5 T H I N T E R N AT I O N A L

S Y M P O S I U M O N
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BARCELONA 2003

LAUNCHING AND ERECTION TECHNIQUES

prof. ir. Wim Hoeckman

Victor Buyck Steel Construction n.v. (Belgium)
Vrije Universiteit Brussels (Belgium)

Abstract

To get a bridge in its final location and position is usually a very demanding process that requires the use of
all the builder’s engineering skills. Every bridge comes along with its own conditions and requirements that
are related to the surrounding environment. Amongst the determining factors for the choice of the erection
procedure are also the available transport routes and facilities between the factory and the construction site,
the access restraints and the know-how of the contractor. Many bridges are erected with an innovative
construction and erection procedure that is developed just for that particular bridge. This paper gives a
survey of state-of-the-art erection techniques, including erection with cranes (both on land and on water),
launching techniques and bridge float-in erection methods.
Focus points are the reasons behind the choice of the erection procedure and its advantages, the technical
details and specific points of attention. The erection techniques are illustrated with examples of recently
constructed bridges.

1 INTRODUCTION

Erection procedures of bridges can be classified into two categories, depending on whether the bridge can
be constructed in its final location or not. In order to be able to erect a bridge straight in its final location,
some conditions have to be met.

• Nearly the whole bridge location has to be accessible. This means first of all that all prefabricated
bridge components or elements can be brought straight to the site location. Transport from the steel
contractor’s workshop is either by road (on trucks), via waterways (using ships or barges) or via railway.
This requirement implies that the construction site is located immediately over or along an existing road,
railway or navigable river or canal. Furthermore, it has to be possible to bring in the necessary lifting
devices (such as cranes) straight to the construction area. Mobile cranes can unload elements brought
in by truck or by train; elements brought in over water can be unloaded using floating cranes or can be
lifted using strand jacks.

• The construction site has to be free. This requirement seems to be obvious but in reality some
bridges are constructed to replace an existing one whereby it is specified that the latter can only be
dismantled after the former has been constructed.

• All foundation and substructure works have to be finished at the time of the erection. The general
project construction programme will determine whether this scenario is feasible or not. There is
sometimes an advantage on the overall programme when both the substructure works and the bridge
erection works can be executed in a parallel way.

Bridges that are best suitable for a direct in-situ erection are therefore completely new bridges with a good
accessibility, relatively simple substructure works and that have to be constructed according a not too tight
programme.

If one or more of these conditions are not met, in-situ erection cannot take place. The bridge will then be
erected on another location, after which the completed bridge is moved into its final position.

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When an (existing) bridge has to be replaced by a new one in the same location, it is usually not feasible to
interrupt traffic during the whole construction period. In such a case, a solution consists in first constructing
the new bridge next (parallel) to the existing one, then dismantling the existing bridge to ultimately move the
new bridge in its final position. Except for some deviations and short traffic blocks, traffic can then continue
unhindered during the whole construction period. In some cases, the access to the final location of the bridge
is very difficult or even impossible. Examples are deep, wide valleys, swamps or nature reserves.

2 IN-SITU ERECTION TECHNIQUES

2.1 General
In-situ erection (if possible) is less expensive and requires less construction time. The majority of all small to
medium span bridges are built using (mobile or crawler) cranes. The most common bridges that can be
erected using this method are girder type bridges. The bridge deck is then constructed out of either
longitudinal beams (with cross girders) or box girders, mostly working as part of a composite section,
whereby a concrete slab is poured on top of the completed steel bridge.

2.2 Road transport

The sizes of the prefabricated elements are determined by the transport, the site access and the lifting
conditions and restrictions. With road transport, the main girders can be brought to site in elements up to ca.
40 m whereby widths can be realised beyond 4.5 m. Standard weights of these elements are in the range of
60 to 80 tonnes. Some inventive procedures can lead to a bridge that fits these requirements. I-shaped main
girders are mostly deep (tall) but not so wide. If transported flat (meaning turned over 90°) these girders can
usually reach the site without difficulties. This procedure implies that the main girder elements will have to be
turned back into their upright position before being erected, requiring thus an additional erection operation.
Both turning and lifting can be integrated into one composed lifting operation. Transport by road of heavy and
wide elements will also require exceptional convoys. These convoys have to fulfil certain requirements. In
some countries these transports cannot use highways, causing a lot of difficulties because smaller roads
have to be used then. Sometimes transport is only allowed at night, due to traffic restrictions.

Figure 1 In-situ erection Figure 2 In-situ erection

of plate girder railway bridge of composite box-girder highway bridges
HST OA15-OA16 in Saint-André (Lille) (F) Autobahndreieck Neukölln in Berlin (D)

2.3 Temporary supports

The sizes of the prefabricated bridge components (together with the span widths of the bridge) determine
whether temporary supports are to be installed or not. If the elements are longer than the span width,
temporary supports can usually be omitted. If the span widths are longer, some temporary supports are to be
installed underneath the main girders. Extra attention has to be paid then during the erection engineering
because these supports reduce the available site space for internal transport and crane locations. The
interface between the supports and the bridge deck also need to fulfil certain conditions:

• the bridge has to be able to slide in longitudinal direction to allow thermal expansions,
• the lateral (wind) reactions have to be transferred into the supports by means of a guiding system,

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• jacking points have to be provided at each support in order to set the bridge free from its supports when
they are dismantled,
• safe access for erectors.

In most cases these temporary supports need their own foundations.

2.4 Cranes
The bridge elements are erected using generally one or two mobile cranes. The complete “footprint” of the
bridge has to be accessible for cranes and trucks. This implies not only the presence of a site road but also
ground conditions that can match the ground pressures of the cranes. Load distributing panels in wood or
steel can ensure that these ground pressures rarely exceed 250 kN/m2. When crawler cranes are used, site
roads need more maintenance during the site duration due to the heavy impact of the caterpillars, especially
when the crane rotates. With really bad ground conditions sometimes a special track, supported by (steel)
piles, has to be constructed just for the crane itself.

The size of the crane is an important parameter to choose during the erection engineering. Where smaller
size cranes are cheaper, it is sometimes advisable to use a bigger crane. This is the case when a smaller
size crane would imply that the crane has to travel to a new position for every lift. A big size crane can be
erected on a central point and can erect several pieces at different locations from that one point. This is
especially worth doing when the transport units can only be unloaded at one location, e.g. when using water
transport.

2.5 Water transport

When water transport is used to bring the prefabricated bridge elements to the site and when the bridge is
only spanning the waterway, lifting straight from the water is a favourable option. The most common method
is then to use floating cranes that can unload the ship or pontoon to then erect the element in its final
position.

Figure 4 Transport via train

of prefabricated bridge elements
of 3D truss railway bridge
Hammerbrücke (B)

Figure 3 Erection with floating crane

of box-girder with cross girders bridge
over the Mittelland canal in Hannover (D)

With water transport, bigger, longer and therefore also heavier elements can be prefabricated. Currently
elements up to 70 - 80 m length and 6.5 m height, weighing up to 400 – 500 ton a piece can be transported
without too much difficulty. The length is depending on the size of the transporting ship or barge, the height
is determined by the free space underneath the bridges and the weight is governed by the site lifting
capacities. Of course the steel contractor’s loading facilities also play a very important role.

The erection of long elements sometimes requires the necessity of temporary lateral restraints during the
erection in order to prevent lateral-torsional buckling of them.

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2.6 Railway transport

Transport over water or by rail is generally cheaper than road transport. Transport by rail is unique. It
requires both workshop and site to be directly served by a train track. Railroad wagons generally are 14 to 16
m long. Longer elements can be transported but then they have to be supported by two wagons. The
supports have to be especially engineered in order to allow the train taking curves in the railway track.
Unloading a train wagon needs special attention because normally an electrification line is hanging exactly in
the middle of the track, preventing a crane hook picking up the element.

2.7 Examples
Antoing
Arch railway bridge HST over the Schelde
in Antoing (B)
Erection on temporary supports placed straight in the
river, restricting the waterway traffic during construction.
Great care is taken to protect these temporary supports.

Donzère

Double connected arch railway bridge HST

in La Garde Adhémar – Donzère (F)
Erection with a floating crane mounted on a twin-
barge. Water transport from the fabrication
workshop straight to the building site.

Landegem

Bow-string railway bridge in Landegem (B)

Transport from the factory to the site via barges.
Temporary supports placed on a barge support
the bridge deck during erection.

Dordrecht

Movable (lifting) railway bridge over the Oude

Maas in Dordrecht (NL)
The lifting frame (8 elements with dimensions 5m
x 5m x 60m, weighing around 500 tonnes each),
was brought to the building site by water
transport. In total 19 barges were used for
this erection operation, which took only one
weekend. Erection with floating cranes.

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Arch railway bridge over the Van Starckenborgh

canal in Groningen (NL) Groningen
Erection with two built-up and one floating crane.
During construction, a barge was used as a temporary
support for the bridge deck at mid-span. All elements
were brought in from the workshop by water transport.

Papendorp

Cable stayed bridge over the Amsterdam-

Rijn canal in Papendorp in Utrecht (NL)
Erection using the cantilever technique. Central
bridge deck erected as closing element.

Fixed truss railway bridge over the Oude Maas Dordrecht

in Dordrecht (NL)
Bridges are prefabricated and assembled completely
in one piece in the workshop (off site). The whole
bridge is then transported to the site (float-in erection).

Temse

Movable bascule bridge over the Schelde

in Temse (B)
Erection of complete bridge with floating crane.

3 LAUNCHING TECHNIQUES
3.1 General
When bridges cannot be erected in situ, which means in their final location, they have to be constructed
elsewhere. The erection ground has to be chosen very carefully and as close as possible to the bridge’s final
location. All depends on the technique used to transport the erected bridge (parts). To move the bridge into
its final position, a method based on a translation, a rotation or a combination of both can be worked out.

Translations can take place in three directions:

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• horizontally, in the longitudinal direction of the bridge

• horizontally, in the lateral direction of the bridge
• vertically, down- or upwards
Rotations can be performed about any of the three principal axes:
• in a horizontal plane, about a vertical axis
• in a vertical plane, about a horizontal axis
• about the longitudinal axis of the bridge

Launching has become a very popular bridge erection technique in the last 20 years, as well as float-in
erection methods.

3.2 Incremental launching

The standard procedure of the incremental launching technique consists in erecting and assembling the
bridge deck prefabricated elements behind an abutment on one bank of the valley, river or road that has to
be crossed. The assembled elements are moved (pushed or pulled) forward towards the other bank, and the
next elements are then erected. Some specific points of attention are to be looked at very carefully in terms
of engineering and construction management.

3.2.1 Assembly zone

The length of the assembly zone has to fulfil minimal requirements. Ideally it should be at least twice the
length of the first span to cross. Enough bridge elements can then be assembled to enable the first launching
step to cross straight up to the first pier without intermediate step. If the assembly zone length is shorter,
either an intermediate launching step is required or a temporary supporting pier has to be placed in between
the abutment and the first pier, both complicating the erection procedure. In terms of width, the assembly
zone should enable both for the bridge elements themselves and for the erection cranes. Ground resistances
of 250 kN/m2 will be required for the crane erection. On the assembly zone, the bridge elements are erected,
welded together and applied with the corrosion protection system before launching. Temporary working
sheds are sometimes used to execute these activities independently from climatic circumstances (wind, rain,
now).

The bridge deck is brought to the site in elements of 15 to 25 m length. The elements are prefabricated in the
workshop, taking into account their final geometry and camber profile. The camber accommodates for the full
dead load of the bridge and (eventually) part of the life load. Usually all adjacent elements are trial erected in
the workshop to guarantee a perfect fit on the site. When the elements are fit together on site, not only the
workshop camber has to be taken into account but also the elastic deformation of the bridge part that is
already launched.

3.2.2 Launching level

A bridge can be launched in any elevation. To launch it in its final elevation has the advantage that, upon
completion of the whole launching, the bridge will be at its final position without any other jacking operation
to be done. A bridge deck can be launched in its final elevation when the following conditions are met:
• The back wall (and sometimes also the wing walls) of the abutment cannot be executed until after
completion of the launching. When a launching nose is used, this requirement not only applies for the
abutment at the assembly zone of the bridge but also for the abutment at the arriving bank.
• Enough space (=height) is to be available between the top of the piers and the abutments and the
underside of the bridge deck in order to place the temporary launching supports. In the final layout, this
distance is equal to the height of the bearing and the concrete socket underneath. In many cases there
will be not enough space, so that the bridge will have to be launched in an elevation that is slightly
higher than final.

Some bridge design, mostly composite bridge decks, intentionally requires the bridge to be launched in
another elevation. After the completion of the launching, the deck is concreted and the bridge is then brought
to its final position. During this process, the designer can chose to jack down the ends of the bridge less than
the middle portion. The bridge deck is then not only pre-stressed but doing so also provokes a positive
reaction on the abutments.

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3.2.3 Sliding supports and temporary supports

Two kinds of sliding arrangements are possible:
• sliding supports fixed to the bridge deck; this requires a continuous sliding track over the full length,
• fixed supports, over which the bridge deck slides. The bridge then has to be able to transfer the
supporting reaction in each and every cross section.

A continuous track can hardly be provided over the full length of the bridge. Therefore, fixed supports are
normally installed on each pier (final and temporary). To enable an adequate load transfer, the supports are
to be placed underneath and in line with the vertical or inclined webs of the main girders. When using the
sliding technique, the friction coefficient can be minimised by applying a (polished) stainless steel plate on
top of the supports. During launching, sliding bearings are continuously inserted in between the bottom
flange of the bridge and the support. These bearings are normally laminated neoprene blocks surfaced with
a teflon (PTFE) pad at the bottom. They are automatically taken along with the bridge because the friction
between neoprene and steel is considerably higher then the friction between stainless steel and PTFE
(which is max. 4% and can go down to 1 or 2% during launching). The support length is determined by the
reaction force to be transferred and the allowable contact pressure of PTFE (which is around 3 kN/cm2).
Taking into account that the width of the bearing is limited to about 10 cm (determined by the secondary
bending of the bottom flange), a reaction force of 6,000 kN will need thus a supporting length of 2 m.

Over a length of 2 m, a bridge is seldom absolutely straight because of its final geometry and because of the
precamber. Great care has to be taken in order to ensure that the reaction force is uniformly distributed over
the support length. This can be done by an integrated series of dish springs. During launching, the bridge is
subject to variable stresses and deflections. In case of the bridge in Verrières the deflection at maximum
cantilever was 4.5 m. The corresponding rotations at the first pile have to be taken by the support, which
implies that it has to work as a hinge. Combining all these requirements, the form of a seesaw is the result.

During launching, the web of the main girders is loaded with a patch loading up to 30 kN/cm2. Web buckling
needs to be checked.

In the assembly zone, a continuous track over the full length can be installed. This track can be used as the
sliding surface over which fixed supports slide using a similar stainless steel / PTFE interface. This technique
can be used when the bridge is straight in plan view or curved following a circle. When another curve is used
(e.g. clothoidical), the temporary supports need provisions to accommodate for a lateral movement of the
bridge during launching.

3.2.4 Launching equipment

A pulling device, e.g. a cable and a winch, has the disadvantage that the bridge can only be moved in one
direction; it cannot be pulled back if something goes wrong during launching. When a bridge lies in a valley,
the bridge first is usually to be held back in the first stages of launching and is to be pushed in the last
stages. A pushing device consists of hydraulic (two-way) jacks. Such jacks can smoothly switch from
pushing into pulling. Launching speeds up to 15 m per hour have been noticed. The jacks are connected to
the end of the bridge with a yoke that has to allow for the vertical deflections of the bridge. At the other end,
the jacks are anchored to the continuous track. A bridge of 50,000 kN dead load needs a pushing force of
around 3,000 kN, taking into account a friction of 4% and a slope of 2%. This reaction of 3,000 kN needs to
be transferred to the ground.

3.2.5 Launching nose

To reduce the deflections and the stresses during launching, it is common to install a launching nose in front
of the bridge. The length of such a nose is normally 1/5 to 1/3 of the maximum span width. The use of a
launching nose results usually into three advantages.
• Because of its limited dead load, the stresses and deflections of the bridge are reduced considerably.
• The launching nose usually has a curved bottom flange, so as to compensate for the deflection. No
special vertical (upwards) jacking is then required when the bridge arrives at a pier.
• The front tip of the nose can be equipped with a jacking system to allow the nose to tie up correctly on
each pier.
When a launching nose is chosen for, it is important that the walls of the landing abutment are not executed
before the bridge arrives.

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3.2.6 Back-end nose

In some cases a similar nose can be installed at the end of the bridge, e.g. when no special support (such as
the seesaw) is installed at the first abutment or when the bridge has to cross a void.

3.2.7 Temporary towers or piers

When extremely long spans have to be crossed, a launching nose will not be sufficient by itself to tie up on
each pile. Then, a temporary tower can be installed on the bridge deck, from which the front nose can be
lifted up and down as required by means of stay-cables. Another possibility is to install temporary piers.

3.3 Examples

Composite box-girder highway bridges

over the river Werra in Hedemünden (D) Hedemünden
Road transport to the construction site: elements max.
25 m long. Both bridges of each 416 m were launched
using seesaws on the piles and a continuous track of
120 m on the assembly area. One bridge (total weight
of 12,000 tonnes) has been built 13 m offset from its
final location, in order to allow continuous traffic on the
existing bridges. After dismantling the existing bridge,
the new bridge was moved laterally, on 60 m high piers.
Span widths: 64-80-96-96-80m. The bridge was also
fabricated in another form than final. After completion
of the launching and the concreting of the slab, a
differentially jacking down procedure introduced a
pre-stressing in the concrete slab.

Verrières Composite box-girder highway bridge

in Verrières (F)
Span widths : 96-128-136-144-136-80m. A
launching nose of 60 m was used. The end
deflection at maximum cantilever was around 4.5
m. To ensure a smooth arriving on the piles, a
temporary tower of 60 m was installed on the
bridge deck. It was connected with stay-cables to
the launching nose, so as to be able to adjust the
deflection. Piles of 141m high.

Arch bridge with an orthotropic box girder

over the Loire in Orléans (F)
Final supports are inclined tripods, on which no
temporary supports could be placed. Therefore the
entire box girder was launched on 6 temporary towers Orléans
that were equipped each with four sliding supports
(seesaws). As the bridge deck had also a torsional
precamber, all 24 sliding supports were placed on
hydraulic jacks that needed adjustment throughout
launching. Road transport to the building site. Elements
of 18 m long and 6.2 m width, weighing 120 tonnes.
After launching, the (inclined) arch was erected using
two mobile cranes that were placed on the completed
box girder.

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4 FLOAT-IN ERECTION
4.1 General
In some cases, the site conditions require or invite the contractor to assemble the bridge completely at one
side of the span. After completion, the whole bridge is placed on rollers, which could be platform wagons, or
a sliding track, in order to bring it to its final location. When a waterway has to be crossed, one or more
barges are needed to support the bridge and bring it towards the other side. Platform wagons can roll-on/roll-
off the barge, which is resulting in spectacular operations. One can also chose to move the bridge onto a
barge, where it is then supported before bringing it to the other side.

The advantage of this technique is that the whole bridge can be erected, welded and applied with corrosion
protection in “ideally” situations including maximum safety.

4.2 Examples

Box girder with cross girders bridges Hénin-Beaumont

over the highway A1 in Henin-Beaumont (F)
Isostatic bridge that was moved over the highway
using Kamags.

Sacrow-Paretzer

Bow-string railway bridge Sacrow-Paretzer(D)

Kamags lifted the bridge from its temporary
supports. The Kamags rolled on and off a barge.

Bow-string railway bridge HST over the

Amsterdam-Rijn canal in Utrecht (NL) Utrecht
Longest bridge of this type in the Netherlands (255 m).
Total height: 50 m. Total weight (steel only): 5,500
tonnes. The bridge was lifted from its temporary
supports by 2 groups of Kamags (192 axes of each 4
wheels). One group rolled on and off a barge
27x6x100 m. During the float-in operation and as the
bridge turned in plan view, each group of Kamags
made not only a translation but also a rotation.

Magdeburg Bow-string highway bridges over the Elbe-

Abstieg canal in Magdeburg (D)
The bridge was placed on sliding supports that
were pushed forward by means of hydraulic
jacks on a continuous track. When the front tip of
the bridge arrived over the canal, a barge
equipped with temporary towers supported the
bridge to bring it to the other side. The front of
the bridge was also equipped with a launching
nose.

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Bow-string railway bridges over the Lech

in Augsburg (D) Augsburg
The complete bow-string bridge (including side spans)
was launched using the launching technique. In the
centre of the river, a temporary pier was installed.
After launching, a differential jacking down operation
ensured a positive vertical reaction at the abutments.

Nantenbach

Truss HST railway bridge over the Main

in Nantenbach (D)
Both side spans were erected in situ. The middle
span (140 m) was assembled and welded on
shore. After completion, two barges moved this
part into its final location. Finally, it was lifted
from the barges from both side spans using stay-
cables.

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