Temporary Bridge Eases Construction Inconvenience at LaGuardia

Parsippany, N.J. — Acrow Bridge, an international bridge engineering and supply company, provided one of its modular steel bridges to Delta Airlines and recently installed to allow uninterrupted vehicular passage during renovations to terminals C and D at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The temporary structure was critical to the success of the project, which called for demolishing and reconfiguring all approach roadways.

The project involved several particular challenges. The timeline for the design and delivery of the bridge was extremely tight. The structure was required to be on-site in the initial phases of the route reconfiguration project; if the installation had been delayed the project schedule would have been impacted. Additionally, the worksite was very congested and consideration for this and the many utilities that needed to be moved or avoided were concerns during the design and installation processes.

The design of the structure itself was unique as it consists of beam bridges and panel bridges connected together to form a single crossing. Site location requirements called for skewed configurations at the west abutments resulting in special designs and fabrications for the transition from the wider main bridge to the narrower approach.

The overall length of the bridge is 460 feet. The main bridge consists of four spans with a total length of 380 feet and a width of 30 feet. The approaches are beam bridges, with the east measuring 35 feet long by 30 feet wide and the west measuring 45 feet long by 24 feet wide. Six sets of Acrow towers support the bridge. The structure has a live load of HL-93 and the deck is coated with a non-skid epoxy surface.

The bridge was erected over a period of approximately 40 days in late 2018 and although temporary, it is expected to be in place for four years. Upon completion of the project, Delta plans to donate the bridging to benefit a deserving cause.

The project was ordered by Delta Airlines and Delta’s program manager served as contractor, with STV Incorporated overseeing construction management. Burns & McDonnell is the design engineer and installation was performed by Northeast Structural Steel under the supervision of an Acrow Technical Assistant.

“Although this was a complex project, it was gratifying to be a part of such a critical infrastructure upgrade,” said Bob Rose, Northeast Regional Sales Manager at Acrow. Added Bill Killeen, CEO of Acrow Bridge, “This project is a great example of how Acrow systems can provide creative solutions to difficult situations and provide value to contractors and government agencies alike. Acrow structures are a great choice when it’s critical that projects stay on, or ahead of schedule and within budget.”