Using 14-axle trailers, carriers V. Van Dyke (Seattle) and Redmond Heavy Hauling (Portland) recently transported six 185-ft. prestressed girders on a 135-mile trek, from the Concrete Technology Corp. operation in Tacoma to the Padden Parkway Pedestrian Bridge construction site in Vancouver, Wash. The girders are the longest such members on Concrete Tech's logs. According to Concrete Products files, they also set a new length record for prestressed concrete bridge girders — subject to land transport — in the U.S., besting product Concrete Tech delivered for the Methow River Bridge (Okanogan County, Wash., 176.5-ft. girders) in 2002 and Rinker Materials delivered for the Wabash River Bridge (Lafayette, Ind., 175-ft. girders) in 1994-1995.

The Padden Parkway structure has three 185-ft. spans and 16-ft. deck bearing on twin girder lengths spaced at 8 feet. Like the Methow River job, its girders are 82.7 in. deep, tensioned with 0.6-in.- diameter strand, and cast from high performance mixes (Type III cement + silica fume) of 9,200-psi design strength. Concrete Tech's neighbor to the northeast, Calgary-based Con Force Structures Ltd., holds the North American record for truck-delivered prestressed concrete bridge members, with recent Alberta Transport contracts calling for girders exceeding 200 ft.