These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
BNSF/Santa Fe Bridge over I-40 in Oklahoma City, OK
I don't normally bother with out-of-state steel girder bridges because there are plenty of examples in Illinois. But while researching videos of moving a couple of truss spans into place, I came across the video below that explains how large girders (up to 159'x16' and 150 tons) are fabricated, test-assembled, test-lifted, transported and re-assembled to build the bridge.
Capitol Steel & Iron was the steel fabricator. The bridge spans were completely assembled in their building, then taken apart for shipment. This guaranteed that the bridge erectors would not encounter any "surprises" during assembly in the field in terms of hole alignments, etc.
The video was published in 2011 and their URL, http://www.capitol-steel.com/, is now invalid. A Google search indicates this 100-year old company has been bought by a China company. It was in the city because the transport distance was 4.2 miles. Its longest bay is one of the longest in the country --- 1,200 feet.
The video also shows how two trucks, each with 23-axle trailers, are needed to transport the girders. The rear truck pushes its trailer. Several agencies provided escorts for the trips that started at 2am.
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