Vermont-based William E. Dailey Precast, LLC has completed fabrication for the Maine Route 103 York River Bridge, the first structure incorporating Precast/Prestressed
Don Marsh
Vermont-based William E. Dailey Precast, LLC has completed fabrication for the Maine Route 103 York River Bridge, the first structure incorporating Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Northeast Bridge Technical Committee’s NEXT (Northeast Extreme Tee) Beam. Engineered according to the AASHTO LRFD method, it mimics a prestressed double tee, albeit with a 4-in.-thick, deck form-ready flange; 24- to 36-in. depth; and, stems up to 13.75 in. wide. The initial version calls for a 4-in. deck cast on site; an alternative NEXT Beam will have an integral 8-in. deck flange.
Bridge Technical Committee members are targeting 45- to 90-ft. spans for the new design. In that range of prestressed concrete-candidate jobs, the NEXT Beam becomes an alternative to adjacent-box (40- to 120-ft. typical span range) and bulb tee (70- to 150-ft.) girders. The new design exhibits rapid construction potential for variable width structures; improved navigational clearance compared with adjacent-box or bulb tee members, owing to the maximum 36-in. depth; and, open design, enabling simple, rapid visual inspections and utility installations.
Soon after assembling a dedicated NEXT Beam bed from four 50-ft. Hamilton Form segments, Dailey Precast staged a three-day open house that drew 100-plus engineers, architects and transportation officials Û the latter including representatives from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Many attendees were aligned with the Bridge Technical Committee, a public/private partnership of PCI Northeast producers, consultants and agencies representing six New England states and New York.
The premier NEXT Beam project entails replacement of a 17-span steel girder structure with a new bridge of five 80-ft. spans and 55-ft. end spans. At four across, the beams will provide two 11-ft. lanes, 4-ft. shoulders, and 5-ft. sidewalks. Dailey Precast will deliver the 28 beams in June for bridge contractor C.P.M. Constructors of Freeport, Maine. The new S.R. 103 York River crossing is based on a Maine Department of Transportation design and Hoyle, Tanner & Associates engineering.
Û Don Marsh; information provided by Dailey Precast, Shaftsbury, Vt.; PCI Northeast, Belmont, Mass.; and, CME Associates, East Hartford, Conn.