STREETS & HIGHWAYS/New York bridges repaired with platform system
While politicians spend much of their time talking about Medicare, Social Security and welfare, deterioration of the nation’s infrastructure is another brewing crisis that is guaranteed to be costly.
More than 180,000 bridges are “substandard” and in need of replacement or rehabilitation, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
But a new system used on the six-lane New York State Thruway (I-90) span over Cazenovia Creek in West Seneca, N.Y., last summer may make such jobs faster and less expensive.
The Multi-Span Bridge Platform System, manufactured by Tonawanda, N.Y.-based Safeway Platform Systems, was used to refurbish the 400-foot NY 98 (Transit Road) bridge over the New York State Barge Canal in Lockport and the 4,200-foot Fire Island Bridge connecting the resort community to Long Island.
Traditionally, crews have employed numerous types of work platforms for bridge maintenance. These include “picks,” 24-foot-long, two-and-a-half-foot-wide metal walkways laid between parallel cables; boards placed between the flanges of I-beams; and scaffolding hung from the bridge. In some cases, barges and cranes must be employed for installation and removal — an added expense.
But these methods cannot handle a great deal of weight, must be frequently moved since they only cover a limited area and are time-consuming to assemble and remove.
Additionally, the containment tarp which keep lead and other harmful substances from being released into the atmosphere must also be moved. Labor downtime is also a problem. Conventional platforms can only handle a limited number of workers, rendering other work crews idle while they wait their turns.
But the multiple span system covers hundreds of feet, which allows different subcontractors — for example, sandblasters, primers, intermediate and finish painters and steel repairpersons — to work at the same time.
Installation of the system, which varies depending on bridge configuration, typically involves attaching cables to concrete piers with steel plates. The cables are run at equal intervals between the abutments of a bridge, and corrugated steel decking is attached using interlocking clips.