The use of Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) is growing, with prefabricated elements and systems reducing or eliminating the onsite construction time needed to build a similar structure using conventional methods.
ABC relies on innovative planning, design, materials and construction methods to reduce both onsite bridge construction and reconstruction time. That’s important to highway contractors who face intense pressure to avoid prolonged closures, for which the public has little tolerance.
Coast to coast, contractors are using ABC practices to slash construction time from weeks to days, and in some cases, from days to just hours. That in turn helps protect the public and workers in construction zones, say contractors and transportation departments.
Various technologies can be used to incorporate ABC into projects. The use of prefabricated bridge elements and systems, bridge slides and bridge moves with self-propelled modular transporters all support the goals of ABC – which include improved safety and quality and minimized traffic impact.
Lawrence Construction of Littleton, Colorado, first used ABC methods in 2002 when it received a Colorado DOT contract for the Mitchell Gulch project on SH86 between Castle Rock and Franktown.
The project involved replacing a deteriorated bridge with a conventional three-cell cast-in-place concrete box culvert.
