Telecrawler works on bridge replacement in cramped conditions

12 October 2016 by Sotiris Kanaris

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Washington State-based Malcolm Drilling Company used a 110USt Link-Belt TCC-1100 in order to build new caissons for a steel box girder bridge.

The job consisted of drilling caissons for a new five-span welded steel box girder bridge that will replace the previous bridge, built in 1953.  The company worked completed caissons by drilling a shaft, then lowering a rebar cage into the shaft, and filling it with concrete each day.

In total, 26 caissons were drilled and filled to hold up pier caps for the new bridge. Once finished, the new Grand Avenue Bridge in Glenwood Springs, Colorado will cross the Colorado River, Union Pacific Railroad, and four lanes of Interstate 70.  

Concrete piers for the eventual bridge superstructure will rest above the 54ft  deep caissons.

The TCC-1100 lifted and manoeuvred a 56,000lb Leffer VRM2200 oscillator underneath the 36ft clearance of the existing bridge to complete the caisson portion of construction. In some cases the boom head of the TCC-1100 was as close as 9in to the old bridge’s girders. The second critical crane requirement for the project was being able to lift a 30,000lb component up and over the in-place oscillator, prior to it digging the hole for the can.

The working jobsite for the project consisted of a 40–45ft wide back-filled access road along the Colorado River and under the bridge.

The TCC-1100s boom tip, load capacity and height specifications played an integral part in Malcolm Drilling Superintendent Todd Williams’ decision to choose the Link-Belt.

“We are constrained with no extra room to move, get the drill spoils out of the way, get the rebar cages to the Link-Belt crane, or to even physically swing and work around ourselves. With so much equipment in such a small space it means watching each other’s back continually, especially as the concrete was poured after the rebar cages are placed. While pouring continued, the oscillator worked the casings up until the TCC-1100 grabbed and lifted them out of the way,”  said Williams.

The new bridge is scheduled to be completed in May 2018 and will help alleviate traffic congestion into downtown Glenwood Springs, coming off of the scenic I-70 Interstate west of Denver.