Precise planning was crucial to minimise outages for the rail services. The railroad authorities has allocated a window of just eight hours to complete the entire installation, but Mammoet was able to finish the work ahead of schedule.
Kiewit Infrastructure appointed Mammoet for the work, which is part of a revitalisation effort in downtown Colorado Springs.
Prior to Mammoet’s arrival, the 76m prefabricated bridge was assembled, welded together and given a concrete walking surface. Once on site, Mammoet crews used eight 500t Mega Jacks to hoist the bridge close to 7m in the air to allow for the installation of self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) for transport.
The use of these jacks allowed the team to keep the bridge’s centre of gravity low while traversing the tracks. A combination of wooden and steel mats was used to safely cross the railroad tracks and ensure there was no load bearing directly on them - as this could potentially damage the highly trafficked route.
Once the transportation phase of the project was completed, the bridge was jacked-down into its final installation location. Mammoet’s was able to cross the tracks, install the bridge and remove the 64 axle-lines of SPMT in just under five hours, allowing the railway to begin operations again ahead of schedule.
The bridge is slated to open early this year and will connect the America the Beautiful Park to southwest downtown, which includes the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum and Hall of Fame as its centrepiece.
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