PERI Formwork Systems is the formwork system provider and design-supplier on one of two bridges being built by Nouvelle Autoroute 30, S.E.N.C, as part of the $1.5- billion A-30 Highway public-private partnership project. Led by Acciona S.A., the project is intended to relieve traffic congestion in the Montreal area. The bridge will span the Beauharnois Canal, which is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and help link the Island of Montreal with the region’s south shore.
The Montreal office of a Bolton Ontario-headquartered firm is using technology developed by its German parent combined with Canadian know-how to save a Spanish consortium considerable time and money.
PERI Formwork Systems is the formwork system provider and design/supplier on one of two bridges being built by Nouvelle Autoroute 30, S.E.N.C, as part of the $1.5- billion A-30 Highway public-private partnership project. Led by Acciona S.A. and Iridium, the project is intended to relieve traffic congestion in the Montreal area by providing an alternative route via a southern bypass road.
The bridge in question is a 2,550-metre-long structure just south of the City of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield in southwestern Quebec. It will span the Beauharnois Canal, which is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and help link the Island of Montreal with the region’s south shore. The canal includes a 150-metre-wide sluice section separating Salaberry Island with the south shore, which is the area ships pass through.
On dry land on both sides of the sluice will be a double column pier to support the bridge which will have more than 38 metres of clearance, so as not to interfere with ship movement. Construction of the four 36-metre-high pier columns started last February and is nearing completion.
Work, however, is far from complete on 6.5-metre-high hammerheads that will extend eight metres out from each of the four columns.
The hammerheads alone will require approximately 650 cubic metres or 1,625 tons of concrete for their construction and the logistical and time challenge that could have posed is why PERI became a crucial player in the project.
Rather than erecting scaffolding all the way up the columns to build forms, the consortium’s crews are constructing the hammerheads using the PERI’s variokit formwork system, says product manager Mike Guindy.
Comprised of standardized components such as steel walers, heavy duty spindles and climbing rails, it features a quick-pin connection system “which dramatically reduces the assembly and disassembly times,” when compared to a more traditional formwork system of nuts, bolts, and splice connections, he explains.
Still, there are approximately 150 different components for the hammerheads and another approximately 50 different items for the piles formwork.
So, the erection and assembly process does require some instruction and that is why PERI is also the onsite consultant to the contracting team. “We’re not there permanently, but we are there on a regular basis to ensure the best sequence of erection and assembly.”
Pre-assembly for the hammerhead platforms started in July and a combination of tower cranes and some truck-based cranes are being used to hoist the various pieces, says Alex Ungur, sales manager with PERI’s Montreal office.
A different team has been assigned to each of the four hammerheads. But it is different to predict a precise finish date, says Ungur, citing factors such as how fast the steel erectors advance, the various site conditions, and the weather.
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