For several years, traffic bottlenecks have affected the old, two-lane Drammen Bridge in Norway, the connection between Oslo and the surrounding areas along the coast and in the country. Therefore, the bridge will be expanded by a new bridge with two lanes for smoother transition of the traffic from the intersecting four-lane highways.
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The Drammen Bridge |
In this connection, the Norwegian authorities required the old bridge architecture to be altered before they would approve the construction of a new bridge. Both bridges were to have round pillars with neat and rounded lower faces to make them appear externally as a unity.
Significant challenges were therefore associated with the old bridge; its square pillars were to be replaced while the bridge was to be intensified. That required holes to be drilled in the bridge right below the roadway on each side of the pillars, the bridge would then be raised, intensified and new round pillars mounted.
The only Scandinavian experts were called
Before Det Norske Vegvesen embarked on the complex bridge project it contacted FORCE Technology’s concrete, sensor and NDE innovation specialists who examined the bridge and located the pre-stressed wires to prevent them from being damaged during drilling.
The team spent 20 days in Drammen to examine the bridge, using digital xray equipment and shot a total of 164 images at night when traffic was at a minimum. The x-ray images helped Det Norske Vegvesen to map the wire location for safe drilling and pillar replacement.
Time saved – image quality improved
FORCE Technology has previously worked with Det Norske Vegvesen in e.g. a joint Nordic project on concrete structure surveys, and therefore FORCE Technology’s competences in this area and the fact that we are the sole provider of digital radiography in Scandinavia were no surprise to Det Norske Vegvesen.
Since time was of an essence with regard to the bridge project, the digital radiography was exactly what the Norwegians needed. Digital radiography can be put to use much more quickly than traditional radiography, and it provides considerably better image quality which helps to ensure the high precision level required by the project.
