VIDEO: Mammoet’s Mega Jack system lifts Wellsburg Bridge

Mammoet and Flatiron Construction successfully completed the heaviest floating bridge lift ever executed in the US.

The Wellsburg Bridge connects Wellsburg, West Virginia and Brilliant, Ohio. The hope is that it will reduce travel time and improve commerce.

Forecasted wind motivated a decision to complete the entire operation in a single day, rather than the original plan of two.

Mommoet’s experience with jacking and floating bridges led to minimal disturbance to traffic on the river.

How they did it

Mammoet’s Mega Jack system lifted the 252 metre, 3.85 million kilogram bridge. The length of the bridge equating to two football fields, while the weight equals about 250 transport trucks.

Mammoet deployed eight Mega Jack 5200 towers and eight 500-ton strand jacks, installing the equipment onto four barges.

Flatiron Construction floated the barges to Wellsburg, West Virginia where Mammoet took over the load of the bridge on its Mega Jack system.

Next, Mammoet lifted the bridge with six jacking beam layers and their client executed the float. Once in position, Mammoet jacked up the bridge again in order for the bridge to float between the piers.

Mammoet used a total of 18 jacking beam layers to cover all water levels.

The load is jacked up a total of 15 layers on six towers and 16 layers on the other two towers, accounting for variances in the interface beams.

Finally, the descent operation positioned the bridge on its bearings, which allowed the barges to float away.

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