e-mosty September 2018 Vessels and Equipment Used for Bridge Construction | Page 17

Confederation Bridge in Canada
After completion of the Storebælt project, Ballast Nedam
received an order for the construction of the
Confederation Bridge in Canada, world’s longest bridge
over ice-covered water. On 19 th November 1996 shortly before midnight, the last
component of the Confederation Bridge was placed,
construction of the approach roads and toll plaza, and
final works on the structure continued until May of 1997.
However for this purposes, the ‘Svanen’ had to be
modified. The lifting capacity had to be increased from
7,000-ton to 8,200-ton and also the lifting height from 76
to 102 metres. The Confederation Bridge is a multi-span balanced
cantilever bridge with a post-tensioned concrete box
girder structure.
The conversion was carried out in Dunkirk by the French
company Entrepose-Montalev. After completion, the
‘Svanen’ was loaded on to the deck of the submersible
pontoon ‘Contwin’ (121.93 x 62.00 x 7.72m) and made
the voyage over the Atlantic to Prince Edward Island
behind the tugs ‘Solano’ and ‘Sumatras’.
The ‘Svanen’ arrived in August 1995 and began placing
the components of the East Approach Bridge, completing
it three months later in November; the West Approach
Bridge was built the following spring.
The Main Bridge followed, and by August 1996 the
navigation span was the last to be placed.
Most of the curved bridge is 40 metres above water with
a 60 m navigation span for ship traffic. The bridge rests
on 65 piers; 14 in the 1,300 m long West Approach
Bridge, 7 in the 600 m long East Approach Bridge and 44
piers in the 11 kilometre-long Main Bridge, which joins
the approach bridges.
The Main Bridge piers are 250m apart, while the bridge is
11m wide.
Typical elevation is 40 metres above sea level; however,
at its highest point, the Navigation Span, the bridge
reaches 60 metres above sea level, allowing large sea
vessels, including cruise ships, to navigate under the
bridge between its piers.
VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?time_continue=1259
&v=FkJ4W9zwZmI
Figure 31: ´Svanen´ placing the bridge components
Photo Credit: Ballast Nedam
↑ Video 1: Confederation Bridge
Construction
← Figure 32: ´Svanen´
Source:
https://www.confederationbridge.com/
3/2018