COWI & ST/Vannoy reach first milestone with segment erection on Blue

Ridge Parkway bridge over the Laurel Fork River

North Carolina – Structural Technologies and COWI, a leading international engineering consulting firm, reaches major milestone with the erection of the first pairs of superstructure segment at Piers 1 and 2 of the Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge over the Laurel Fork River. This milestone was accomplished after the completion of the substructure and foundation elements by Vannoy Construction.

Using a 750T Demag crawler crane across the Laurel Fork River, the first precast segment pairs at Piers 1 and 2 were erected on temporary jacks and tiedown bars to secure the completed pier segment to the top of the pier caps. The next milestone on the superstructure segment erection is the completion of the two balanced cantilevers at Pier 1 and 2. Once the balanced cantilever erection at both piers is complete, the project team will prepare for the casting of the closure segments between the cantilevered and end spans for superstructure continuity.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge projects, which include the nearly completed Bridge over Hwy I-26 and this Laurel Fork River Bridge replacement project, demonstrate COWI’s expertise in precast segmental design and construction, as well as the effective use of automation in engineering production delivery.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a renowned scenic drive spanning 469 miles along the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. The bridge replacement project was essential to accommodate the end of the service life of the existing Laurel Fork bridge.

Ivan Liu, Senior Bridge Engineer, COWI in North America, said: “The Vannoy Construction team and the Structural Technologies team have been great to work with and have shown their diligence and effort in communication with us throughout the process. In our experience of multiple precast segmental projects, there is a mixture of effort, experience, and patience to get the first split pier segments erected and aligned to have a good basis for balanced cantilever erection which Structural Technologies have achieved. For COWI, our engineering team has worked hard to coordinate and deliver the required submittals to get to segment erection. The start of segment erection is always an event for everyone to get on the same page, ensure that all items have been inspected and approved, and to push forward with schedule requirements or procurement constraints. We know getting to this milestone is key for this project type and the team has done an amazing job to get there.”