As part of the Princes Highway upgrade between Berry and Bomaderry, Seymour Whyte were required to construct two new bridges over the highway.
The bridges were fabricated in Newcastle, the largest segment was 41 metres long and 3 metres wide, and weighed between 26 and 69 tonnes. They were transported to site, some 320kms away in a two night exercise using six extendible jinker trailers under police escort.
The larger of the bridges – Pestells Lane, comprised nine segments, welded on site into three sections, comprising two site welds per section.
The smaller bridge – Strongs Rd, comprising six segments was more complex to fabricate and assemble as it doesn’t have a central pier.
The bridges were erected using a 500 tonne crawler crane and a 130 tonne crane to counterweight the load. Five semi-trailer loads of counterweights were required.
Once the steelwork was lifted into place and welding completed, precast formwork deck units were placed to facilitate the construction of the concrete deck and finishing works. The works were required to be completed without affecting highway traffic.