Page 16 • November 27, 2019 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • New England States Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

With the excess decay, the amount of chippingwas limited to small areas to keep structuralintegrity of the bridge while maintaining trafficabove.”

“The job was challenging because of the vol-ume of traffic and limited access for pier rehabil-itation work,” said Scott Stevens, R.S. Audleybridge engineer. “We used an Anderson HydraPlatform under bridge access device, which wasmore flexible than a crane-mounted man basket,which we’ve used before.”

The company also is using a Grove RT760Erough-terrain crane and a Blast It All Mfg.Workhorse Skid Steer Scraper.

Vaughan said the pier work on the southboundbridge is complete and the northbound bridgeshould be completed by Thanksgiving. The topdecks of both bridges will be started in April,2020 and should be completed by September.

The bridges were built in 1958 and widenedand re-decked in 1991, according to JasonTremblay, senior project engineer of NHDOT’sBureau of Bridge Design. He said an inspectionof the bridges showed that expansion joints were failing,which set up the current job.

“We chipped away to replace sections piece by piece so asnot to degrade the extension joints,” Vaughan said. “Thepiers have safety devices built in, so there is no danger totraffic.”

The water leak from the expansion joints caused crackingalong the lower piers. To extend the life of the bridges, theexpansion joints needed be replaced, the concrete deckimproved and proper bridge piers installed.

“It should be 20-plus years before we have to preserve thebridge again,” Tremblay said. CEG

R.S. Audley Leads Bridge Rehabilitation Project in N.H.

The work is being done on the Route I-293 northbound and southbound bridges over the Merrimack River in Bedfordand Manchester.

BRIDGES from page 1

R.S. Audley of Bow, N.H., is the contractor on the $4.7million project.

The old joints had been leakingfor some time with substantialdecay in the concrete.

The water leak from the expansion joints causedcracking along the lower piers. To extend the life ofthe bridges, the expansion jointsneeded be replaced, the concretedeck improved and properbridge piers installed.

The company also is using a Grove RT760E rough-ter-rain crane and a Blast It All Mfg. Workhorse Skid SteerScraper.

The pier work on the southbound bridge is complete and the northboundbridge should be completed by Thanksgiving.