Method for the Rapid Replacement of the Travis Spur Rail Bridge over I-278 Highway

摘要

Rise in traffic volumes of urban highways over the last decades has led to an increasing need for widening both highways and access roads. The present case study deals with the replacement of the Travis Spur Rail Bridge to allow for larger width of roadways that lead to and away from the New Goethals Bridge, which connects Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Staten Island, New York, in the United States. The main objective of the project was to apply a rapid method for the replacement of the existing bridge, which was performed during the Columbus Day weekend (7-9 October 2017). Considerations of all existing constraints, which include high traffic volumes and limited space for material laydown and equipment positioning, are presented first. To respond to these challenges careful planning of the construction steps of the substructure (cap beams supported on circular piers) and the superstructure of the bridge (two-span steel deck) had to be carried out both temporally and spatially before the replacement weekend, which is described in the second part of the paper. The final part presents the different phases of the demolition / replacement process to minimize traffic disruption.