A Look At Famous Bridges

he work has been completed for the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s improvement

project to provide the two missing movements at Garden State ParkwayInterchange 142 and Interstate 78. Theproject was intended to improve trafficflow and eliminate barriers to interstatecommerce, since this section of highwayexperiences a high volume of truck trafficfrom shipping ports. The new ramps nowallow NB Parkway traffic to travel West onI-78 and SB Parkway traffic can now headEast on I-78.

The large-scale, $165million rehabilitationand reconstructionproject was completedin December 2010. Itinvolved three curvedstructures includingRamp NW, which wasdone in September2009, Ramp B, whichwas finished in July2010, and Ramp SE,which was completedat the end of 2010.The project alsoincluded numerousretaining walls andbridge wideningsalong I-78.

High Steel Structures Inc. fabricated 4,103 tons of steel for the three rampswhich were designed by Gannett Flemingof Harrisburg, Pa. and South Plainfield, N.J.,and Modjeski & Masters of Mechanicsburg,Pa. and Moorestown, N.J. The contractorwas Union Paving and Construction Co. Inc. in Mountainside, N.J.

The main structural challenge on thisproject was to accommodate the curvedand sharply skewed ramp crossings withminimal impacts to span lengths, structuraldepths and profile grades. The use oftransverse steel box cross-girders built integrally with curved steel longitudinalgirders resulted in reasonable span lengths

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Spanning the Tagus River near Lisbon,Portugal, the dramatic Vasco da GamaBridge is one of the longest bridges inEurope. The 10.7-mile (17.2 km) cable-stayed bridge is flanked by viaducts and roads. It was built in 1998 with the purpose of alleviating the congestion on Lisbon’s 25 de Abril Bridge and joinspreviously unconnected motorways radiating from Lisbon.

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Vasco De Gama Bridge

and girder depths. This allowed for realisticand practical profile grades. All supportswere skewed at 90 degrees thereby elimi-nating any adverse skew effects.

Ramp NW-D, a nine-span structure thatmeasures 34 feet wide and 1,365 feet long,was designed by Gannett Fleming. Thealignment of Ramp NW-D required curvedgirder construction, with a baseline radiusof 590 feet along most of the structurelength. Straddle bents over existing road-ways consist of steel cross girders and cir-cular columns at Piers 3, 4 and 6. At Pier 6,drilled shaft foundations were used tocompensate for footprint constraints dueto the Elizabeth River’s steep sloping banks.

Gannett Fleming also designed Ramp B,which is a two-span structure over Ramp E-SB. The overall length is 286 feet and widthis 32 feet. Carrying traffic over Ramp E-SB,the alignment required curved girder construction with a varying baseline radiusminimum of 450 feet. Due to the sharplyskewed crossing, a straddle bent consistingof a steel cross girder supported on circularcolumns was required.

Modjeski & Masters designed the eight-

Overhead view of the new 142 Interchange connecting the Garden State Parkway and I-78.

Overhead ramps B and SE at Interchange 142(photos courtesy of Gannett Fleming)

bout 10 years ago, I would have been very surprised if anyone would have told me that highway

construction industry professionals wouldbe regularly communicating by email, letalone searching for bidding advertise-ments, downloading plans and actuallybidding for projects online. How quicklythings have changed!

In the last decade, these electronic tools,along with others such as electronic trans-fer and approval of shop drawings, havemade the way we communicate with proj-ect owners and each other throughout the

project cycle much more efficient, allowingus to do much more with less time.

A couple of years ago, we upgraded theHigh Steel website (www.highsteel.com)and incorporated some useful budget pricing, shipping and technical informationrequest forms that have helped us do abetter job at meeting our customers’ needs for information.

The next logical step in this process is to begin using social media for marketingcommunications. Until recently, like per-haps many of you, making an account onLinkedIn, the professional networking site,

was about as far as Ihad personally goneinto social media.There wasn’t muchtalk around thecompany or aroundthe industry about sites such asFacebook or Twitter – those were more for young kids and movie stars. But in thepast couple of years, businesses and gov-ernment entities, including some in ourown industry, have begun to embracethese popular communications tools and found ways to make them useful.

$2.5 billion per year without raising thegasoline tax. That commission’s report was delivered to the governor on August2. You can review that at their website,www.tfac.pa.gov.

What this commission came up with is a rather eclectic assortment of tactics toincrease funding. They recommendedusing consolidation and modernization in certain areas to save money andimprove services at the same time. Theyalso recommended increasing certain fees and fines, eliminating the cap on theexisting oil company franchise tax, andreducing or eliminating the payments tothe Pennsylvania State Police budget fromthe transportation funds. If the governoraccepts all of the recommendations— and then corresponding legislation ispassed by the state legislature— it wouldindeed add $2.5 billion dollars per year fortransportation in the state. But not untilfive years from now. Current projectionsshow that by that time, the differencebetween existing funding sources and the transportation need will have grown to $5.3 billion!

The funding commission in Pennsylvaniaalso recommended passage of the legisla-tion to enable Public Private Partnerships(PPPs) that could take on the financing ofmajor transportation projects. We needmore states to do that as well. PPPs are not the total solution, but it is another tool that can help.

The size of thisproblem is huge,and we have toget started. This“Pennsylvania”story is essential-ly the same inmost states. Weabsolutely muststart cobblingtogether a fund-ing strategy,equitably paid for by those who use thetransportation system, to restore our roadsand bridges. When gasoline taxes paid atthe pump adequately served as the solefunding stream for roads and bridges,politicians only had to consider and actupon one piece of legislation. In today’sreality, it won’t be so easy. We need ourelected officials to put together severalcomplimentary pieces of legislation toattack the problem from several anglessimultaneously. That means that we, theirconstituents, need to keep the pressure on until the job is done.

Jeffrey L. Sterner, P.E.PresidentHigh Steel Structures Inc.

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y now, I don’t think there are any state DOTs that are confidently waiting for Washington, D.C. to

send them additional money to fix thecrumbling roads and bridges in their state.Perhaps it will happen in a few years, whenthe economy starts growing more robustlyand our elected officials feel that they havemade enough progress on eliminating ournational deficit. But then again, I may bejust dreaming or fantasizing. I hold on tohope that our federal government willagain see the value of having a “national”priority regarding our transportation infrastructure, adequately funded by the users of that system, as a matter of economic growth and national security.But waiting for that sea to change hasbecome more frustrating than I can bear. I think the sense of reality has firmly set inthat the only way out of this mess, at leastfor now, is for the states to take mattersinto their own hands.

In the state of Pennsylvania, where all of High Steel Structures’ manufacturingplants are located, the funding shortfall intransportation has been well publicized. A few years ago, a plan was developed togenerate additional funding by tolling I-80through the state, but that was disallowedbecause it failed to comply with FHWAguidelines. Newly elected governor TomCorbett is going at it again. He named acommission to come up with new ideas to increase transportation funding by

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JUST THE FACTS:

Steel: 649 Tons of Steel

Project: SPUI at NYS Route 7/Route 2 over I-87

Cost: $41.9 Million

Owner/Designer: New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)

General Contractor: Lancaster Development, Inc., Richmondville, N.Y.

Steel Fabrication: High Steel Structures Inc., Lancaster, Pa.

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ew York’s Capital Region has opened its first Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI), marking

progress toward improved infrastructure in New York State.

The Single Point Urban Interchange isthe first of its kind in the Capital Region,and the first overhead SPUI in New York.The interchange opened in late 2010, farahead of its Summer 2011 completiondate.

The new $41.9 million Single PointUrban Interchange (SPUI) is located at Exit 6 of Interstate 87, the AdirondackNorthway, in the town of Colonie in Albany County.

Representing the trend in designinginterchanges that are capable of handlinghigher traffic volumes, the new SPUIreplaces the 51-year-old bridge that carried State Route 7 over the interstatehighway.

According to the New York StateDepartment of Transportation (NYSDOT),the completion of the Exit 6 SPUI is anexample of how New York State is invest-ing in its transportation infrastructure,which continues to bring jobs and economic benefits to regions all over New York State.

The SPUI was designed by New YorkState DOT and the contractor wasLancaster Development, Inc. ofRichmondville, N.Y.

As Jeff Kenyon of Lancaster Develop-ment noted, the company worked closelywith all of its subcontractors to replace the deteriorated bridge at Exit 6, and dramatically improve traffic flow at thebusy interchange.

High Steel Structures provided 649 tons of steel girders and beams used in the project.

“We are seeing more and more SPUIs on major highways,” noted High Steel’s

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project manager Kevin Benner. “They are amore effective way to keep traffic movingand allow for vehicles to make left turns at the same time.”

Using just one set of traffic signals, theSPUI is designed so that vehicles travelingin opposite directions can make left turnsat the same time. This allows more vehiclesto clear the interchange during one signalcycle, which significantly reduces trafficdelays. The trick is in aligning the turn lanes

so that both left-turn lanescan turn at the same time.

According to Congress-man Paul Tonko, the newSPUI will greatly improvetravel flow and safety forcommuters along theNorthway Exit 6 corridor.The improvements willalso benefit nearby busi-nesses and make it easierfor commercial traffic todeliver needed goods and services.

The NYS Route 7/Route2 SPUI Interchange over I-87, is one of onlythree SPUIs in the state, and it is the onlyoverhead SPUI in New York State— so far.

As Benner noted, the overhead designhas been so successful that similarapproaches to SPUI design are being considered. They are especially effective in moving high volumes at some of thenation’s busiest intersections.

As Kenyon explains, a SPUI reduces thenumber of traffic conflict points and allowsthe interchange to function more safelyand efficiently. The bridge over I-87 has anexpected life span of 75 years.

The new bridge features nine travellanes compared to the former bridge’sseven, and one traffic signal at the middleof the bridge replaces the two signals thatwere at either ramp system. This allowstraffic to flow more smoothly, greatlyreducing congestion and travel times.

The SPUI also increases safety by allowing traffic from each direction onRoute 7 to turn left onto the interstatesimultaneously.

As an overhead interchange, the bridgeand its approaches provide greater verticalclearance over the Northway, allowing larger trucks to pass underneath.

The project was started in 2008 and was completed in summer of 2011.

A Single Point Urban Interchange allows traffic to flow more effectively.

The Exit 6 Interchange on Interstate 87 is located in Colonie, N.Y.

(photos courtesy of NYDOT)

Sector versus LinearThere are two types of PAUT

scans: linear and sector. Undera sector scan (S-scan), soundcomes from multiple angles atone time, as shown in figure 2.In a linear scan (E-scan), multi-ple signals are also used, butthe signals run in parallel, asshown in figure 3.

Sector scans are the pre-ferred PAUT scan methodbecause they more readilyreveal defect geometry, butfor bridge work the use of linear scans is more likelybecause linear results are suited to AWSD1.5 acceptance / rejection criteria forultrasonic testing. Perhaps the future ofphased array in bridge fabrication will be

linear scans to the present UTcriteria first, and then in thefuture sector scans to newlydevelop acceptance criteria,which could be based on present RT criteria.

High Steel’s PITA Projectwith Olympus and Lehigh

To help advance the imple-mentation of PAUT in bridges,High Steel joined Dr. SougataRoy of Lehigh University andMichael Moles of Olympus on a small PennsylvaniaInfrastructure TechnologyAlliance (PITA) funded researchgrant. The alliance is a Pennsyl-

vania Department of Community andEconomic Development (DCED) programthat provides economic benefit to thestate through advancement of the state-of-the-art and technological development.

In late August, Dr. Roy, Michael Moles ofOlympus, and Shane LaPann of David NDEvisited High Steel to conduct some trialexaminations. The team scanned one-inchthick and two-inch thick mock-up buttsplices with known built-in defects and anactual flange butt splice (shown in Figure4). Dr. Roy will conduct further examinationof the mock-up butt splices at the ATLSSresearch center to establish a correlationamong the PAUT readings and the AASH-TO/AWS D1.5 RT and UT acceptance crite-

hased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) will bring considerably improved weld examination to

steel bridge fabrication.

Like traditional ultrasonic testing (UT),PAUT evaluates full penetration welds bysending sound through the base metaland weld metal and analyzing the soundthat bounces back to the probe. Any lackof homogeneity in the metal disturbs thereturning sound, and the disturbance isthen characterized to establish whether or not defects are present. But unlike UT,PAUT sends a flood of sound through theweld at one time, providing two keyadvantages:

1)The phased array line scan can be accomplished in one pass of the probe instead of the raster scan of traditional ultrasonic testing.

2)Radiography is a 2D scan, whereas PAUT is a 3D scan.

3)An image of the tested weld can be created, evaluated, and stored, creating a test that is analogous to radiography.

The advantages of PAUT over RT are particularly compelling. First, the test resultis immediate because no film processing isinvolved, saving a considerable amount oftime. Second, the costs of RT materials andstorage are avoided. This year High Steelwill spend over $100k in film alone, so thecost of RT is certainly far from nominal.Further, moving away from RT would avoid the safety precautions needed foruse of x-ray tubes and sources.

The High Tech Corner

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By Ronnie Medlock, P.E., Vice President-Technical Services

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Figure 1 - This PAUT test provides six display outputs at once; as shown in the bottom two outputs, PAUT provides a picture characterization of the test.

ria. An orthotropic rib-to-deck joint mock-up was also examined to demonstratePAUT’s suitability for determining the depthof penetration in the rib to deck joint.

Figure 2 - A PAUT “sector” scan uses multiple sounds paths at different angles.

Figure 3 - A PAUT “linear” scan uses multiple sounds paths at the same angle. This computer image depicts simultaneous linear scans at 45, 60 and 70 degrees.

Figure 4 – High Steel’s Jim Leeser, front left, Robin Dunlap,front right, and Greg Freyberg, rear left, join Shane LaPann of David NDE, front center and Olympus’ Michael Moles, backright, for a phased array flange splice trial examination.

The Future of PAUTThe use of phased array in steel bridge

fabrication has often been discussed due to the superiority of the method, and nowthere is momentum behind a shift to thismethod. Both the AWS D1.1 and D1.5 committees are actively discussing imple-mentation, and the PITA trial will help ScottKopp, who is a member of the AWS D1 committee push PAUT along. Owner inter-est is high, and High Steel is in discussionwith MD SHA to conduct a trial project.

Phased array shows considerable prom-ise for speeding fabrication, improvingweld examination, and lowering inspec-tion costs. Given these compelling factors,High Steel will work to keep phased arrayat the leading edge of steel fabricationstate-of-the art.

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New Interchange 142 Connects Garden State Parkway with I-78 continued from page 1

span Ramp SE structure. For this curvedand skewed 34’ wide and 1,384’ longramp, steel cross girders were used atPiers 2 and 5. For all the curved ramps, thelongitudinal and cross girders rest on POTbearings, with restraint requirements andhorizontal orientation based on points offixity and expansion lengths.

“In order to meet the project comple-tion schedule, the fabrication of the various structures were split between our Lancaster and Williamsport facilities,”noted High Steel project manager MikeKennedy. “Both facilities fabricated andyard assembled the heavy cross-girderboxes along with the girder lines that tied into each box on structures Ramp SE,Ramp B and the Ramp NW-D as requiredby owner specifications.”

Kennedy added that the extremeweather conditions, with a very cold winter and a very hot summer, added tothe challenges for fabrication. The HighSteel crews managed to overcome thetemperature issues throughout the duration of the project.

JUST THE FACTS:

Steel: 4,103 Tons of SteelProject: Interchange 142, Garden State Parkway/ I-78Cost: $165 MillionOwner: New Jersey State Department of Transportation (NJDOT) GeneralContractor: Union Paving and Construction Co. Inc., Mountainside, N.J.Designers: Modjeski & Masters, Mechanicsburg, Pa. and Moorestown, N.J.,

and Gannett Fleming, Inc. Harrisburg, Pa. and South Plainfield, NJ.Steel Fabrication: High Steel Structures Inc., Lancaster, Pa.

On the Federal level, TransportationSecretary Ray LaHood has a thriving pagewith more than 7,700 followers(http://www.facebook.com/sec.lahood)that he uses to advocate for transporta-tion funding, economic development, and safety. On the state and local levels,project owners such as the District ofColumbia DOT, Michigan DOT andMaryland Transit Authority, are usingFacebook and Twitter to communicatedirectly with the public.

Grass-roots groups abound onFacebook as well. For example, local residents and the business communitysurrounding the Lake Champlain Bridgeproject in New York and Vermont havejoined together and formed the LakeChamplain Bridge Coalition, a Facebook-

based group that uses the site as theirhome base – a way to quickly shareprogress photos and project updates as well as to communicate and connectwith other project stakeholders.

In June, High Steel took its first step intosocial media by launching our Facebookpage at www.facebook.com/highsteel.Using this page, we can reach out to ourfriends in the industry and share some ofthe notable projects, company milestones,relevant industry information and ideasthat are a part of our company’s ongoinglegacy. Unlike a formal press release or thenewsletter you are reading now, the pagehelps us connect in a conversational manner, and get your feedback as well. If you are on Facebook, we invite you to“like” our page, and join our community.

Building Bridges Online continued from page 2

Recent ContractsAwardedI-95/I-91/Route 34 Interchange,Q Bridge, Contract ENew Haven, CTO&G Industries, Inc.17,290 Tons

PA Turnpike SR 29 Interchange, MP 320.00Chester County, PAAllan A. Myers, Inc.2,224 Tons

I-190 (Niagara Expressway)/Lockport Street & CSXNiagara County, NYCATCO788 Tons

PA Turnpike MP A20.31 to MP A25.67,7 Mainline BridgesMontgomery County, PAWalsh Construction661 Tons

Novartis Bldg 1, Plate GirdersEast Hanover, NJLynchburg Steel451 Tons

NJ Turnpike, P100.124, Watchung Ave Bridges at MP 152.4Essex County, NJUnion Paving & Construction Co., Inc.430 Tons

SR 70 Sec. Y20 over SR 519Washington County, PAGolden Triangle Construction Company, Inc.402 Tons

Transportation was another huge hurdle. With a project of that scope, HighSteel’s transportation department wasdealing with extremely large and heavyboxes. That required special equipment,permitting, police escort and staging areasprior to field erection at night.

“Once again our transit department did an outstanding job of insuring theproduct arrived on time, per our customerrequests and within the required con-straints,” said Kennedy.

He thanked the project team withUnion Paving, the erector, StructuralServices, and the owners’ representatives

for working so effectively to complete avery challenging project.

Completion of the two new flyoverramps between Garden State Parkway NBto I-78 WB and the Garden State ParkwaySB to I-78 EB has resulted in tremendousimprovement of traffic flow and safety atthe interchange of these two superhigh-ways. It is anticipated that 23,000 vehicleswill use the new ramps, eliminating theneed for 1,200 vehicles to make a two-mile u-turn on an hourly basis.

A view of Ramp NW-D at Interchange 142 of the Garden State Parkway.

1915 Old Philadelphia Pike P.O. Box 10008 Lancaster, PA 17605-0008(717) 299-5211 Fax (717) 399-4102 www.highsteel.comAdditional plant location: Williamsport, PA

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Please address comments or requests for additional subscriptions to editor, Lisa Fulginiti, at LFulginiti@high.net

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PAIDLANCASTER, PA

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“Lay down a good weld and give good measure”

Sanford High 1931

www.highsteel.com

In This IssueInterchange 142 Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 1

Message from the President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2

Building Bridges Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2

N.Y. State Overhead SPUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3

Recent Contracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3

Tech Talk: Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing . . . Page 4

Fast Answers to Your STEEL Questions

High Steel makes the connection with 4,103 tons of steel to NJ Interchange of

Garden State Parkway and I-78 (Page 1)