We all know the feeling of frustration when traffic slows to a crawl as you see the telltale signs of traffic cones and reduced lanes up ahead. Large bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects mean that disruptive construction zones can last months into years.
Accelerated bridge construction is a design and construction method that uses prefabricated materials and other strategies to minimize traffic disruptions and reduce onsite construction time. As many components of the bridge as possible are constructed ahead of time so that road closures are required only when moving the elements into place. For projects that do not require custom engineering, movable bridges and accelerated bridge construction can greatly decrease construction disruptions without sacrificing quality. Standardized approaches streamline the activities required to get bridge replacement systems designed and built in less time -sometimes installed in hours or days, rather than weeks or months.