourstrips. The stand was

designed with a post-tensioned one-way beam slabscheme across spans between 8 m and 11 m. Thewhole viewing gallery is supported on reinforcedconcrete columns. Beam dimension varies between0.2 m – 0.25 m wide by 0.4 m to 0.6 m deep. Fourstrand ducts were used in a typical beam. As well as the annual National Day Parade, theGrandstand provided spectator seating for theinaugural night race of the Formula One motorracing series that was held in Singapore lastSeptember – putting it in the spotlight of worldattention. l

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TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER URA / Spore Sports Council

MAIN CONTRACTORChina Construction (South Pacific) Development

CONSULTANT De Consultants (S)


BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR Construction Systems Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Vibrant gem by the bay

FLOATING STADIUM, MARINA BAY,SINGAPORE

The 32-storey Oberoi Tower – 1 project, in thecity’s Goregoan (E) district made famous by‘Bollywood’, is the first of its kind and was com-pleted in record time thanks to our specialisedBBR technology. BBR (India) Pvt Ltd was engaged for the designand preparation for the post-tensioning work andthe supply, installation, stressing and grouting ofthe BBR CONA flat tendons.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEWOffice floors consist of a series of post-tensionedbanded beams spanning from the inner core to the

peripheral columns and the slabbetween them is spanned across aribbed reinforced concrete slab.To maximise floor heights and keepthe building within the prescribedheight overall, the floor system waschanged to a post-tensioned flatplate solution for the hotel levels.

PT TECHNOLOGYThe BBR CONA flat system wasused for post-tensioning thebanded beams and typical flat plate

slabs. The post-tensioned structure was a shallowdepth band beam – the flat geometry has theadvantage of allowing maximum eccentricity ofthe tendon in the shallow section.

EASE OF APPLICATIONThe stressing kit for flat tendons is small and light– thus easy to handle and ideal for working withfloor levels of different heights. The installation offlat tendons within the band beam reinforcementis also easier and the anchors are also smaller,making them well-suited to the limited depth ofthe beam or slab at the stressing edge. The scheme’s success has resulted in a further fourprojects of a similar type in the surrounding area.

A new landmark has arrived on the Mumbai skyline, reports Mr Manjunath,Regional Manager – Projects for BBR (India) Pvt Ltd, the BBR Networkmember in India.

OBEROI COMMERCIALTOWER -1,

MUMBAI, INDIA

Shaping the Mumbai skyline

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER M/s Oberoi Constructions

MAIN CONTRACTOR L&T

ARCHITECT Hellmuth, Obata+Kassabaum, INC

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERM/s Sterling Engineering Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd



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38 CONNÆCT

Warwick Ironmonger describes the successfulcontribution of his company, NASA (BBR)Structural Systems LLC, the BBR Network

member based in the United Arab Emirates, in providinga complete design, supply and construct package for thepost-tensioned floor systems for the mixed-useBurjuman Centre Extension project.

Located in the heart of Dubai, this 162,000 m2 scheme consists of4.5 floors of retail podium, a 29-storey office tower and twoapartment towers of 21- and 25-storeys. Post-tensioned floorsystems were used throughout each of these structures.

RETAIL LEVELSPost-tensioned band beams and slabs were provided throughout theretail levels to achieve economy and offer a minimum depth solutionthat could deal with the significant loads and spans which rangedfrom 8.8 m to in excess of 16 m, transfer the numerous ‘floating’columns, and cater for the varied and complex floor geometry. Theirregular column positions between floors and the combination of steelcomposite columns supporting the overlying steel and glass atriumroofs were meticulously integrated into the post-tensioned design.The podium levels, approximately 250 m x 85 m in plan, were eachsplit into ten different slab areas using a variety of corbel anddowelled movement joints – with a total of 18 individual concretepours per floor. Each retail floor was comprised of a mixture of flatslabs, ribbed slabs, one-way slabs supported by band beams andtransfer beams – all post-tensioned to achieve open plan retail areas.

OFFICE TOWERThe supports to the elliptical shaped 29-storey office towerconsisted of only a central core and perimeter columns. A post-tensioned solution was implemented whereby 450 mm deep post-tensioned ribbed beams spanned the 10 m between the centralcore and perimeter post-tensioned beams which, in turn, spannedbetween the perimeter columns. The post-tensioning was usedmost effectively to support the 6.5 m long cantilevers at each end ofthe building creating the illusion of the structure floating in the airand to permit column-free office space on each of the typical floors.

APARTMENT TOWERSThe luxury apartment blocks, above the retail levels, each have 525-800 mm deep post-tensioned beams, spanning 8.5-12.5 m betweencores and intermediate shear walls to support the 150-200 mm deepconventionally reinforced concrete slabs spanning between the beams. The successful application of the BBR CONA flat post-tensioningsystem to solve the many structural challenges that resulted fromthe ambitious architectural plans for this mixed-use project is atestament to the versatility of post-tensioning and the expertise ofboth Structural Systems and the wider BBR Network. l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Al Ghurair Group, Dubai, UAE

MAIN CONTRACTOR Al Habtoor Murray & Roberts, Dubai, UAE

DESIGNER Buro Happold / Dar Al Handasah, Dubai, UAE


BBR NETWORK MEMBERNASA (BBR) Structural Systems LLC (United Arab Emirates)

Pro

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BURJUMAN CENTRE EXTENSION, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

39CONNÆCT

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BBR Polska – the BBR Network member in Poland – hascompleted an extraordinary post-tensioning task. Site Engineer,

M. Sc. Bartosz Łukijaniuk explains how a massive post-tensionedroof ring – needed to support the dome-shaped roof of the new

sports arena in Łódz – was constructed.

Ring of confidenceThe City of Łódz Office haddecided to build a new 10,000-seatsporting and entertainment venuewithin the complex of one of thecity’s sports clubs – Łódzki KlubSportowy. The arena is adjacent tothe existing football stadium whichis home to the former Polishfootball league champions.

THE BUILDINGThe round sports hall has aconcrete structure with a steel roofand steel cover wall. The arena levelis approximately six meters belowthe surrounding ground level. Thehall is surrounded with a type ofmoat, over which there are bridgesleading to the entrances. Inside, willbe the main arena plus all the usualfacilities – and a full size basketballcourt. The roof of this huge arena issupported by a post-tensionedconcrete ring – an icon of modernengineering techniques, constructedby BBR Polska.

THE BRIEFOur brief was to evaluate thedetailed design for tendon layoutand the bearing system for the roofring, as well as for carrying out thework which included delivery ofstressing system components, plusthe complex post-tensioning of theroof ring and delivery andinstallation of the bearings. Inaddition, we undertook furthercomplex works for a post-tensioned beam.

THE RINGThe roof support ring rests on 16concrete columns (spaced every 26 m) at around 15 m above arenalevel. It is a massive concretestructure which, in cross-section, isa concrete box – shaped like aleaning rectangle with 0.5 m thickwalls. On the outer side of the

SPORTS ARENA, ŁÓDZ, POLAND

‘

40 CONNÆCT

THE BEARING SYSTEMThe bearing system involved the installation of 64elastomeric bearings and 16 specially designedsteel directional slide bearings. The system has aset of five bearings on each column – fourelastomeric slide bearings and one steel guidedslide bearing. The elastomeric bearings transfervertical load from the ring to the column, allowingmovement in all directions. Meanwhile, the steelguided bearings take horizontal forces and allowradial movement – blocking forces from any otherdirection to prevent unequal deformation of thering.The ring structure was concreted in stages – firstthe bottom slab, then side walls, next cross-wallsand lastly, the top slab. Strands were pushed intoducts after the concreting process was finished.

THE PT SEQUENCEThe post-tensioning sequence assumed that firstall internal tendons were tensioned. Then, westarted tensioning all external tendons. The roundshape of the structure meant that it wasextremely important to apply stressing forceequally around the perimeter, as well as on thecross-section of the ring. Therefore, we used twostressing sets which operated on opposite sidesof the ring.Due to high values of loss of stressing force –because of friction on curves – it was necessary

roof ring, there is a huge ‘gutter’made of prefabricated concreteelements – permanently fixed tothe ring structure. The box isstrengthened with cross-walls everyeight meters, where steel roofgirders are supported on the ring.

THE TENDONSThe box-shaped concrete structureof the ring is post tensioned with28 BBR CONA 1906 internaltendons (72 t of strands) and 88BBR CONA 706 external tendons(12 t of strands). The internal tendons – spacedequally on the cross-section of thering, with seven tendons in onesection – take horizontal forcesfrom main loads (dead loads), whileexternal tendons – placed inappropriate numbers whereverneeded, as dictated by the bendingmoments diagram – take bendingmoments from excess loads. Because the ring is so very long, itis divided into four quarters –resulting in an internal tendonlength of around 120 m. Theinternal tendons are anchored infour specially designed anchorblocks inside the ring. The externaltendons are anchored in cross-walls– the longest tendon was some 25 m long.

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41CONNÆCT

to stress all internal tendons from both ends. Thisall resulted in much time and effort being spenton moving and preparing the stressing sets andoperations.The stressing sequence of the external tendonswas also developed so that equal stressing forcewas applied to the structure.All the work inside the ring box was carried outby hand – it was not possible to use a crane asthere were no openings in the top of the ringstructure and cross-walls precluded the use of asmall crane to operate inside the ring box.

THE BEAMThe 25 m span post tensioned beam supports afloor slab. The development of a basketball courtmeant that a few columns were replaced withhangers attached to the beam – originally thesewere support only to the girders for the arenaseating. The high loads and low acceptabledeflection indicated that a PT beam was the onlysolution. The beam was post tensioned with sixBBR VT CONA CMI 1206 tendons (3 t of strands).

This extremely demanding post-tensioning task was finished in May2008 – two weeks ahead ofschedule. This superb result is duelargely to the excellent workingrelationships which developedbetween the BBR Polska team andthe main contractor.Investor satisfaction is a priority forus – and the reference letterreceived from our client, the Cityof Łódz Office, was a great rewardfor our efforts. This was the firsttime that BBR Polska had executedsuch a challenging and unusualstressing operation – we arelooking forward to post-tensioninganother stadium soon! l

“BBR POLSKA COMPLETED THEWORK WITH A HIGH STANDARDOF PROFESSIONALISM AND TO AHIGH TECHNICAL STANDARD ....”

CITY OF ŁÓDZ OFFICE

Facts & FiguresArena area 14,500 m2

Arena volume 385,000 m3

Arena radius 70 mArena height 36 mDomed roof diameter140 mWeight of roof structure1,500 tRoof ring height3.7 m (inner 2.5 m)Roof ring width4.7 m (inner 3.2 m)Roof ring length 440 m

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER City of Łódz Office

CONTRACTOR Skanska S.A.

DESIGNER ATJ Archikekci / KiP Sp. z o.o.

TECHNOLOGYBBR CONA internal BBR CONA externalBBR VT CONA CMI internal


42 CONNÆCT

Divided into two phases, Phase 1 includes half ofthe warehouse area, driveway, loading / unloadingbay and ramp. The other half of the warehousearea, office and roof, together make up Phase 2.The loading / unloading bay and the ramp arelocated right in the centre, flanked by thewarehouse area on both sides. The special featureof this building is that there are ramps andloading / unloading bays on every level – enablingeasy access to the warehouse area, especially forheavy vehicles. Post-tensioning was used toconstruct almost the entire building.

PROJECT DETAILSThe post-tensioned flat slabthickness for the warehouse area istypically 330 mm for an 11 m by11 m grid, with 700 mm thick droppanels. For the sixth storey, the flatslab thickness is 380 mm with750 mm thick drop panels. Typicalloading for the second to fifthstorey warehouse area is20.0 kN/m2 (live) and 0.3 kN/m2

(superimposed dead). Themachinery to be placed in the sixthstorey warehouse area is heavier,hence the loading there issignificantly higher at 30 kN/m2

(live) and 1.8 kN/m2

(superimposed dead). The strength

of concrete used in the design is 35 N/mm2.The arrangement of the tendons is such that it isbanded and distributed in both directions, asrequired by the consultant. Tendon spacing variesbetween 300-400 mm for column strips and1000-1250 mm for middle strips.

TIGHT SCHEDULETo meet the owner’s requirements, Phase 1 isscheduled for completion before Phase 2. Hence,the race against time started right from Day One.One of the great advantages of using post-tensioning for flat slabs comes into full play here –enhanced construction speed. The usage of post-tensioning facilitates the earlier removal of form-work, resulting in a shorter floor-to-floor cycletime, thus reducing the construction time signifi-cantly. This enabled a smooth handover of Phase 1,meeting the time challenge set by the client. With the BBR post-tensioning system in place,the high performance and effective floor slabscreate a smooth appearance, with a minimalnumber of joints – in addition to other value-added benefits, such as long-term durability andlow maintenance. l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Ascendas

MAIN CONTRACTORJian Huang Construction Co Pte Ltd

DESIGNER Tham & Wong Consultant

TECHNOLOGYBBR CONA internalBBR CONA flat

BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR Construction Systems Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Located in the industrial region in the western part of Singapore, this development consists of six storeys,with two mezzanine floors and ancillary office. Miss Foo from BBR Construction Systems Pte Ltd, the BBRNetwork member in Singapore, takes up the story.

WAREHOUSE AT PIONEER WALK,SINGAPORE

Raceagainst time

43CONNÆCT

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This significant part of the Burj DubaiDevelopment consists of nine podiumlevels, covering an area ofapproximately 160 m x 60 m, providinga common area and linking the threeresidential towers which rise out of thepodium for a further 30 floors forming‘The Lofts’. The top four podium levelsand all of the tower floors were post-tensioned by NASA Structural Systems.We were responsible for the designand construction of the post-tensionedslabs, including the structural floordesign, the supply of specialist materialsand equipment, together with the post-tensioning shop drawings, installation,stressing and grouting of the tendons.The top four podium floors and all ofthe tower floors were based upon 3 mfloor-to-floor heights, making it virtuallyessential to adopt a flat plateconstruction of the floor slabs tomaximize floor-to-ceiling heights.The use of BBR CONA flat post-tensioning offered an economicalsolution for this type of floor systemand assisted the construction progressto ensure the earliest possiblecompletion of the structure.The PT floor system also made itpossible to support the large transferloads – from the two pool structureson the uppermost podium level –without the need for deep transfer

beams. The inclusion of post-tensioningallowed slab thickenings to be utilizedin the pool support structure, andensured the usability of the floorsimmediately below the pool supportstructure was not compromised.Throughout the project, StructuralSystems actively contributed to themain contractor’s ‘Don’t Walk By’safety initiative, effectively creating andmaintaining a safe workingenvironment. l

The project consists of an underground 200 mmcar park slab and a ground level 600 mm transferslab, supporting seven levels of superstructure ona 7.5 m square grid. Pre-cast construction, utilisedin the superstructure of the five residential blocks,resulted in substantial transfer loadings at groundfloor level. Local planning regulations dictated a drainedunderground car park – hence the top surface ofthe car park slab is laid to falls. Reinforcedconcrete slabs would have required complicatedsetting out of the top reinforcement mat. The PTsystem removes this complication by varying thehighest chair heights along the column lines to therequired surface level. The key factor in securing this project was thecomparative savings offered over the reinforcedconcrete scheme. Reducing the excavation by300 mm on a site with a high water table wasalso beneficial to the building works. l

CLANCY QUAY, DUBLIN, IRELAND

Canalside innovation

The Lofts project is part of EMAAR Properties’ prestigious BurjDubai Development – home of the world’s tallest structure,

the Burj Dubai. Warwick Ironmonger of BBR Network memberNASA (BBR) Structural Systems reports on his company’sinvolvement in the project.

Hidden strengthTHE LOFTS, BURJ DUBAI DEVELOPMENT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNEREMAAR Properties, Dubai-UAE

MAIN CONTRACTORAl-Futtaim Carillion LLC, Dubai-UAE

DESIGNER NORR, Dubai, UAE


BBR NETWORK MEMBERNASA (BBR) Structural Systems LLC (United Arab Emirates)

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Clancy Quay Developments

MAIN CONTRACTOR P Elliot & Company


BBR NETWORK MEMBERStructural Systems (UK) Ltd

Clancy Quay is a mixed-use developmentlocated in Dublin City. Structural Systems(UK) Ltd – the BBR Network member inthe UK – was awarded the contract for20,000 m2 of PT slabs based on an alter-native proposal to the existing reinforcedconcrete scheme.

44 CONNÆCT

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Goodman Ltd

MAIN CONTRACTOR Dominion Construction Ltd

DESIGNERMSC Consulting Group Ltd (structural engineer)BBR Contech (slab design)



One of New Zealand’s leading courier,logistics and distribution companies is tooperate from a brand-new distributioncentre in Auckland. CourierPost’s newdepot will be located in a 20,000 m2

warehouse building at HighbrookBusiness Park in East Tamaki – whichfeatures what’s thought to be theworld’s largest joint-free post-tensionedfloor slab – designed and installed byBBR Contech. Terry Palmer and JeffMarchant describe this latest project.

THE DISTRIBUTION SOLUTIONCreated with eight pours over two months, thefloor was designed in response to CourierPost’sconcerns about locating a conveyor belt over ajoint, with inherent risks of slab shrinkage causingthe concrete to split underneath, potentiallydamaging the machine. The company sought asmooth, blemish-free surface that would performnot only for the machines but also for the 180courier vans expected to park, load and unload atthe depot.Working with business park developer GoodmanLtd, main contractor Dominion Construction andengineers MSC Consulting, the BBR Contech team

Largest joint-freePT slab

BUSINESS PARK WAREHOUSE, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Radisson SAS, the worldwide chain of hotels, is planning to open anew resort on the Adriatic Sea coast in the historic city ofDubrovnik – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. BBR Network

member BBR Adria d.d. was commissioned to provide and install BBRtendons for 11 slabs which cover an area of more than 35,000 m2. Despitethe complexities of the structure, many supporting beams could beeliminated by the use of PT technology – and this allowed more freedom

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Dubrovacki Vrtovi Sunca d.d.

MAIN CONTRACTOR Hidrocommerce d.o.o.

CONSULTANT I. Fabijanovic, B.Sc. Civ. Eng.

TECHNOLOGYBBR VT CONA CMI internalBBR CONA unbonded

BBR NETWORK MEMBER BBR Adria d.d.

RADISSON SAS HOTEL, DUBROVNIK, CROATIAAn architect’s dream

designed a solution in which multiplepours were coupled together,effectively creating a single, contin-uous slab with no movement joints. Completed in December 2008, theCourierPost building is a model ofBBR Contech ingenuity – a simple,highly effective solution to apotentially damaging issue. l

45CONNÆCT

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The Caja Madrid tower is located at the Paseo dela Castellana, in Madrid, close to the formertraining facilities of the Real Madrid soccer team.It belongs to the Spanish bank, Caja Madrid, and ispart of the new business area being developedon the northern side of the city.The building’s structure is comprised of tworeinforced concrete cores connected to each otherat three different levels by two steel trusseswhich also bear the weight of the twelve floorsabove them. The loads are, therefore, transferedto the two cores which ultimately carry the weightof the whole tower down to the foundations.Different BBR solutions have been applied to thisproject – such as multiple strand tendons, stressedbars with diameters of up to 75 mm or SWIFcouplers for rebars. Addditionally, based on the pairstrand / wedge technique, a number of complexheavy-lifting operations have been performed. The post-tensioning technology has primarilybeen applied in two different areas – the maintrusses and the core slabs.The high altitudes, as well as the core constructionmethod, posed major challenges for the post-tensioning activities – as a result, innovative systemshad to be conceived. Thus, for the shortest tendons,the lack of space dictated that the strands shouldbe cut on the ground, lifted by crane and pushedinto the sheaths by hand, one at a time. For thelongest ones, the pushing machine had to be placedin the only spot available, guiding the strand throughPE flexible pipe down to the plate front.For stressing the strands, jacks weighing 1000 kg

were used. However, theunavailability of a crane added to thechallenges, the engineers had tocome up with a different approachto raising the jacks – temporarysupport beams connected to thesliding formwork above.The BBR team faced yet anotherchallenge in the installation andstressing of the bars. Since thespace was limited, very smallcylinders were used, requiring veryhigh pressures – up to 1200 bar –in order to attain the 2400 kNnecessary.

HEAVY LIFTINGThe heavy lifting operations farexceeded the complexity of theprevious tasks. In fact, the upperstructure linking the two concretecores could only be built 35 mbelow – and had to be lifted intoits final position, 250 m aboveground level. Four hydraulic jackswere placed on cantilevered decksconnected to the top of the cores.First of all, the structure had to beslightly elevated in order to finish theassembly of the last parts. Oncecompleted, the whole structure hadto be raised to the top.Despite the hazards and difficulties,BBR technology and its qualifiedstaff provided the client withpractical solutions which played asignificant role in delivering thisproject at a minimum cost. l

Juan Linero and Gustavo Delgado of BBR PTE – the BBR Networkmember in Spain – report on how BBR technology has contributedto the creating of this 250 m high, state-of-the-art tower.

Towering technology

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Caja Madrid Bank

MAIN CONTRACTORFCC CONSTRUCCION, S.A. – Dragados JV

ARCHITECT Foster & Partners

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERHalvorson and Partners

TECHNOLOGY SWIFBBR CONA internalHeavy lifting

BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR PTE (Spain)

CAJA MADRID TOWER, SPAIN

46 CONNÆCT

The Campus Project is being developed byColonial First State funds, CommonwealthProperty Fund and Direct Property InvestmentFund. This fast growing area is attracting the highend clients wanting a modern space with excellentfacilities outside the crowded Sydney CBD.

REDUCING IMPACTReducing the impact on the environment is ahighly sought after and marketable aspect. BovisLend Lease designed, project managed andconstructed the New Commonwealth BankCampus project with the environment in mind.The project has been registered for a GreenStar – Office Design and Office As Built, ratingwith the Green Building Council of Australia(GBCA). Structural Systems assisted in reducingthe environmental impact by using the BBRCONA flat bonded system which reduces theamount of new materials, such as concrete andreinforcement, compared to conventionallyreinforced structures.

COST SAVINGSThe office space itself comprisedfive basement levels, podium, andtwo towers with eight levels each.Overall, the structure has66,000 m2 of stressed area.Originally, we were only engagedto supply and install the post-tensioning with a structuralconsultant designing and detailing.With our vast experience indesign and detailing, Bovis LendLease requested us to design thevery difficult transfer / podiumlevel, as well as to advise on theupper levels in an effort to reducecosts. This resulted in an overallsaving of 76 t of post-tensioningand 290 t of conventionalreinforcement. This representedsavings for the project ofapproximately 18% of the total

post-tensioning and 36% of the reinforcementover the entire horizontal area.These savings were not at the expense of anyadditional concrete or impacting on the tightdeflection limits set for this high class structure.Installation time of the reinforcement and post-tensioning was also reduced, giving additionalbenefits to the builder. Overall, the engagementof Structural Systems and use of BBR CONAflat bonded systems helped deliver a moreefficient structure with less impact on theenvironment – while still performing to thehighest standards. l

The New Commonwealth Bank Campus Project is the newest office development in the business district of theSydney Olympic Park venue in Homebush Bay. Paul Maleszka of Structural Systems explains how the NewCommonwealth Bank Campus is set to be one of the most sought after office spaces in the region.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Colonial First State Global Asset Management

MAIN CONTRACTOR Bovis Lend Lease

DESIGNER Connell Wagner



Green and leanNEW COMMONWEALTH BANK CAMPUS, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

47CONNÆCT

Site engineer, M.Sc. Bartosz Łukijaniuk of BBR Polska Sp. z o.o. – the BBR Network member inPoland – reports that his company has successfully completed the post-tensioning of two majorsilos in Poland – this sugar silo in Kruszwica and a clinker silo at the Kujawy Cement Plant. ‘

Superior storage solutions

SUGAR & CLINKER SILOS, POLAND

TAN

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48 CONNÆCT

These are the fifth and sixth siloprojects to be completed in Polandby BBR Polska Sp. z o.o. and bothstructures were completed in co-operation with Chemadex S.A. – a civil engineering andconstruction company whichspecializes in this type of work.

KRUSZWICA SUGAR SILONational sugar producer, KrajowaSpółka Cukrowa S.A. needed toconstruct a new sugar silo as part ofthe modernization of their sugarfactory in Kruszwica. Detailed designwas carried out by Chemadex S.A. –who was also the main contractorfor the project. The concrete walls of the circularsilo are 42 m high and the innerdiameter is 47 m, while the wall hasa constant thickness of 0.32 m. Boththe foundations and bottom slabwere concreted using traditionalstationary formwork – the wallswere slipformed. The whole silo istopped with a dome-shaped steelroof. The silo is able to hold 60,000 tof sugar – putting this silo among thelargest sugar silos in Poland!

The silo walls are post-tensioned with horizontalBBR VT CONA CMI 406 and 706 tendons,anchored in four buttresses.Sixty four BBR VT CONA CMI 406 tendons and122 BBR VT CONA CMI 706 tendons wereinstalled in the silo walls. Together, the strandweighed 88 t and in total we pushed about 75 km of strand into ducts.The work, which was carried out from movableplatforms, was completed in about 40 days.

KUJAWY CLINKER SILOA new clinker silo has been built as part of adevelopment at Lafarge Cement’s Kujawy cementplant. The design was completed by the Stuttgart-based firm, Peter und Lochner and the maincontractor was Chemadex S.A.The concrete silo walls are 37 m high, 55 m indiameter and 1.2 m thick at the base and 0.45 mat the top. As with the sugar silo, the walls wereslipformed. This silo is covered with a cone-shaped steel roof – the overall height of the silois 69 m – and it can hold 120,000 t of clinker.The walls are post-tensioned with 222 horizontaltendons anchored in six buttresses spaced evenlyaround the perimeter. We used 18 BBR VTCONA CMI 1906 plus 204 BBR VT CONA CMI1506 tendons. The total length of strand used wasjust over 211 km – making a total of 248 t ofstressing steel.

“THE SILO IS ABLE TO HOLD60,000 T OF SUGAR – PUTTINGTHIS SILO AMONG THE LARGESTSUGAR SILOS IN POLAND!”

49CONNÆCT

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Stressing operations were carried out with sixstressing jacks which simultaneously tensionedthree tendons from both ends at the same time.

A YEAR TO REMEMBERIn one year alone, BBR Polska pushed 286 km(337 t) of strand through the ducts, completed566 stressing operations and grouted with about160 t of cementitious grout – just for silostructures. This is quite an achievement! l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Kruszwica: Krajowa Spółka CukrowaKujawy: Lafarge S.A.

CONTRACTOR Chemadex S.A.

DESIGNER Kruszwica: Chemadex S.A.Kujawy: Peter und Lochner



Step 1: Extraction of raw materials The raw materials needed to produce cement – calcium carbonate, silica, aluminaand iron ore – are generally extracted from limestone rock, chalk, clayey schist orclay. Suitable reserves can be found in most countries. These raw materials are extracted from the quarry by blasting. They are thencrushed and transported to the plant where they are stored and homogenized.

Step 2: Raw grinding and burningVery fine grinding produces a fine powder, known as raw meal, which is preheatedand then sent to the kiln. The material is heated to 1,500°C before being suddenlyand dramatically cooled by bursts of air.This produces clinker, the basic material required for the production of allcements.

Step 3: Cement grinding and shippingA small amount of gypsum (3-5%) is added to the clinker to regulate how thecement will set. The mixture is then very finely ground to obtain ‘pure cement’.During this phase, different mineral materials, called ‘cement additives’, may beadded alongside the gypsum. Used in varying proportions, these additives, whichare of natural or industrial origin, give the cement specific properties such asreduced permeability, greater resistance to sulfates and aggressive environments,improved workability, or higher-quality finishes.Finally, the cement is stored in silos before being shipped in bulk or in bags to thesites where it will be used.

Poland has a great tradition of sugarmaking. The first sugar-beet refinery inEurope was set up in 1802 in Konary,Lower Silesia region – in fact, the sugarindustry is the oldest sector of thePolish national economy. Today, with apopulation reaching over 38 million andsugar consumption estimated at 42 kgper capita, the country is an attractivemarket for sugar producers. Poland isone of Europe’s largest sugar producers,ranking third after Germany and France– annual production of sugar isestimated at two million tons.

Founded in 2002, Krajowa SpółkaCukrowa S.A. (Polski Cukier S.A.) is theleading sugar producer in Poland andhas a 4% share of the European market,making it the ninth largest sugarproducer in Europe. The company’sshare of the domestic market is nearly40% and it is one of the ‘Top 100’ Polishcompanies. The company has plants ineight districts which annually processfour million tons of sugar beets,supplied by 30,000 farmers working onnearly 100,000 hectares.

IN FOCUS: Cement manufacture

Local insight: Sugar making in Poland

50 CONNÆCT

“... POST-TENSIONING IS FAST, EFFICIENT,ECONOMICAL AND VERY COMPETITIVE IN THE

CONSTRUCTION MARKET.”

KILMORE HEADWORKS UPGRADE, AUSTRALIA

51CONNÆCT

Kilmore is a town in Victoria, Australia – 60 kmnorth of Melbourne by the Hume Freeway andthe Northern Highway. In 1841, a landspeculator, William Rutledge bought an estate of21 km2 and named it after his birthplace –Kilmore, in County Cavan, Ireland. Kilmore is theoldest inland town in Victoria and was aconvenient stop-over for many people during theVictorian gold rush of the 1850s.

PROJECT PURPOSEThere were three existing earthen basinreservoirs in Goulburn Valley Municipality inKilmore. Reservoir 1 supplied the higher levelareas and Reservoir 3 supplied the lower lyingproperties. Reservoir 2 was dormant.Today, Kilmore is a growing and modern townrequiring modern infrastructure.The purpose of this project was to replaceReservoirs 1 and 3 with a covered, above groundwater storage tank. This new storage tank is nowlocated at the site of Reservoir 2.

GENERAL DESIGN ASPECTSThe tank was designed using a combination ofdesign software fully developed in-house andcommercial finite element software. The staticsystem chosen for the Kilmore tank was a pinnedbase and free top of walls. The design was carriedout in accordance with AS 3735 – the AustralianStandard for concrete structures for retainingliquids.The tank base slab was designed to be crack-free,have a minimum prestress after all losses in thevicinity of 1.5 MPa and special attention was paidto details of the ground and base slabpreparation, in order to minimize any possiblecauses for the tank slab to lock during its life span.In addition to the above, the PT slab wasdesigned to carry loading from a mobile cranewith outrigger loads of up to 70 t – while liftingthe wall panels.

CASTING OPERATIONSThe floor slab was cast monolithic,with the ring beam eliminating anyjoints through the floor of the tankbase. It was a challenge for thecontractor to pour such a big slab ina Victoria country town. It took 20hours, 45 people working from 4 amtill 11.30 pm to pour 550 m3 ofconcrete to complete the tank basein one pour. Initial stress was appliedthe next day and final stress of thering beam and slab tendons whenconcrete reached 22 MPa – usuallyin 3-4 days.Once the slab and the ring beamwere fully stressed, casting of thepanels commenced on top of thePT slab. Curved casting beds wereset up in strategic locations on theslab, where up to six panels werecast at one location, then lifted andplaced onto the ring beam recessprogressively.

STRESSINGThe tank walls were designed towithstand all the long term andshort term load combinations,including water load, earthquakeload, prestress load and temperatureloads – and, under all combinations,the structure will still have minimum

residual prestress of 0.7 MPa, as per therequirements of AS 3735.Vertical tendons were installed in the panels andwere stressed prior to the panels being lifted.Wall hoop tendons were stressed out of stressingpilasters that were in alternating positions along thetank perimeter. One wall hoop consisted of twolive-to-live tendons in round ducts. The wall pilasterswere positioned at 0, 90, 180 and 360 degreesalong the tank perimeter in order to minimizecongestion at anchorages and maximize thestressing force in the hoop tendons. Once all the panels were erected in place, PTstrand was pushed into the PT ducts, infills pouredand after required curing time of the infills, the wallhoop tendons were simultaneously stressed to aspecified load. To minimize vertical bending in thetank walls, hoop tendons were stressed in twostages:u Stage 1 – bottom of wall free to move in the

ring beam recess, 50% of hoop tendons stressedto full load.

u Stage 2 – bottom of wall locked (pinned), i.e.grouted, the remainder of the hoop tendonsstressed to full load.

The complete concrete structure was finished inless than three months which – once again –confirms that post-tensioning is fast, efficient,economical and very competitive in theconstruction market. l

The winning tender for the design and construction of a 16 ML capacitycircular water tank at Kilmore for Goulburn Valley Water, as reported byJanine Ralev of BBR Network member Structural Systems Ltd, was an

alternative design comprising a post-tensioned precast circular tank – ratherthan the steel tank option documented by consultant engineers. Structural

Systems’ scope of works included post-tensioned structure design,documentation and structural certification, supply and installation of post-

tensioning, including site supervision.

Winning alternative solution

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Goulburn Valley Water

MAIN CONTRACTOR Leed Engineering Pty. Ltd

DESIGNER Janine Ralev, Structural Systems Ltd

TECHNOLOGYBBR VT CONA CMI internalBBR CONA flat BBR CONA internal


52 CONNÆCT

Worldwide building activities are stillgrowing and structures made of

concrete are of great importance. Accordingly,the global demand for cement has increased by41% in the past five years. This considerablegrowth is noticeable in Eastern Europe – andeven more in China, where the per capitaconsumption of cement has exceeded 800 kgaccording to the ‘Cement Projects Focus 2010’market survey compiled by OneStoneIntelligence in December 2006.

VORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH, the BBR Network memberin Germany, is currently working on a cement plant in Russia.Dipl.-Ing. Christian Leicht describes how PT work in Russia isalways an opportunity and a challenge at the same time.

GOING EASTWARDSThe Shurovo Cement factory, which belongs to the HolcimGroup, is located in the southeast of Moscow. The cementrequired to support the building boom in the Moscowregion is produced here. The plant has an annual output ofapproximately four million tons of cement. Some sections of the plant are out-of-date and must bereconstructed and enlarged. These are mainly the silos, therotary furnace and the mills. In the current phase, two clinkersilos and a raw meal silo are under construction. Thecontractor for all concrete work at the plant is Lei AG and allthe post-tensioning work is being undertaken byVORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH.

CONSTRUCTION METHODThe 40 m diameter clinker silos were built using slipformconstruction techniques. This continuously moving formworkusually climbs at around 200 mm per hour. Sometimes theclimbing rate for this project was less than 2 m a day – dueto lack of concrete or other materials. The start of this operation was not easy either, as many ofour attempts to bring the plastic trumpets through theRussian customs were in vain. Nevertheless, the slipping ofthe 47 m high clinker silos has been finished successfully. Theanchorages and the galvanized metal-ribbed ducts were

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53CONNÆCT

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was installed afterwards, followed by stressing andgrouting of the tendons.

PRESTRESSING SYSTEMThe prestressing system used for the clinker silowas BBR VT CONA CMI with 12 and 19 0.62”diameter strands with a maximum tensile strengthof 1860 N/mm². The tendons make up thecircumference of the silo and are stressed a third ata time to minimize friction losses. Six buttresseswere formed to allow alternating tendons to bestressed at 60° to each other, ensuring loads wereuniformly distributed around the silo.Each silo has 102 BBR VT CONA CMI 1906tendons and 78 BBR VT CONA CMI 1206 tendons– the total amout of prestressing steel used was165 t. After the strands had been installed with ahigh speed pusher from the ground, the tendonswere stressed in a predetermined sequence to aload of 4,332 kN and 2,736 kN, respectively.

EMBRACING THE FUTUREIt is a privilege for VORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbHto be a member of a team which contributes tominimizing environmental pollution by buildingstate-of-the-art facilities – especially in such anenergy-intensive sector as the cement industry –and we meet the challenges which come along withsuch projects. Meanwhile, making improvements bybringing new technologies to other markets hasalways been a strong feature of VORSPANN-TECHNIK’s approach. l

The UK’s largest civils project has been declared the winner in thecivil engineering category of the 2008 Concrete Society Awards. Thejudges said: “The project is of the highest standard and reflects allthat is best in innovative use of concrete in civil engineering”.

Since we reported on this project inthe 2007 edition of CONNAECT,construction of the five 92 m diameterpost-tensioned LNG storage tanks inSouth Wales has progressed well andis now nearing completion. The teamfrom Structural Systems (UK) Limited– the BBR Network member for theUK – is currently working on Tank 3 –carrying out the closure works on thetemporary construction openings

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Alpha Cement Russia

MAIN CONTRACTOR Lei AG Baumanagement

DESIGNER Kottmann Engineering


BBR NETWORK MEMBERVORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH (Germany)

Award for LNG storage

SOUTH HOOK LNG TANKS, PEMBROKE DOCK, WALES

(TCOs), required during erection ofthe steel inner tank linings, internalpiping and insulation material. Strand installation began in November2006 and since then, some 2,900 t ofstressing steel has been applied to theproject. With Tanks 1 and 2 alreadycomplete, three tanks will be on lineshortly. Overall completion isprogrammed for the third Quarter of2009.

54 CONNÆCT

SLIPFORM PROCESSThe basic slipform process involves building atwin ring of inner and outer sets of steel shuttersat ground level. As part of the slipform design,the shutter ring is braced and stiffened tomaintain the cylindrical silo shape. Once all thenecessary plant and materials are in place ornearby, wet concrete is poured into the shuttersand the slipform rig is gradually moved upwardsby hydraulic jacks fitted within the slipformstructure. The ‘slipping’ process is then acontinuous 24-hour operation until the requiredstructure height is reached. Some of the benefits of the slipform process arethe speed of construction – 24-hour continuous

operations – and the relatedadvantage of very few constructionjoints, greatly reducing the risk ofwater ingress and potential productdamage.

POST-TENSIONINGWe used 200 BBR CONA internal706 anchorages – the total weightof PT used was 17 t.The post-tensioning process givesthe silo a much greater loadcarrying capacity, compared toconventionally reinforcedstructures, and allows for very

slender walls – greatly reducing materials andoverall cost. The ‘compressing’ of the silo walls bythe stressed cables means that cracking of theconcrete and effects of thermal expansioninduced cracking is also reduced or eliminated –helping, once again, to reduce water ingress intothe structure. l

Project Manager Daniel O’Leary from SSL Western had his hands full when Structural Systems Limited (SSL) –the BBR Network member in Australia – was contracted by BGC Cement to provide the knowledge andexpertise to design and construct the slipform used in the construction of this cement silo. Structural Systems

was also contracted to post-tension the silo – located in the port district of Kwinana, approximately 30 km south of

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER BGC Cement

MAIN CONTRACTOR BGC Construction

DESIGNER MPA Shedden



TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER ENAGAS

MAIN CONTRACTOR FCC CONSTRUCCION, S.A.

DESIGNER Principia y Carlos Fernández Casado



Pictured here is the 4th LNG Tank in Cartagenaas it nears completion. This cylindrical reinforcedconcrete tank made to store Liquefied NaturalGas features some 600,000 kg of BBR CONAtechnology which was designed and installed byBBR PTE, the BBR Network member in Spain.The tank has an external diameter of 78 m andis 40 m high.

Completion in Cartagena

Up, up and away!BGC CEMENT SILO, PERTH, AUSTRALIA

4TH LNG TANK, CARTAGENA, SPAIN

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55CONNÆCT

During the summer of 2007, VORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH was awarded a contractfor heavy lifting work for a new railway bridge. This contract was awarded to VTbecause of their reputation for heavy lifting know-how. Dipl. Ing. (FH) Thomas

Weber describes the work which involved repeated lifting and lowering of the shoring trussto construct the 270 m long arch – the longest concrete arch for a railway bridge in Europe. ‘

L o n g e s t i n E u r o p e

G R Ü M P E N TA L B R I D G E , G E R M A N Y

Concrete arch from axis 90 (north), constructionphase 1 finished, support structure for constructionphase 2 raised in place.

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The Grümpental bridge is part of the newEbensfeld-Erfurt railway route. The bridge islocated near the village of Grümpen in theGerman State of Thuringia.With an overall length of about 1100 m and amaximum height of about 70 m, it is one of thelargest valley bridges on the route. The bridge ispart of Verkehrsprojekt Deutsche Einheit Nr. 8(German Unity Transport Project No. 8) whichencompasses a 500 km length considered to bethe central section of the high speed routebetween Munich and Berlin.

TECHNICAL DETAILSThe bridge has a regular pier spacing of 44 malong its end sections, with piers spaced every30 m in the area over its reinforced concrete arch.It consists of three continuous beam systems withlengths of 219 m, 446 m and 439 m. The centresection (446 m) of the continuous beam is mainlysupported by a concrete arch. The superstructureconsists of a 3.60 m high hollow box girder,fabricated with the help of an advancing shoring. The reinforced concrete arch, also a hollow boxin cross-section, has a length of 270 m and aheight of almost 70 m. The arch is constructed insections from axis 80 (south) and axis 90 (north)on auxiliary concrete piers. The shoring truss hasto be lifted to the relevant construction sectionand subsequently lowered to the ground againafter completion of the section. The arch is built ina total of nine sections, four each from the northand south and a section for gap closure at its apex.

HEAVY-LIFTING TECHNOLOGYA total of four VT SH 1906 strand lifting jacks areused to perform the lifting and lowering of theshoring truss. Each of these jacks is fitted with 19compacted strands – 165 mm² in cross-sectionarea. The maximum lift / lower loads incurred atthe front area of the support structure wereabout 200 t per jack and about 75 t in the reararea. The total lift or lower load per procedurewas therefore about 550 t.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYCLIENT Deutsche Bahn AG

MAIN CONTRACTORGerdum u. Breuer Bauunternehmen GmbH

DESIGNER Kinkel und Partner GmbH

TECHNOLOGY Heavy lifting

BBR NETWORK MEMBERVORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH (Germany)

VT strands – elevator in the forwardposition during a lift procedure.

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At the apex of the arch, a maximum lift / lowerheight of about 55 m will be reached. The strandbundles were coiled onto special VT coilingdevices for the lift procedure, from where theywere uncoiled again for the subsequent loweringprocedure. This made problem-free repeated useof the strand bundles possible.

LIFT PROCEDUREDuring the lift procedure, all strand bundles werefastened to the shoring truss by way of pinpoints. At first, the truss was lifted at the frontuntil the truss reached its final inclination for thecoming arch section. Then the lifting wascontinued by all four strand lifters synchronouslyuntil it reached its intended position. The rear endof the support structure was then tightened ontothe end of the existing arch section by way oftension bars. In the forward axis, the appropriatetransversal bearing beam was pushed into arecess – prepared in the auxiliary pier – ontowhich the load of the shoring truss could then betransferred.

LOWERING PROCEDUREAfter concrete had been cast and formwork forthat section had been removed, the strand liftingequipment – consisting of jack, hydraulic pumpand strandcable coiling device – were againattached to the arch and all lifting elementsconnected to the truss. Once the load was againtransferred to the strandlifters, the rear tensionbars and the transversal bearing beam wereremoved and the lowering procedure wasperformed. On the ground, the support structurewas pulled on skids to the next span of the arch,in preparation for the following lift procedure. l

Following the reunification of former East and West Germany, the governmentdevised a program, consisting of 17 transport projects, which would provide afoundation for user-friendly and modern transport connections between theeastern and western parts of Germany. These consist of nine rail and sevenmotorway schemes – and even a waterway project. The € 38.8 billioninfrastructure investment program was launched in 1991 to speed up thereunification process. During the 40 year separation of the German States,numerous gaps had arisen in the transportation infrastructure. By the end of2007, more than € 27 billion of the envisaged investment – equal to around 71%of the total fund – had been used. All 17 German Unity Transport projects arenow either completed or under construction.

Local insight: German Unity Transport

Installation of the socket-pier.

Arch cross-section, VT strands – elevator in the rear position during a lift procedure.

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The new ‘Te Puni Village’ will offeraccommodation to over 350 students, spreadover three towers that link together to provideshared administration, dining and other facilities.As the towers are sited on three descendinglevels of the steep site, extensive post-excavationground stabilization and retention works wererequired. The project presented a number of challenges: u working on a confined site with restricted

access for concrete trucks and otherequipment

u coping with unpredictable and inclementweather

u dovetailing work with that of the buildingconstruction team

u and meeting an extremely tight deadline thatrequired completion in time for the studentintake in early 2009.

After undertaking four initial provingtests – for head contractor HawkinsConstruction and engineeringspecialist Connell Wagner – BBRContech and subcontract drillerRichardson Drilling installed almost400 galvanized steel ‘soil nails’ intothe slopes, to depths ranging fromfour to ten meters. With the soilnails firmly grouted into the ground,the team placed reinforcing meshacross the surface and appliedabout 1100 m2 of sprayed concreteto the three main walls and twopre-existing walls. They alsoinstalled 35 bored drains – runninghorizontally in the retained soil – to ensure efficient water drainagebehind the new retaining wall.

Located in the heart of New Zealand’s capital city – well known for its hilly landscape and sometimes tortuousroads – Victoria University of Wellington doesn’t have a lot of room in which to expand. Instead, it’s going up,building a three-tower student accommodation complex on a small, steep and exposed site, with help from

BBR Contech – the BBR Network member in New Zealand – and its ground-stabilization team.

Accommodating tomorrow’s leaders

Effective communication and co-ordination sawBBR Contech’s work completed on time –enabling work to proceed on providing theUniversity’s students with modern, comfortableaccommodation and spectacular views ofWellington harbor. l

GROUND STABILIZATION,WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Victoria University of Wellington

CONTRACTOR Hawkins Construction Ltd

DESIGNER Connell Wagner

TECHNOLOGY Soil nails


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SLEIPNER B COMPRESSION, NORTH SEA

A 12 m deep excavation was required for a largehotel complex in the heart of India’s third mostpopulous city Bangalore – also well-known as theSilicon Valley of India. BBR Network memberBBR (India) Pvt Ltd was commissioned to designand install passive soil anchors to tie back 600 mmdiameter piles to resist lateral soil pressurewithout affecting nearby buildings and roads. Bythe end of the project, more than 800 anchors infive layers – with an average anchor length of 11 m – had been drilled, installed and grouted. l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYCLIENT M/s. Adarsh Group

MAIN CONTRACTOR M/s. B.L. Kashyap & Sons Ltd

DESIGNER M/s. Potential Service Consultants (P) Ltd

TECHNOLOGY Soil anchors


Solution for deep vertical excavation

DEEP EXCAVATION, BANGALORE, INDIA

Extending oil production

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Statoil

CONTRACTOR Aibel AS

DESIGNER Aibel AS

TECHNOLOGY Bars

BBR NETWORK MEMBERKB Spennteknikk AS (Norway)

Sleipner B is a Statoil owned platformlocated in the North Sea. To utilize moreof the reservoirs on the oil field, a

compression unit has been developed toincrease the pressure in the reservoir andenable more oil to be extracted from the field.This system is used for extending theproduction life time of existing oil fields.

KB Spennteknikk AS was involvedin the installation of the 1,300 theavy compression unit. One of thelargest offshore lifting vessels, Saipem7000, was used for the installation tothe platform. The compression unitwas fixed to the platform by using16 x 50 mm diameter stress bars,stressed to a total load of 12,000 kN.KB Spennteknikk AS supplied thespecially designed bars and

performed the stressing during offshore operations.The bars were protected with grease filled steelcasings and end caps as corrosion protection. l

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activity on site, under periodic supervision of siteengineers. During the long period of construction,Tomasz Borsz and Piotr Ostrowski managed andshared the work in line with their own personalexperience and the client’s requirements.

ASSEMBLY OF ARCHTwo 2600 kN jacks with 12 0.6” diameter strandswere used to lift the main section of the deck,installed on one side of the partially constructedbridge deck. Two 6800 kN jacks with 13 0.6”strands were installed on the other side. The jackswere connected to the BBR SL-402 system andoperated from the control panel. Lifting operations,together with final joint realization, lasted three days. For lifting the external left element of arch, we usedtwo 6800 kN jacks with seven 0.6” diameterstrands, installed on the WP2 temporary tower andfour BBR SL-402 1650 kN jacks with 12 0.6”strands, installed on the WP1 tower. For lifting thecentral element of the arch, we used four BBR SL-402 1650 kN jacks with seven 0.6” strands,installed on WP1 and WP2 temporary towers.

POT BEARINGS Before assembly, the bearings were initially preseton site to 40 mm. Eighteen 250 t jacks wereplaced on sliding bearings and used for the liftingoperations and changing the temporary bearingsfor the final ones. The lifting force needed was1825 t for one bearing.

The opening and naming of the new bridge – the John Paul II Bridge – over theRiver Vistula in Pulawy was greeted by celebrations in the local community. Nolonger would they have to fold back their door mirrors to pass across the old

bridge, nor would they have to endure traffic jams – one of which lasted for tenhours! Construction of the new bridge took over two years, but it was worth waitingfor, reports BBR Polska – the BBR Network member in Poland.

Bridge for the community

Scope of BBR Polska’s worksu Supply and assembly of 72 pot bearings –

with capacities ranging from 1800 kN to46,100 kN.

u Lifting of main deck section of 63.79 mlength and weighing 554 t from barge to aheight of 20 m.

u Lifting of external (left) arch element ofabout 80 m length and weighing 687 t to a height of 18 m.

u Lifting of central (joining) arch element withlength of 35 m and weight of 236 t to aheight of about 18 m.

u Supply, assembly and stressing of 112 hangers– ranging from 1.846 m to 22.465 m long.

JOHN PAUL II BRIDGE, PULAWY, POLAND

The bridge is 1032.8 m long and 22 m wide – andhas a 212 m steel arch main span. The BBR Polskateam consisted of six people during the height of

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Typical applications for BBR WIGAblocinclude calibration of hydraulic jacks, staycable monitoring, bridge load control onabutments and pylons, ground anchormonitoring, wind tower stressmonitoring and many more. BBRWIGAbloc load cells come in a widerange from 5 to 20,000 kN.When pressure is applied to the BBRWIGAbloc unit, the elastomer discbehaves like a quasifluid medium. Thepiezo pressure sensor – the ‘heart’ of theinstrument – is located inside the loadcell, enclosed by a solid steel structurewhere it is safe from external influences.This design provides some addedbenefits:u Proven technology with many years of

experienceu Easy mountingu Excellent repeatabilityu The cover which floats upon the

elastomer adapts itself automatically toslopes of up to 3.5%

u Radial forces are transmitted from thecover to the pot wall without exertingany fundamental influence on themeasurement

u Low heightu Zero maintenanceRecently, BBR WIGAbloc technologyhas been used in the oil industry – onNPCC’s SPE350 service barge, shownhere, which has a 5,000 t Clyde craneon board. The 12,000 kN sensorswere fitted to the buffer section ofeach leg, above the moving parts. Thesensor sends signals back to the maindeck and jacking room, wheremonitoring is carried out on a 24/7basis to ensure that early warningsare given should loading change andpossibly put the barge and its crew atrisk. l

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYCLIENT National Highways and MotorwaysAuthorities in Lublin (GDDKiA o/Lublin)

CONTRACTING CONSORTIUMPRM ‘Mosty Łódz SA / Herman Kirchner PolskaVISTAL Sp. z o.o.

DESIGNER PiWOM POMOST SC

TECHNOLOGY BearingsHangersHeavy lifting


BBR Network members now have direct access to the BBRWIGAbloc – a measuring instrument for compression forces whichwas recently introduced to the BBR product range.

New sensing technology

STRESSING HANGERSWe carried out the assembly of hangers from abarge using a movable crane. Each hanger waslifted from the barge using temporary ropes andinitially connected to the upper anchorage. Aftersuspending all the hangers, we regulated the lengthand joined them to the lower anchorages. Thehangers have stressing couplers regulated to+/– 50 mm. BBR 40 t stressing jacks were installedon the couplers. The initial stressing force in eachhanger varied from 100 up to 389 kN. Aftercompletion of the bridge deck, the final tensioningwas carried out and the final stressing force ineach hanger was between 430 and 580 kN. l

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There is a traditional saying in Austria – ‘Let thechurch remain in the village’ – which actuallymeans ‘Let’s not exaggerate, keep a sense ofproportion’. A couple of years ago, in the little town ofRaaba, south of the city of Graz, Austria, Mr.Gangl – the Mayor – thought it would bewonderful if there were a square outside themain door of the little church. The churchhosted regular services and wedding ceremoniesfrom time-to-time, but when guests stepped outof the main doors, they found themselves on thepavement, directly beside the road.After many investigations and planning approval,the big question remained – would the movecreate cracks in the building and render thebuilding tragically useless?A whole set of measures were taken to avoidthis. The building was secured by diagonal threadbars at most of the walls. The weight of the wallsand the spire was carried by additional concretefoundations and steel beams. In addition, thesliding bearings were designed to allow force /height correction during the move, through built-in hydraulic pressure elements. These wereconstantly observed while the church was shifted.The individual sliding bearings changed theirheight in a range of +/- 2 mm, while keeping theload constant. The moving force was produced bytwo strand lifting jacks, each furnished with four0.6” strands. The shift was performed with anupward slope of 2%, to avoid extensive liftingbefore or after the move. The strand lifters couldeasily pull the 500 t weight over the length of13.5 m to the building’s new place.On 16th July 2008, the church was shifted –some 100 years after it had been built in thatlocation. Mr. Gangl, the mayor, members of thetown board and very many spectators watchedthe moving of their church. The project was acomplete success – no obvious cracks could beseen after the move, when the building includingthe spire had been set to its new foundation. The social aspect of church services and weddingceremonies can now continue comfortably outsidethe church in the newly-created square, whereguests can stand and have a good talk or evenenjoy a beverage – away from cars on the road.And, yes – despite all these ambitious ideas – thelittle church did indeed remain in the village! l

CHURCH RELOCATION, RAABA, AUSTRIA

Making moves

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Town of Raaba, Austria

MAIN CONTRACTORMajcen Baugesellschaft mbH

DESIGNER Convex, Graz and Werner Unger

TECHNOLOGY Heavy lifting

BBR NETWORK MEMBERVORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG (Austria)

Günter Damoser from Austrian BBR Network memberVORSPANN-TECHNIK reports on a most unusual applicationfor jacks and tensile elements.

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Staying power in ValenciaSERRERÍA BRIDGE, VALENCIA, SPAIN

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Serrería Bridge is a steel stay cable bridge, with a155 m long main span. The 29 front BBR HiAmCONA strand stay cables, with 31 and 61strands, and the four back stays with 85 strandseach, support more than 1,800 t of steel used forthe bridge deck. The prestressing strand is agalvanized, waxed and HDPE coextruded strandwith a ultimate tensile strength of 1860 MPa anda steel cross-section of 150 mm2.

RIGOROUSLY TESTED SYSTEMThe BBR HiAm CONA stay cable system forstrand stay cable bridges has been rigorously andsuccessfully tested for fatigue and leak tightness – with testing provisions and test resultsexceeding the provisions stipulated in the fibrecommendation, Bulletin 30 ‘Acceptance of staycable systems using prestressing steels’.

PREPARATORY WORK AND CABLEINSTALLATIONDuring pylon construction, three provisional frontstays were installed to bear the weight of theinclined pylon. This work took place from themiddle of March 2008 to the first week of May.Starting from the end of May, the installation ofthe BBR HiAm CONA system was performed onsite using the strand-by-strand installation method,which is comprised of four basic steps:u Installation of the upper (pylon) and lower

(deck) BBR HiAm CONA anchorage. u The preassembled compact BBR stay pipe is

hung between the two anchorages using twomaster strands. The stay cable sheath is now

In the south of Valencia, the City of Arts & Sciences designed by theinternationally renowned architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava hasbecome one of the most celebrated features of the City. One of his

latest designs, the new Serrería Bridge, now rises in the centre of thisstunning complex to a height of 126 m – making it the highest point ofthe City. Representing the Serrería Bridge project team from BBR PTE –the BBR Network member in Spain – Diana Cobos Roger presentssome construction highlights.

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the overall aerodynamic behaviorand each strand was protectedwith an individual HDPE tube(outside diameter 25 mm) whichallows the replacement of anystrand individually if required. Inaddition, all four back stays werefitted with external helical ribs andadvanced BBR Square Dampers toprovide supplemental damping tothe cables. This configuration not

only provides an enhanced aerodynamicperformance and allows replacement of individualstrands, but also provides enhanced fire resistanceof the four back stays which hold the entire pylonin position.

STRESSING OPERATIONSThe stressing of the back stays had to be carriedout simultaneously for all four stays, so we usedfour multi-strand jacks situated on the top of thepylon. ‘

used as a guide and passage from anchorage-to-anchorage.

u The strand is positioned at deck level andpulled up through the stay pipe and the upperanchorage and inserted into the loweranchorage.

u Each strand is tensioned immediately afterinstallation, using the BBR ISOSTRESS tensioningmethod, ensuring an equal stress distributionamong the strands of an individual cable.

BACK STAY CHALLENGEAfter installing 14 stays, we then had to place thefour back-stays. This process was quite a challengefor various reasons. As the duct is a steel pipethat could not be drilled, there were no ‘windows’to work through during installation. We placedthe top anchor heads on an auxiliary structureand then brought them into position, with the 85strands (weighing 15 t each) hanging from them.At the lower end, it was a similar situation, withus lifting the anchor heads into position.

PROTECTION AND MAINTENANCEAnother challenge for us was ensuring that thesteel duct and the strands worked as one singlestructure while, at the same time, preserving theoption of removing one strand for maintenanceor replacement should it become necessary. Theback stays have been very challenging in terms ofaerodynamics and BBR headquarters inSwitzerland developed and analyzed a specialconfiguration, where the whole 116 m longalmost vertical back stay pipe was injected withspecial grout to add extra mass, which enhances

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Technical insight:BBR Square DamperDespite the wide use of cable-stayedbridges, there are still several areas ofgreat concern, particularly the effectsand elimination of cable vibrationphenomena such as vortex shedding,galloping, parametric excitation andwind and rain induced vibration.Various countermeasures are available –for example, the use of helical rib onthe cable surface or cross-ties.Supplemental damping devices adddamping to the cable – hence achievingsufficient total damping as an efficientmeasure against cable vibrations.An advanced cable damping solution isthe BBR Square Damper. The BBRSquare Damper is based on frictionand is essentially an adaptation of thebraking system of an automobile. Thedevice can be used as an internaldamper, where it is installed inside thesteel guide pipe or alternatively as anexternal damper, attached to the freecable length using a damper housingand external brace. Thebasic characteristics of theBBR Square Damper are:u The damper is not

activated at low and non-critical cable vibrationamplitudes, to avoidconstant working of thedamper and thereforeminimize maintenancerequirements.

u The damping efficiency isindependent of theacceleration and mode ofcable vibration.

u Free longitudinalmovement of the staycable at the damperlocation is provided

(allowing temperature elongationand force variations of the stay cablewithout constraints).

u The damping characteristics can beadjusted at any time by changing the‘clamping’ force.

Its simple design, high efficiency, easyadjustability and low maintenancerequirements make the BBR SquareDamper a superior damping devicewhen compared to other products,such as oil dampers.The BBR Square Damper caneffectively damp stay cables over awide range of possible amplitudes ofcable vibration. The device can be fine-tuned and adjusted during its entireservice life to best suit a particularcable configuration and specificsusceptibilities to particular vibrations.All components of the damper caninspected individually and arereplaceable if required (due to externaldamage, vandalism etc).

“ON 28TH JULY, WE STRESSEDTHE LAST STRAND – JUST TWOMONTHS AFTER THE BEGINNINGTHE INSTALLATION!”

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Then we continued the stressing operations withfront stays 15 to 29, using the same system forstrand-by-strand installation – even for thelongest stays which were 250 m long. On 28thJuly, we stressed the last strand – just two monthsafter beginning the installation!

ENHANCED BBR DAMPINGBesides compact BBR stay pipes with helical ribs,we installed internal BBR Square Dampers on thestays at deck level. Subsequently, all stays weretested and they all complied with the theoreticallystipulated values. On 20th August 2008, loadtesting of the bridge was carried out – with greatresults and the bridge was finally opened to trafficon 22nd August 2008 – in time for the Formula 1Grand Prix weekend in Valencia!Once again, an amazingly high performance wasattained during installation, making the aspirationof opening this ambitious project to traffic in thelast week of August a reality. l It is particularly fitting that the world-famous architect and engineer Santiago

Calatrava should produce the Serrería Bridge and many other beautiful newstructures in this location – as Valencia is the city of his birth.

During his early years, Calatrava must surely have been enthralled by the vast arrayof architecture in the city – ranging from the ancient winding streets of the Barriodel Carmen with ancient Roman and Arabic buildings, to the Estación del Nortebuilt in the early 20th century. Calatrava studied at the Arts & Crafts School and then as an undergraduate at theArchitecture School in Valencia. After graduating in 1975, he pursued a civilengineering degree at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. In 1981, heset up his practice in Zurich and since then – operating from a network of offices inmany countries – he has created a vast number of award-winning and awe-inspiringstructures around the globe.

In Focus: Valencia’s son

Santiago Calatrava – architect and engineer (photograph copyright: Suzanne DeChillo /The New York Times)

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias S.A.

MAIN CONTRACTORJV FCC Construccion + Pavasal

DESIGNER Santiago Calatrava Architects & Engineers

FCC Technical Services

TECHNOLOGYBBR HiAm CONABBR Square Damper


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We have recently completed two such projects –the Palma del Río Bridge in Córdoba and apedestrian cable stayed bridge for Expo’08 inZaragoza.

PALMA DEL RIO BRIDGEThe new bridge over the Guadalquivir River inPalma del Rio is a suspended deck arch bridge witha span of 130 m. The two arch planes are inclinedfrom the vertical with 46 hangers on each side.Inside of this plane the hangers are inclined too.These hangers consist of a locked coil rope that

supports the composite deck. Thecables have diameters of 37 and 45mm and have a pin open socket inboth ends.We carried out the installation andstressing of the hangers. The mainoperations performed aredescribed below.The upper socket was lifted andpinned by means of a crane. Then,in the lower socket, a specialconnecting steel piece was fixed by a

pin. This connecting piece allows the cable to bebolted to a deck plate. To stress the hangers, hydraulic bolt tensionerswere applied. In the connecting plates, there weresix holes for the permanent bolts, the two centreholes were used to stress two temporary bolts,using the tensioners. We used a 23-step stressing sequence where, foreach step, two pairs of stay cables weresimultaneously stressed. For that reason, a total ofeight tensioners were utilized at the same time. Twohigh pressure hydraulic pumps with a capacity of upto 1,500 bar were connected to the tensioners.

EXPO’08At the end of April 2008, the ‘Pasarela delVoluntariado’ was inaugurated for the internationalEXPO’08 which was held in Zaragoza. In just tenmonths, the footbridge had been completed.The 235 m long curved steel deck is supported by47 stay cables which are anchored to a tiltedcentral steel pylon. The locked coil ropes are classified as five differenttypes according to their cross-section dimensions –31, 35, 40, 45 and 128 mm diameter. In this case,the upper end is a pin open socket and the lowerend is a threaded socket with a spherical nut.The installation of the cables was completed inthree stages, each of them with several sub-phases.At the start, the deck was supported by sixtemporary towers and the central pylon anchoredto the foundation system. The first stage was thelifting of the cables and the next two stagesconsisted of two consecutive stressing operations.The cables on the left and right side of the pylonwere installed and stressed alternately to keepthe balance of the structure.To stress the cables, post-tensioning strands wereanchored to the lower end. The cylindrical sockethas an external and internal thread. The externalone is for the permanent nut and the internal oneis designed for stressing only during erection.Threaded post-tensioning anchor heads – 4 x 0.6”,7 x 0.6” and 19 x 0.6” – were threaded for stressing.A multistrand hydraulic jack with a special shuttlestressed the strands to the required stressing force.

The installation of locked coil ropes in a structure is a delicateprocess. David Olivares of Spanish BBR Network member, BBRPTE, explains that due to the great variety of sockets and the

particular nature of each structure, every such project needs to be treated

TEAM & TECHNOLOGY (Expo ‘08, Zaragoza)OWNER Ayuntamiento De Zaragoza

MAIN CONTRACTOR FCC Construccion

DESIGNER Carlos Fernandez Casado

TECHNOLOGY Stay cables


TEAM & TECHNOLOGY (Palma Del Rio)OWNER Junta De Andalucia

MAIN CONTRACTOR FCC Construccion

DESIGNER IDEAM + FCC Technical Services

TECHNOLOGY Stay cables


INSTALLATION OF LOCKED COIL ROPE STAYS, CÓRDOBA & ZARAGOZA, SPAIN

Uniquely engineered

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The bridge was designed as a continuous threespan beam structure, with pylons placed on theintermediate supports. The 300.76 m long bridgehas three spans – 77.92 m + 143 m + 77.92 m. Diagonal stay cables, supporting the spans, are

anchored at the top of the pylonswhich stand 18.47 m high abovethe deck. The bridge has two arraysof stay cables, laid out in a fanshape. Six pairs of stay cables

emerge from the head of each pylon.In cross-section, the girder is of the single box typeand it has a height of 3.4 m along the whole lengthof the structure. The beam consists of two concretedecks (upper and lower) connected by two steelpipe trusses. The width of the deck is 14.11 m.Over each support there are concrete cross-beamsconstructed in the superstructure. Steel pylonswere installed on the external parts of theintermediate support cross-beams. The bridge wasexecuted by the incremental launching method. The bridge over Dunajec River is the first staycable construction in Poland, where webs madefrom steel pipe trusses were used in the concreteconstruction of the main girder. The complexity ofthe construction and scope of various worksconnected with technology and prestressingmade BBR Polska the obvious choice and optimalpartner for the joint venture of strong localbridge contractors ZRM Mostmar SJ and MOSTYChrzanów Sp. z o.o.BBR Polska’s work was undertaken in three phases:

The building process, technology and materials used during bridge construction over the Dunajec River inBrezna near Stary Sacz delivered a world class solution to a complex challenge. On behalf of BBR Polska,Marcin Ornat managed the technology and prestressing, while Tomasz Borsz was in charge of suspension

operations – together, they take up the story.

Complex challengeDUNAJEC RIVER BRIDGE, BREZNA, POLAND

Scope of worksBBR Polska’s contract included supply ofmaterials, specialist equipment and thefollowing works:u delivery and prestressing of steel bars

which anchored the launching nose to thebridge construction

u delivery of materials, equipment andexecution of 13 phases of bridge launching

u delivery of materials and execution ofprestressing (construction stagelongitudinal tendons, deck transversalprestressing unbonded tendons, transversalbonded cables at stays connections,external continuity tendons)

u delivery and installation of pot bearingsu execution of prestressing bars fixing lower

stays anchoragesu delivery of materials and execution of bridge

suspension with BBR CONA stay cablesu delivery and installation of expansion joints

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TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNERManagement of Voivodship Roads, Krakow, Poland

MAIN CONTRACTOR Joint venture of ZRMMostmar SJ and MOSTY Chrzanów Sp. z o.o.

DESIGNER Piotr Wanecki (bridge structure)

TECHNOLOGY Launching BBR VT CONA CMI internalBBR VT CONA CME externalBBR VT CONA CMM unbondedBBR CONA stayBearings and expansion joints

BBR NETWORK MEMBERBBR Polska Sp. z o. o. (Poland)

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER City of Belfort

MAIN CONTRACTOR JV Richert-Gagne

DESIGNER Arcadis, Cabinet Tonello

TECHNOLOGY BBR DINA stay

BBR NETWORK MEMBERETIC S.A. (France)

This pedestrian bridge over a railway line was preassembled and welded near oneof the abutments and erected by a crane in just one night, using the prefabricatedcables, supplied and installed by French BBR Network member ETIC.After erection of the deck, the cables situated behind the pylon were connected tospecial foundation blocks, while the cables in front of the pylon were anchored bymeans of tie bolts placed between two anchor plates – one was fixed on the backthe pylon head, the other through an axis on the deck.After the first phase of cable tensioning, the slab – made of prefabricated plates ofconcrete attached to the steel beam – was installed. A second phase of tensioningwas performed after the road deck was finished. l

FORT HATRY RAILWAY BRIDGE, BELFORT, FRANCE

Overnight installationu Phase 1 – incremental launching and

prestressing necessary during the launchingprocess.

u Phase 2 – prestressing of stays fixationelements and continuity prestressing.

u Phase 3 – bridge structure suspension. Today, the bridge over Dunajec River in Brezna hasblended beautifully into the landscape of thismountain valley. As well as an extended transportsystem for Stary and Nowy Sacz, the region hasalso acquired a new and interesting structure. Fromour side, the experience gained from working onthis relatively small but technically complexstructure will be of great value on future projects.l

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Manukau City’s Flat Bush township is NewZealand’s newest urban development, designed toprovide a high-quality living environment for up to40,000 people by 2020. The entrance to the town centre is dominated bythe Ormiston Road bridge – an awe-inspiring sightthat lifts the road above a 100-year flood plain. At70 m long and 27 m wide, the box girder

structure features four traffic lanes,two cycle ways and footpaths onboth sides, with a 3.5 m wide voiddown its centre to allow naturallight beneath. But of course its most dramaticfeatures are the 46 m high pylonsfrom which the bridge is suspended

– and the 20 cables supporting it, supplied andinstalled by BBR Contech.

TOUCHING THE GROUND LIGHTLYCable-stay bridges are a rare sight in NewZealand – indeed, the Ormiston Road bridge isthe only such traffic bridge in the country,reflecting the designer’s vision of a structure that‘touches the ground lightly’. However, despite its apparently simple structure,the bridge construction was technically complexowing to its asymmetric geometry and the verytight tolerances specified. The bridge’s pylons taper from 1.8 m in diameterat the base to 1.3 m at the top, with a 5.5 m highstructural steel box providing anchorage for thestay cables, topped with a 12 m lattice spire ofstainless steel and glass. To further complicate the situation, the non-self-supported pylons incline longitudinally at 15degrees and together at 5 degrees, meaning therewas very little tolerance in ensuring the stay cablealigned correctly between the pylons and thedeck anchorages. The positional tolerance of thetop stay anchorages had to be within 3 mm – at33 m above ground level!

PARTNERSHIP FOR PROGRESSThis requirement for meticulous accuracygoverned the project, imposing stringent attentionto risk management and construction detail.

Collaboration for NZ first

Anationwide design competition has led to the construction of New Zealand’s first-ever cable-stayed roadbridge – a landmark structure that is providing a distinctive gateway to the new Flat Bush township in ManukauCity. Paul Wymer and Hugo Jackson of BBR Contech – the New Zealand-based BBR Network member –

report on the result of extensive collaboration between their company and the Swiss-based BBR headquarters, as wellas the pioneering achievement which continues the BBR Network’s global success with cable-stayed structures.

CABLE STAY BRIDGE, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

STAY

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Recognizing the advantages of collaboration, BBRContech called on the expertise and experienceof the BBR headquarters. The internationalteam worked with main contractor FultonHogan Civil and principal design consultant BecaInfrastructure to deliver the result Manukau Citywas looking for. The 20 cable stays supporting the bridge deck –with lengths of between 20 and 53 m – areconfigured using the BBR DINA stay cable system.The largest tendon comprises 144 7 mm hightensile wire elements with a maximum UTSapproaching 10,000 kN. Each of the wires isindividually galvanized, housed within a speciallymanufactured polyethylene sheath which is filledwith a proprietary corrosion inhibitor. Thesetendons connect to the pylons via large cast-steelclevises, which when installed weigh close to aton each.

Almost 70 km of wire had to be measured andcut, then installed complete with clevises usingtwo cranes and a mechanical excavator. Cabletensioning had to be started during installationand before the cranes were released – and pylonmovement closely monitored throughout. It was a difficult, but highly satisfying project – andthe results are well worth the effort. TheOrmiston Road bridge is an iconic entrance andexit point that is a real tribute to the teamworkand international collaboration behind it. l

Technical insight:Wind induced drag force on stay cablesWind induces static and dynamiceffects on cable stays and shouldtherefore be taken into account duringdesign. The static drag force on a staycable causes significant transversalstresses on the pylon, particularly onlarge cable-stayed bridges.The drag force Fd is given by:Fd = ½ ρ U2 D CD

Where ρ is the density of air (1.23 kg/m3), U is the wind velocity, CD is the drag coefficient and D is theouter cable diameter.As the formula above indicates, thepredominant factor is wind velocity asit goes in square. For instance, the dragforce increases by 78% when U risesfrom 30 m/s to 40 m/s – assuming theother factors remain stable.In a classic case of circular stay pipes, thevalue of the drag coefficient depends onthe wind velocity, or more specifically onthe Reynolds number Re, and theroughness of the outer casing. Cablestays are commonly in the supercriticalrange in strong winds. A CD of 0.5 for asmooth BBR stay pipe and a dragcoefficient of 0.55-0.60 for a BBR staypipe with helical rib can be achieved inwind tunnel tests. Nevertheless, theeffects of extreme winds are oftencalculated by adopting a CD of 0.70-0.80to be on the safe side and to allow forthe possible evolution of surfaceroughness (dirty etc.) over time.

Reduced wind loads can be achievedby reducing the outer cable diameter.For long span bridges, where the cablestay drag is a preponderant factor, theinstallation of compact BBR stay pipescan be evaluated. The compact systemenables the drag force to be reducedby 20% compared to the standardsystem. This system requires specialmaterial and installation techniques onsite. BBR’s first application of compactstay pipes was in 2000, when the 475 m long Rama VIII Bridge inBangkok, Thailand was erected.In comparison with BBR strand staycable technology, BBR DINA/HiAmwire stay cables enable even smallerpipe diameters – a reduction of up to35% relative to the standard strandsystem. BBR DINA/HiAm cables arecomposed of individual sevenmillimeter wires that are anchored bymeans of buttonheads. BBR wire staycables have been used for nearly 50years. They can be completelyprefabricated or assembled on sitebefore they are installed and stressed.BBR wire cables were for instanceapplied on Tatara Bridge, Japan, thelongest bridge in its class in the 20thcentury and on New Zealand’s firststay cable structure Ormiston RoadBridge.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGY OWNER Manukau City Council

MAIN CONTRACTOR Fulton Hogan Ltd

DESIGNER Beca Infrastructure Ltd

TECHNOLOGY BBR DINA stay


BBR HiAm CONAcompact strandstay pipe

BBR HiAm CONAstandard strandstay pipe

BBR DINA/HiAmwire stay pipe

“RECOGNIZING THE ADVANTAGESOF COLLABORATION, BBRCONTECH CALLED ON THEEXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE OFTHE BBR HEADQUARTERS ...”

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This new bridge forms part of the tramwaysystem which connects the west of the city ofCastellón, where the university is located, with thecoast.The stay cable bridge has a Y-shaped steel pylonwith five front and five retaining stays, on bothsides of the Y, holding a 105 m length deck. Themost striking design feature of this bridge is the55 degree tilt angle of the slab axis with theabutments, giving rise to a huge variety of staysizes – ranging from 30 up to 109 strands andlengths from 35 to 100 m.Longitudinal post-tensioning of the slab wasperformed using BBR VT CONA CMI 3106tendons, transverse PT consists of 1506 tendons.The retaining part of the slab is connected to theground by 42 x 75 mm diameter post-tensionedbars.The installation of the stays began in the secondweek of January 2008, working on both arms ofthe Y-shaped pylon. The installation of the 20 staypipes and more than 1,500 strands (threading andstressing) was finished in less than three weeks.The final stressing tuning (limited to two stays)and the rest of the works, such as the waxinjection of the anchor heads, the installation of

the centralizers and the anti-vandalism tubesdemanded two more weeks. Finally, load testingwas carried out on 19th February.The most significant benefit reaped by the ownerof any BBR HiAm CONA cable stayed structure– in addition to its high fatigue resistance and thefacility to replace any part of a stay if required –is its suitability for any construction process,enabling a very high level of adaptability andperformance during the installation of the stays.l

RIO SECO BRIDGE, CASTELLÓN, SPAIN

Solution of choice

Following on from the environmentally friendly Green Bridge in Australia,completely dedicated to public transport, cyclists and pedestrians, BBR StayCable technology is again the solution of choice for another public transport

project – this time being provided by the local BBR Network member – BBR PTE– in Spain. The new guided bus / tramway in Castellón crosses the Rio Seco on acable stayed bridge supported by BBR HiAm CONA stay cables.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGY OWNER Conselleria d’Infraestructuresi Transport de la Generalitat Valenciana

MAIN CONTRACTORFCC CONSTRUCCION + LUBASA

DESIGNER IDOM, Madrid

TECHNOLOGYBBR VT CONA CMI internalBBR HiAm CONABars


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Soon after the first permanent settlers arrived in New Zealand in 1840, they began buildingthe country’s roads, railways and bridges. Many of the bridges continue to be used today –

but some, like that spanning the South Island’s Kawarau River, have had to be replaced.However, as Peter Higgins and Paul Blundell of BBR Contech – the BBR Network member inNew Zealand – found out while working on the new bridge, this does not necessarily mean

that the old one is no longer being used! ‘

moving with the times

BRIDGE SEISMIC STRENGTHENING, NEW ZEALAND

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It’s not often that a BBR Contech bridge projecttakes place in clear sight of another one, but duringthe recent refurbishment work on the newerKawarau River bridge, the team had company – just100 m away. That’s because the original 1880-builtsuspension bridge is now home to AJ HackettBungy Queenstown – the original (and world’s first)43-metre jump to which tens of thousands ofpeople flock every year.It made for an interesting experience for us – anoccasional audience as we worked beneath theold bridge’s 1963 replacement, while remainingunseen by the vehicles traveling overhead.

VITAL STRATEGIC LINKLocated just a short drive out of Queenstown –known as the adventure capital of New Zealandand a major tourist destination – the newKawarau River bridge is a distinctive landmarkwith its sweeping steel arch and the expansiveriver beneath. It’s also a vital strategic link forCentral Otago traffic – most notably for peopletraveling the South Island tourist route betweenQueenstown and Christchurch.

ENSURING SEISMICRESILIENCEIn 2008, the New ZealandTransport Agency awarded thecontract to strengthen the bridgeas part of its national seismicretrofitting program to upgradebridges to current seismic

standards. BBR Contech’s work – undertaken inconjunction with main contractor Fulton Hoganand infrastructure specialist Opus InternationalConsultants – consisted of providing lateral andlongitudinal restraint to the bridge by installinganchors into the surrounding rock at the archends and special cable linkages at the abutmentsand central arch pin connection. “It was a challenging project, especially given theheight above the river at which people had towork,” said Fulton Hogan’s Contract Manager MikeWardill. “In addition, the bridge’s design meant weexperienced up to four or five inches of rollingmovement underneath as the traffic load on thebridge transferred to the arches. This, combinedwith working from scaffold at great height above araging river, meant we sometimes had a moreexhilarating ride than the bungy jumpers!”

DRILLING & TENSIONINGDuring the two-month project, holes weredrilled through the existing anchor block eitherside of each arch rib and eight BBR CONA 1005permanent rock anchors – ranging in length

“THE ANCHORS ARE FITTED WITH A THREADED ANCHOR HEAD TOPERMIT LATER CONNECTION FROMTHE ANCHOR TO THE ARCH RIBSTEELWORK.”

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from 18-28 m – were installed and accuratelypositioned to match the angles of the arch ribs.The anchors are fitted with a threaded anchorhead to permit later connection from the anchorto the arch rib steelwork.The anchors were then tensioned beforestructural steel specialists welded steel brackets tothe arch ribs. BBR Contech then connected theanchors to the new steel sections, using a speciallydesigned BBRV cable stay linkage tendon, eachwith a capacity of 2,730 kN. The BBRV buttonhead wire configuration is ideally suited to short,high capacity tendons. Similar cable link tendons

were also installed at the centralarch pin joint to provide additionalseismic restraint at the mid-spanlocation. “Having worked with BBR Contechbefore, we knew they would deliveron this project,” said Mike Wardill.“They are highly organized andalways professional, with a strongtechnical background supported bypractical knowledge. They are allyou could ever want on a projectsuch as this.” l

“THE BBRV BUTTON HEADWIRE CONFIGURATION ISIDEALLY SUITED TOSHORT, HIGH CAPACITYTENDONS.”

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER New Zealand Transport Agency

MAIN CONTRACTOR Fulton Hogan Ltd

DESIGNER Opus International Consultants

TECHNOLOGYBBR CONA rock anchors BBRV wire


76 CONNÆCT

This massive development on the former WhiteCity site comprises retail, commercial, cinemasand public buildings with a total nett lettable areaof approximately 120,000 m2. We have post-tensioned two suspended slabs for the car parkand retail area.Strengthening of the slabs was necessary due tochange in ownership and tenants who requireddesign changes – including the introduction of 15large escalator, stair and lift shaft penetrations.Each penetration, typically 1900 by 4200 mm insize, was required through three to four levels inany particular location. The strengthening was required as a result of theloss of pre-stressed strand and reinforcement – aswell as the additional loadings and stresses inducedin the slab by the redistribution of moments andforces in the vicinity of the penetration.

GENERAL DESIGN ASPECTSThe design of externally bonded FRP reinforcementfor flexural members relied on composite actionbetween the pre-stressed concrete element andthe fibers which are bonded to the surface of theconcrete using epoxy resin. The design procedure

is analogous to that of traditional reinforcedconcrete, with the difference being in the initialstrains present in the concrete at the time ofapplication of the FRP. The design procedure consisted of a verification ofboth the stresses and strains in materials –concrete, steel reinforcement and prestressedstrand – at both service and ultimate limit states.The strains in these materials were checkedagainst limiting values set out in the currentdesign standards. Design of the FRP was carried out in accordancewith the Concrete Society’s Technical Report No.55 (2000). The most critical aspects of design were: u an assessment of capacity of the existing

structureu determination of the required capacity of the

slabu limiting stresses and strains in the materialu checking the mechanisms of de-bond and

anchorage design.

INSTALLATION & CONSTRUCTIONPrior to application of the CFRP, the surface wasprepared by removing the cement laitance and all

Elegant retrofit solutionThe Westfield London development – an iconic retail and leisure complex in

London’s Shepherds Bush – has been the focus of major strengthening worksusing CFRP composites. Robin Kalfat, Senior Design Engineer of Structural

Systems UK Ltd – the BBR Network member in the UK – reports that CFRP is acost-effective technology suited to wide application in the strengthening of post-

WESTFIELD LONDON DEVELOPMENT, UK

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surface contaminants. This was achieved by wetopen grit blasting – selected to minimize theeffects of dust on other trades within the zone.This left an open substrate with exposed fineaggregate and an average surface roughness ofaround 0.5 – 1.0 mm. All areas were thoroughlywater jetted afterwards to remove resultant debrisadhering to the surfaces, and allowed to dry for48 hours prior to any further works being carriedout. Pull off tests were subsequently carried out toverify the tensile strength of the substrate exceededthe minimum requirement of 2.0 MPa.The plates with epoxy applied were raised to theconcrete substrate and pushed in place using lightpressure from the fist, then with a hard rubberroller in a manner which causes the adhesive tobe expelled at both edges of the laminate. Thisguaranteed the expulsion of voids and a thoroughapplication of adhesive and this was carried outwith an overall average adhesive thickness of 2 mm.

KEY BENEFITSCFRP is extremely light weight considering itssuperior tensile strength properties and has anoverall plate thickness of as low as 1.2 mm. TheCFRP approach eliminated any problems withaccess and services that a more bulky structuralsteel strengthening solution would have causedand lent itself to cost-effective strengthening whileachieving aesthetically pleasing results.

SPEED OF CONSTRUCTIONWe completed all remediation works within theHouse of Fraser store in a 12-week period, enablingthe developer, Westfield, to meet their deadline andsecure a timely handover to tenants. This wasaccomplished by innovation in constructionsequencing and propping staging which allowedmultiple installation crews working simultaneouslyto complete the strengthening of all eightpenetrations in this zone by the required deadline.

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Westfield London

MAIN CONTRACTORP.C. Harrington (Contractors) Ltd

DESIGNER Structural Systems (UK) Ltd

TECHNOLOGY MRR range


“THE CFRP APPROACHELIMINATED ANY PROBLEMS WITHACCESS AND SERVICES THAT AMORE BULKY STRUCTURAL STEELSTRENGTHENING SOLUTIONWOULD HAVE CAUSED”

l

The team took full advantage of FRP’squalities for restoration projects –lightweight, thin material and easy toapply, yet offering an impressive strength-to-weight ratio. It is also corrosionresistant and can be covered with avariety of plaster finishes and coatings –ideal when trying to achieve a close-to-original finish. In all, some 200 m2 of FRPfabric was applied before the internal

linings were reinstated to return roomsto near-original condition – with novisible sign of the restoration workbeneath.The former Arts School building is thesecond of 18 in the Arts Centre whichhave been targeted for seismicstrengthening – part of the Arts Centreof Christchurch Trust’s plan to ensure thebuildings last for future generations. l

Preserving the past for the future

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNER Christchurch City Council

MAIN CONTRACTORFletcher Construction

DESIGNER Holmes Consulting Ltd

TECHNOLOGY MRR range


SEISMIC STRENGTHENING, CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

BBR Contech, the BBR Networkmember in New Zealand hascarried out seismic strengtheningat one of the city’s mostsignificant heritage sites. PeterHiggins reports on their workwithin the Christchurch ArtsCentre complex.

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ITTS BEARING REPLACEMENT, GATWICK AIRPORT, UK

TEAM & TECHNOLOGYOWNERBAA Gatwick (Part of Ferrovial Group)

MAIN CONTRACTOR Structural Systems (UK) Ltd

DESIGNER Structural Systems (UK) Ltd

TECHNOLOGY Bearings


Although all the transit sub-systems and stationrefurbishment will take place during a completeseven month shutdown of the system starting inSeptember 2009, the bridge bearing replacementwork is being carried out in advance of the mainworks.In conjunction with our bearing supplier, weundertook a full survey to confirm bearingcondition, numbers and types. It became apparentthat there were issues with the existing bearingsthat would affect the installation of the new ones.We were able to provide BAA with a solution forthe replacement of the 628 bearings supportingthe 1.2 km dual track system – whilst keeping theITTS operational.

THE SOLUTION This solution involves welding new supports tothe existing bearing dowels, providing new fixityfor the new bearings. Last summer, a full scalemock up was set up in our workshop in WestLondon and sample welds were sent off fortesting and certification, as part of this trial.We also produced temporary works designs in-

house for the provision ofrestraints to the structure while thebridge is being jacked to allow thereplacement of the bearings. Jackingwill be achieved with the use of arecently purchased 12 pointsynchronized lifting unit – with itsoperating tolerances of +/- 0.25 mm, we will be able tocontrol the jacking and de-jackingprocess very accurately .

QUALITY MATTERSAll design and temporary worksdesigns have been undertaken bySSL UK and independently checked

and verified by us, in accordance with BAA’sdesign process requirements. The delivery andrecording of quality – both in the manufacturingworks and on site – are equally important andthe BAA Project Quality Leader has workedclosely with our team in developing installationactivity check sheets and quality record sheets tosatisfy all parties’ requirements, so that final assurance can be agreed. l

Jeff Booth, Specialist ConstructionManager of Structural Systems (UK)Ltd, the BBR Network member in the

UK, reports that the team is currentlyworking on a major project at BAA’sLondon’s Gatwick Airport toaccommodate the replacement of theInter Terminal Transit System (ITTS) – anautomated driverless train system.

System in transit

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SKY TOWER, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

The construction of a tower – such as Auckland’s Sky Tower - not only pushes our technology to a new and literally higher levelbut, as with many pioneering projects, it also inspires a strongsense of team spirit which often reaches around the globe. ‘

Highest tension

“THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TOWER ISONE OF MANKIND’S OLDEST DREAMS.”

The World Federation of Great Towers

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Opened six months ahead of schedule in March1997, at 328 m Sky Tower is the tallest tower inthe Southern Hemisphere and is the 12th tallesttower in the world – overtaking the Eiffel Towerin Paris by four meters. As well as being an iconfor Auckland, the tower serves as atelecommunications hub.The tower forms part of Sky City – NewZealand’s largest casino – and the facility alsoincludes two hotels, a convention centre, a 700-seat theatre and 12 restaurants and bars.

CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEWSky Tower was constructed from a high strength,high performance concrete.

The main structure of the tower isa 12 m diameter reinforcedconcrete shaft. This is supportedby eight reinforced concrete ‘legs’at the base, which are connectedto the shaft by a concrete collarand designed to spread force load. The upper floors of Sky Towerhave been constructed usingcomposite materials, structuralsteel, pre-cast concrete andreinforced concrete. The exteriorof the pod levels is finished in analuminum cladding with blue-greenreflective glass.

Above Sky Deck, a structural steel frameworkrises to support the upper lift machine roomand a concrete ring slab which supports themast. A multi-section structural steel frameworkrises above the top of the shaft. Constructed ofsteel tubes, the mast is bolted in sections andprovides space for the antennas and othercommunications equip-ment. The mast isequipped with specially designed tuned dampersto limit its vibration in the wind.Telecommunications facilities, above and belowthe centre pod, are housed on silver aluminum-clad communications floors. Emergency stairsand service utilities are located within the centreof the shaft.

R obert Robinson of BBR Contech – the BBR Network member in New Zealand contracted to install the SkyTower in late 1995 – recalls the unique technological challenges which brought this landmark structure toAuckland’s skyline and community.

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PLACING THE TOWERIn the weeks leading up to Christmas 1995, theAuckland Sky Tower’s weight was quietlytransferred from the base of its shaft to its eightinclined legs, in a unique operation carried out byBBR Contech.Normally, in building a high tower, you would startwith a wide base and taper it inward as theconstruction goes upwards. Not so at Sky Tower.Consulting engineer Beca Carter Holdings &Ferner and contractor Fletcher ConstructionNew Zealand and South Pacific decided to adopta unique method of construction whereby thelegs were built independently of the shaft andwere subsequently locked to the shaft by meansof a large circumferentially post-tensioned collarlocated at the top of the legs.Conceptually, the idea was simple and hadadvantages such as speed of construction, but thevarious stages posed a number of practicalproblems. Firstly, how much force was needed to‘clamp’ the collar onto the shaft? Opinions variedand debates ensued – eventually 32 rings ofcircumferential post-tensioning tendons wereused providing a clamping force of ultimate totalstrength 73,600 kN. Subsequently, BBR Contechwas awarded the contract to develop the specialsystem of post-tensioning required for theproject. With the assistance of BBR headquartersin Zurich, BBR Contech developed a centrestressed prestressing tendon which was capableof being stressed from its mid-point – instead ofits ends, as is normal practice. The type oftendon provided considerable advantagesbecause it meant that the stressing pocketsrequired to house the anchorages were locatedon the inside of the shaft walls and not theexterior of the collar, where architects Craig CraigMoller insisted the visible surface be factory-madefair-faced precast concrete panels.To transfer the weight of the tower from itsshaft base to the eight inclined legs meant that itwas necessary to ‘lift’ the tower off its base and‘sit’ it on the legs. This was achieved by locatingeight jacks, of 700 kN capacity each, at the topof each leg and then jacking the shaft upwards,so that the load was transferred from the shaftbase to the legs.

POST-TENSIONING THE COLLAR TO THESHAFTThe post tensioning required by the designersconsisted of 32 complete rings of tendons each2300 kN UTS to be tensioned through recesspockets 360 mm high x 75 m wide and over 500 mm deep through the shaft wall. This gave atotal of 73,600 kN UTS of potential clampingforce. Each complete ring tendon had twostressing anchorages located diametricallyopposite each other.

LARGEST STRESSINGANCHORAGETo satisfy the demandingrequirements of the designers, BBRContech offered the BBR MultiwireZ36 internal anchorage, developedspecifically for this project. Thisanchorage features the well-knownbutton-headed wire concept whichhas been in use worldwide formore than 37 years. To facilitateinstallation, non-stressed couplingswere located midway between thestressing anchorages. Previously, thiscentre stressing anchorage had onlybeen available in up to 1000 kNcapacity, for use in flat slab post-

tensioning where access to the perimeter of theslab was not available for tensioning. This was thefirst time a BBR centre stressing anchorage of thissize had been used anywhere in the world.Tendon materials comprising special grade lowrelaxation 7 mm wire were imported fromGermany. The high tensile steel platemanufactured specially for the Z36 anchoragewas imported from Australia. The two 2000 kNcapacity stressing rams were also designed andbuilt in Auckland, during the extremely tight sixweek procurement period permitted by thecontract.

TESTING TIMESA test program was undertaken to prove that theanchorage components were capable ofwithstanding, without deformation, 110% of theultimate capacity of the tendon. This testing wascarried out in Contech’s 6000 kN compressionframe located at their component productionfactory in Masterton, New Zealand. Subsequenttesting of the entire system, including anchorages,tendons, stressing jacks, gauges, pumps andhandling equipment was carried out in Contech’sEast Tamaki, Auckland facility using a largeconcrete test beam specifically constructed forthe purpose. ‘

PerfectlyperpendicularDuring construction, constant verification,using the most sophisticated telemetryever employed in New Zealand, wasnecessary to ensure Sky Tower wasperfectly straight. This telemetryencompassed three key techniques. The first is called resection wheremeasurements were taken from threedifferent existing points surrounding SkyTower – in this case the ASB Bank building,Mount Eden and the Coopers and Lybrandbuilding – to derive the precise centrepoint of the structure.Secondly, during construction of the shaft,lasers positioned on the base pad of SkyTower shone up to the jump formplatform in a grid pattern to provideverticality readings. Finally, daily real-time readings were takenof the structure using seven globalpositioning satellites. These satellitesconfirmed the exact position of Sky Tower.

“THIS WAS THE FIRSTTIME A BBR CENTRESTRESSING ANCHORAGEOF THIS SIZE HAD BEENUSED ANYWHERE INTHE WORLD.”

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Fabrication of the BBR Multiwire tendons alsotook place at the East Tamaki factory. Eachcomplete ring comprised two separate tendonswhich were joined at their mid-point using athreaded coupling. The tendons weretransported to site on flat bed trucks and cranedinto position, placed on previously installedtendon supports.The concrete collar was cast in three lifts, withthe previous section being stressed to the collarbefore the subsequent section was cast.

TENSIONING OPERATIONThe tensioning operation involved inserting thespecially designed 200 kN rams through the shaftwall into the centre of the stressing anchor recessboxes. Stressing the tendon ring was carried outsimultaneously from opposite stressinganchorages. The anchoring load achieved was1700 kN per tendon. Friction in the tightlycurved corrugated steel ducts was as low as µ = 0.14 and k = 0.0007/m. The application ofthe 55,000 kN force used to clamp the ring tothe tower shaft took eight working days.On completion of all tensioning, the anchorrecesses were concreted and the tendonsgrouted using a high shear colloidal mixer andmulti-stage mono pump, which due to the

confined space inside the shaft, hadto be located at ground level.

TOWER’S WEIGHT TRANSFERTO LEGSEight 7000 kN capacity flat jacks(total 56,000 kN) were airfreighted from Europe and testedfor water tightness under stringentQA procedures at IndustrialResearch’s laboratory in Gracefield.An ammonia leak test was used,with each jack being tested to 1.25design working load using thelaboratory’s 300,000 kN test rig.The jacks were installed, in a pocketon top of the leg, to a placingtolerance of 2.5 mm. The hydraulicplumbing was via high pressurelines which passed through theshaft wall.On completion of the collartensioning – and at a time whenwind speeds of less than 36 km/hcould be expected for several days– the eight flat jacks were inflatedusing water as a hydraulic fluid.They were maintained under

design load for more than 24 hours. This allowedthe concrete legs to shorten under the load ofthe tower, while still ensuring the transfer of thedesigned weight of the structure to the legs. Thelarge upwards force exerted on the collarincreased the separation between the legs andcollar by 5 mm, resulting from a combination ofcompression of the legs and tilting of the towershaft. The movement very closely matched thedesign figure of 6 mm. The gap between the topof the leg and the underside of the collar wasthen filled with high strength proprietary grout toretain the load and lock the system in place.Following curing of the grout, the load in the eightjacks was released and the starter rods – whichwere cast into the legs and protruded into thecollar inside corrugated ducting – were groutfilled. Finally, the flat jacks were reinflated to 1400 kN each with low exotherm epoxy resinreplacing the water.The conceptual design and carrying out thetransference of the weight of the Sky Tower to itslegs was a considerable challenge for both thedesigner and BBR Contech over the 18 monthperiod of the work. The detailing and planning, byall concerned, which went into this aspect of SkyTower’s construction ensured the ultimate successof this precise and difficult operation. l

Sky Tower Facts & Figures .....

Beacon for the communityA prominent feature of Auckland’s skyline at night, Sky Tower is illuminated in a variety of ways to show support for various causes. Recent examples include:

BLUE – Auckland Rugby

PINK – Breast Cancer Awareness

RED & GREEN – Kidz First Children’s Hospital

BLUE & GREEN – Starship Children’s Foundation

ORANGE – Auckland Festival

GREEN & PURPLE – The Auckland Cup

RED – The America’s Cup

GOLD – supporting New Zealand athletes during the Beijing Olympics

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u Concrete – 15,000 m3

u Reinforcing steel – 2,000 t

u Structural steel – 660 t, including170 t in the mast

u Shaft diameter – 12 m

u Foundations – 16 piles, 15 m deep

u Total construction time – 2 years 9 months

u Sky Tower weighs 20,000 t – equivalent to 6,000 elephants!

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ScalingSydney Towerfascinating factsu Second tallest structure in

Australia

u Third tallest observation towerin Southern Hemisphere

u Same height as the Eiffel Tower

u As tall as 60 giraffes – theworld’s tallest animal

u Almost six times as high asNiagara Falls (53 m)

u More than twice as high asEgypt’s Great Pyramid (146 m)

u 25th tallest inhabitable building in the world

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installation. Stressing was carried out in twostages at night to reduce the transversing effectsof the sun on the cables during daylight hours.The weathered effect on the structure is causedby special alloying elements which react with theair to form a dense tight oxide film to protect thesteel from corrosion. The appearance, texture andmaturity of the weathered steel’s patina dependsupon three primary natural factors – time, thedegree of exposure and atmosphericenvironment. With time, the oxide coatingchanges from a rusty red-orange to a darkpurple-brown. Since it opened, Sydney Tower has welcomedmore than 17 million visitors – or four times thepopulation of Sydney!

THE ULTIMATE FITNESS CHALLENGE!One of the city’s annual highlights is The SydneyTower Run-Up – a staggering 1504-stependurance race up the stairs of the Sydney’shighest building – Sydney Tower. All ages andtypes of people take part in this now well-established event in the Sydney calendarThe 2008 Tower Run-Up, held in support of TheHeart Foundation, marked the 16th time thatthe event had been held – and 290 competitorslined up to take the challenge. The winnercompleted the challenge in just seven minutes49 seconds. Both he and the fastest femalerunner have won the opportunity to take theirstep-scaling skills to the US with the major prizeof return airfares to New York to take part inthe annual race up the stairs of the 86-storeyEmpire State Building in 2009. l

new heightsOriginally constructed as the defining architecturalfeature of the Centrepoint retail and commercialdevelopment, the tower is now Sydney’s talleststructure. The 309 m high tower was opened inAugust 1981 as a communications tower andtourist facility. Like it’s neighbor across the TasmanSea in Auckland, the Sydney Tower is a focal pointfor all who live in or visit the city

RAISING THE SKYLINEWhen it opened in September 1981, SydneyTower was the fourth tallest building in the world.Before the tower was built, the maximumallowable height of a Sydney building was 279 mto allow for the harbour’s flying boats that werepopular before the modern jet era.The maximum allowable height was lifted to305 m with the approval of Sydney Tower. SydneyTower still sets the height limit for Sydneybuildings today.

CONSTRUCTION PROFILEThe cost of building Sydney Tower was A$ 36million – one third the cost of the Sydney OperaHouse – a huge amount at the time.Construction of the Centrepoint Tower – nowofficially known as the Sydney Tower – began in1975. Its unique supporting net structure,composed of BBR DINA stay cables, sets it apartfrom the crowd.This project involved the erection of a steel towerwhich rose 230 m above the roof of the 12-leveloffice building in the centre of Sydney, Australia. Itsshaft is stayed by a system of BBR parallel-wireprestressing cables. The tower is topped by a turret

of five levels accommodating tworevolving restaurants and twoobservation decks.The steel shaft is 6.75 m overalldiameter and consists of 28columns spaced equally around itsperimeter.

STAY CABLESThe 56 stay cables are formed intoa hyperboloid of revolution – inmathematics, a hyperboloid is aquadric, a type of surface in threedimensions – in two groups, eachof 28 straight cables. The cablesare anchored to the roof of thebuilding in a circle of 37.2 mdiameter. From here, the BBRcables – each made up of 235galvanized wires of 7 mm diameter– rise through an intermediatecoupling point at 90 m, tangentiallyto a neck connector on the shaft140 m above the roof. The cables,which lead from here to the turretanchorage at 184 m, each comprise55 wires of 7 mm diameter. Inplan, the cables appear similar tospokes of a huge bicycle wheel –this arrangement assists in resistingtorsional moments on the tower.The cables were manufactured inStructural Systems’ Melbournefactory and transported to site ontimber drums for uncoiling and

Almost 30 years after it was opened, Robert Freedman of BBRNetwork member Structural Systems reflects on the constructionand enduring qualities of the Sydney Tower – which now stands

together with the Sydney Opera House and the legendary Sydney HarbourBridge as one of the famous city center landmarks.

SYDNEY TOWER, AUSTRALIA

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SWITZERLANDBBR VT International LtdBahnstrasse 238603 Schwerzenbach (ZH)

Tel +41 44 806 80 60Fax +41 44 806 80 50

[email protected]

EASTERN CANADACanadian bbr Inc.3450 Midland Ave.ScarboroughOntario M1V 4V4

Tel +1 416 291 1618Fax +1 416 291 9960

[email protected]

AUSTRIAVORSPANN-TECHNIKGmbH & Co. KGScherenbrandtnerhofstrasse 55021 Salzburg

Tel +43 50 626 2690Fax +43 50 626 2691

[email protected]

BELGIUMsee Netherlands

BULGARIAsee Spain

BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINAsee Croatia

CROATIABBR Adria d.d.Kalinovica 310000 Zagreb

Tel +385 1 3839 220Fax +385 1 3839 243

[email protected]

CZECH REPUBLICsee Austria

DENMARKsee Norway

ESTONIAsee Austria

FINLANDsee Norway

FRANCEETIC S.A.48, rue Albert Joly78 000 Versailles

Tel +33 1 39 50 11 20Fax +33 1 39 50 11 03

[email protected]

GERMANYVORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbHFürstenrieder Strasse 28181377 München

Tel +49 89 71001 200Fax +49 89 71001 201

[email protected]

Spankern GmbH (North)Lübecker Strasse 53-6339124 Magdeburg

Tel +49 391 726 56 30Fax +49 391 726 56 31

[email protected]

HUNGARYsee Austria

IRELANDsee United Kingdom

LATVIAsee Austria

LITHUANIAsee Austria

LUXEMBOURGsee Netherlands

MONTENEGROsee Croatia

NETHERLANDSSpanstaal B.V.Koningsweg 283762 EC SoestPost Address: PO Box 3863760 AJ Soest

Tel +31 35 603 80 50Fax +31 35 603 29 02

[email protected]

86 CONNÆCT

EUROPEHEADQUARTERS

AMERICA

Additional BBR technology licenses have been granted in Europe, AsiaPacific and America – for moreinformation, please contact the BBRheadquarters.

BBR

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NORWAYKB Spennteknikk ASSiva Industrial EstateN. Strandsveg 19-21Postboks 12132206 Kongsvinger

Tel +47 62 81 00 30Fax +47 62 81 00 55

[email protected]

POLANDBBR Polska Sp. z o.o.ul. Marywilska 38/4003-228 Warszawa

Tel +48 22 811 50 53Fax +48 22 614 57 60 (ext. 108)

[email protected]

BBR Polska Sp. z o.o.ul. Tarnogorska 214a44-105 Gliwice

Tel +48 32 33 02 410Fax +48 23 33 02 411

[email protected]

PORTUGALsee Spain

ROMANIAsee Spain

SERBIAsee Croatia

SLOVAKIAsee Austria

SLOVENIAsee Croatia

SPAINBBR Pretensadosy Técnicas Especiales, S.L.Antigua Carretera N-IIIKm. 31, 15028500 Arganda del Rey, Madrid

Tel +34 91 876 09 00Fax +34 91 876 09 01

[email protected]

SWEDENSpännteknik ABBox 158671 24 Arvika

Tel +46 570 126 60Fax +46 570 109 50

[email protected]

UKRAINEsee Poland

UNITED KINGDOMStructural Systems (UK) Ltd12 Collett WayGreat Western Industrial EstateSouthallMiddlesexUB2 4SE

Tel +44 20 8843 6500Fax +44 20 8843 6509

[email protected]

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BAHRAINsee United Arab Emirates

IRAQSpezialized Prestressing CoKarrada, Dist. 901, St. 1, Bldg. 16Office No. 10Baghdad

Tel +964 1 718 6333Fax +964 1 718 1385

[email protected]

JORDANMarwan Alkurdi & PartnersCo. LtdPO Box 506Amman 11821

Tel +962 6 581 9489Fax +962 6 581 9488

[email protected]

OMANsee United Arab Emirates

QATARsee United Arab Emirates

KINDGOM OFSAUDI ARABIAHuta-Hegerfeld Saudia LtdBBR Prestressing DivisionPrince Sultan St. Lotus BuildingPO Box 1830Jeddah 21441

Tel +966 2 662 3205Fax +966 2 683 1838

[email protected]

SOUTH AFRICAStructural Systems (Africa)Block B20 Civin DrivePellmeadow Office ParkBedfordviewJohannesburg 2008

Te +27 11 409 6700Fax +27 11 409 6789

[email protected]

SYRIAsee Jordan

UNITED ARAB EMIRATESNASA (BBR) StructuralSystemsLLCHead Office, Suite #302PO Box 28987Sara Building, GarhoudDubai

Tel +971 4 2828 595Fax +971 4 2828 386

[email protected]

INDIABBR (India) Pvt LtdNo. 318, 15th Cross, 6th MainSadashivanagarBangalore - 560 080

Tel +91 80 4025 0000Fax +91 80 4025 0001

[email protected]

JAPANJapan BBR Bureauc/o P.S. Mitsubishi ConstructionCo. LtdHarumi Center Bldg. 3F2-5-24 Chuo-kuTokyo

Tel +81 3 6385 8021Fax +81 3 3536 6937

[email protected]

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ASIA PACIFICMIDDLE EAST

AFRICA

BBR VT International Ltd is the Technical Headquarters and Business Development Centre ofthe BBR Network located in Switzerland. The shareholders of BBR VT International Ltd are: BBRHolding Ltd (Switzerland), a subsidiary of the Tectus Group (Switzerland); KB Spennteknikk AS(Norway), BBR Polska Sp. z o.o. (Poland) and VORSPANN-TECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG (Austria/ Germany), all members of the KB Group (Norway); BBR Pretensados y Técnicas Especiales,S.L. (Spain), a member of the FCC Group (Spain).

The BBR Network is recognized as the leading group of specialized engineeringcontractors in the field of post-tensioning, stay cable and related constructionengineering. The innovation and technical excellence, brought together in 1944by its three Swiss founders – Antonio Brandestini, Max Birkenmaier and MirkoRobin Ros – continues, more than 60 years later, in that same ethos and enter-prising style.From technical headquarters in Switzerland, the BBR Network reaches outaround the globe and has at its disposal some of the most talented engineersand technicians, as well as the very latest internationally approved technology.

THE GLOBAL BBR NETWORKWithin the Global BBR Network, established traditions and strong local roots arecombined with the latest thinking and leading edge technology. BBR grants eachlocal BBR Network member access to the latest technical knowledge and re-sources – and facilitates the exchange of information on a broad scale and withininternational partnering alliances. Such global alliances and co-operations createlocal competitive advantages in dealing with, for example, efficient tendering, avail-ability of specialists and specialized equipment or transfer of technical know-how.

ACTIVITIES OF THE NETWORKAll BBR Network members are well-respected within their local business com-munities and have built strong connections in their respective regions. They areall structured differently to suit the local market and offer a variety of construc-tion services, in addition to the traditional core business of post-tensioning.

BBR TECHNOLOGIESBBR technologies have been applied to a vast array of different structures – such as bridges, buildings, cryogenic LNG tanks, dams, marine structures, nu-clear power stations, retaining walls, tanks, silos, towers, tunnels, wastewatertreatment plants, water reservoirs and wind farms. The BBR brands and trade-marks – CONA, BBRV, HiAm, DINA, SWIF and CONNAECT – are recognizedworldwide.The BBR Network has a track record of excellence and innovative approaches– with thousands of structures built using BBR technologies. While BBR’s his-tory goes back over 60 years, the BBR Network is focused on constructing thefuture – with professionalism, innovation and the very latest technology.

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MALAYSIABBR Construction Systems (M)Sdn BhdNo. 17, Jalan PJS 11/2Subang IndahBandar Sunway46150 Subang JayaSelangor Darul Ehsan

Tel +60 3 5636 3270Fax +60 3 5636 3285

[email protected]

PHILIPPINESBBR Philippines CorporationSuite 502, 7 East Capitol BuildingNo.7 East Capitol DriveBarangay KapitolyoPasig City 1603Metro Manila

Tel +63 2 638 7261Fax +63 2 638 7260

[email protected]

SINGAPOREBBR Construction SystemsPte LtdBBR Building50 Changi South Street ISingapore 486126Republic of Singapore

Tel +65 6546 2280Fax +65 6546 2268

[email protected]

THAILANDSiam-BBR Co Ltd942/137.1 5th FloorCharn Issara TowerRama 4 RoadKwaeng Suriwongse, Bangrak10500 Bangkok

Tel +66 2 237 6164-6Fax +66 2 237 6167

[email protected]

VIETNAMsee Singapore

AUSTRALIAStructural Systems (Northern)Pty Ltd20 Hilly Street, MortlakeNew South Wales 2137

Tel +61 2 8767 6200Fax +61 2 8767 6299

[email protected]

Structural Systems (Northern)Pty LtdUnit 1, 12 Commerce CircuitYatala, QLD 4207

Tel +61 7 3442 3500Fax +61 7 3442 3555

www.structuralsystems.com.au

Structural Systems (Southern)Pty LtdPO Box 1303112 Munro StreetSouth MelbourneVictoria 3205

Tel +61 3 9296 8100Fax +61 3 9646 7133

[email protected]

Structural Systems (Western)Pty LtdPO Box 6092 - Hilton24 Hines Road, O‘ConnorWestern Australia 6163

Tel +61 8 9267 5400Fax +61 8 9331 4511

[email protected]

FIJIsee New Zealand

NEW ZEALANDBBR Contech6 Neil Park Drive, East TamakiPO Box 51-391PakurangaAuckland 2140

Tel +64 9 274 9259Fax +64 9 274 5258

[email protected]

BBR Contech38 Waione Street, PetonePO Box 30-854Lower HuttWellington 5040

Tel +64 4 569 1167Fax +64 4 569 4269

[email protected]

BBR Contech7A Birmingham DriveMiddletonPO Box 8939RiccartonChristchurch 8440

Tel +64 3 339 0426Fax +64 3 339 0526

[email protected]

BBR

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The real thingState-of-the-art distribution facilities in Aus-tralia for world’s best known brand

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Connaect Third Edition 2009