Flyovers WD7 and WD8 on the

Sucharski Route

The construction of the Sucharski Route was part of the creation and modernisation of Gdasks road
system in 2007-2013 in order to connect the city with the national road network (A1 and S7) and part of the
project of the European E75 and E77 routes in Poland. Optimisation of the steel structure solution involved
collaboration between the general contractor SKANSKA S.A., the design agency EUROPROJEKT Gdask
S.A and the steel structure contractor ArcelorMittal. 2,040 tonnes of ArcelorMittal's HISTAR460 steel was
used in the objects.

The WD8 consists of two independent constructions (each for one carriageway), 10.6m wide and around
390m long. It has 11 spans, the central span measuring 40m and the lateral ones 25m. The WD7 is shorter,
i.e. has a length of about 170m, but the structure is wider - 11.2m across. It is a 5-span bridge with span
lengths of 30-40m. The height of the deck above the ground surface is approximately 12m in the center of
viaduct WD7. Both objects are built with continuous beams and have foundations in the form of poles of a
diameter of 1.5m and lengths of 22-32m.

The bridges take the road over railway lines and local roads, and were designed as plain girder VFT
(Prefabricated Composite Construction Method) objects in S355 steel grade with slenderness ratios 25-28.
With the surface covering over a hectare, the choice of technology was of key importance from a technical
and economic point of view. Due to the ground conditions and obstacles in the form of railway lines, a
central span of approximately 40m was decided upon along with a complex transversal structure made from
prefabricated elements as being a more effective solution than pre-stressed.

Replacement project: HISTAR rolled beams instead of S355 steel welded girders
Instead of the S355 steel welded girders, it was decided to use HISTAR460 rolled steel beams, which led to
the creation of Polands first objects using VFT technology with rolled sections in this steel grade. At the
same time the WD8, with nearly 400m length, is the longest VFT object in the country.

There were several factors suggesting it would be more beneficial to use HISTAR460 rolled sections rather
than welded S355 steel girders. Rolled beams enables tonnage reduction by around 10% or even more when
optimization of the finishing of individual beams is envisaged in an object.

The sections delivered to the construction site were 41m long, eliminating the need for any welding on site.
The total amount of welding was reduced by 80%. Using rolled beams ensures a long fatigue life for an
object, which is why static schemes in the form of frames or beams from continuous S460 steel is justified
from a technical and economic point of view. The rolled sections are characterised by a smaller surface
than with welded plate girders the surface for anti-corrosion protection divided by the mass of the
structure is usually around 15-30% compared to welded plate girders (an advantage as far as maintenance
is concerned).

For the requirements of this project, in June 2011 the Differdange plant in Luxembourg produced 137 beams
of lengths between 25 and 41m, these were HL1100 beams (type of sections used for the construction of
bridges). After adding the pre-cambering, the finishing involving welding the necessary reinforcing plates to
the lower flange in the support area, the end plates, shear studs and painting were also completed at the
plant. This efficient action resulted in the first fully finished beams of the WD7 viaduct being delivered to
Gdask in August 2011 (by rail to Gdask and on the road to the construction site).

The concrete transom solution

 The concrete transom solution
In the case of the WD7 and WD8, as with most VFT beam structures in Poland, the contractor decided to
construct a prefabricated C40/50 concrete deck onto the steel beams before positioning them in the
structure. The innovation in the case of the WD7 and WD8 was the introduction of a staged process of
completing the transoms, making assembly towers unnecessary at the supports.

Once the beams are positioned correctly, with the prefabricated deck forming a lost formwork for the in-situ
deck, the concrete for the deck was poured on the slab. This way, the construction of the bridge deck was a
simple process completed in 3 stages. First the assembly of the prefabricated slab on top of the beam,
which covers around a third of the concrete deck's total height and acts like a formwork for the concrete
poured in the second stage. In the third stage, the finishing of the bridge deck was completed in traditional
manner.

Span construction
The complex prefabricated structures were placed in their intended location using a crane, and their mass
reached 50 tonnes. The individual spans were completed in one week on average.
The bridge deck and transoms are made of C35/45 concrete. The span structure was completed in June
2013, and the objects were opened to traffic in October 2013.

Summary based on the common work of:

Riccardo ZANON, Oliver HECHLER, Wojciech OCHOJSKI ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Europe
Pawe Klimaszewski - EUROPROJEKT
Wojciech Lorenc Politechnika Wrocawska

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