e-mosty September 2018 Vessels and Equipment Used for Bridge Construction | Page 54

VESSELS FOR SUBSTRUCTURE
INITIAL AND FINAL LAUNCHING OF THE CAISSONS
AND THEIR SUBMERGING
Erdal Ergül
Figure 1: The AHT Tug Boats; “Kurtarma 9” &” Kurtarma 10” towing the caisson
(front), where “Kurtarma 8” &” Kurtarma 5” are aligning (rear)
CAISSONS
Key dimensions of the caissons are:
The two tower caissons were partially (almost 75%)
constructed in a dry dock; with the base slab and outer
walls fully cast and partially completed inner walls.
They were then towed through a channel to a wet dock
where the remainder of the concrete was cast and two
steel shafts that would ultimately support the towers
were installed.
Concrete plinths and tie beams were later constructed on
top of the steel shafts to form a base for the steel towers
above.
3/2018
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Length: 54m
Width: 67m
Total height: 42m
Height of reinforced concrete footing: 15m
Height of steel shafts: 27m
Weights:
25,000t before initial launching/floating
(dry dock)
40,000t before final launching (wet dock)
85,000
tons
after
submerging
(tower foundations)
100,000 tons after plinth and tied-beam
construction (tower foundations)