Innovations for Hydraulics: Advanced Bridge Construction

One of our main sectors of business here at Metro Hydraulic is within the sphere of construction. There are many different uses of hydraulics in construction, from materials handling, to jacks and pullers, and other applications for transport of materials and work pieces. One of the coolest innovations we’ve seen in construction recently also utilizes hydraulics, and we’re intrigued. This article is a great expo on the new process called “Accelerated bridge construction” or “ABC”, for building highway overpasses and other bridge structures, and explains what we think is a great new process that improves vastly on the old for several reasons. First, it allows traffic to continue to flow while the building process, which takes up the majority of the time of construction, is in progress. This alone is immensely practical solution to the tedious detours associated with most other jobs of this type. The road closure time taken for this particular application was 8 hours – an incredible reduction of time and associated labor costs. The system that makes this possible is a combination of hydraulics and a lubricated sliding surface. The new structure is progressively slid into place along the sliding surfaces, pushed by hydraulic jacks which are incrementally moved as the new platform is slid into place. We’ve seen a lot of great innovation in our experience with construction, and this is no exception. ABC represents a significantly improved process that serves both commuters who use the roadways and construction companies that build them. It’s heartening for us as hydraulic suppliers to see hydraulic systems being used to such great effect for construction. We hope this process continues to be gain acceptance and be further implemented for infrastructure construction and repair everywhere.