VSL-Intrafor News 2003 N°1

12
SITE INSIGHTS
Cable-stayed bridges
Full construction of the
Puente de la Unidad
> In 2002, the joint venture Groupo
Garza Ponce–VSL Mexico was
awarded the contract to construct
USA
Large VSLAB
> VSL provided the innovative
VSLAB post-tensioning system
for the Baltimore Washington
International (BWI) Airport Parking
Garage Project (325,000 m 2 of
parking space). The feature that set
it apart from other garages was the
VSLAB post-tensioning system,
which provides total encapsulation
of the strands, minimising lifecycle
maintenance costs. ■
Contact: bgallagher@structural.net
N E W S N ° 1 • 2 0 0 3
this 300-meter-long cable-stayed
bridge across the Santa Catarina
River at Monterrey Nuevo Leon in
northern Mexico. VSL Mexico's
scope in the 50-50 joint venture
includes project management,
complete technical and methods
support and part of the production
management. VSL Mexico has also
supplied and installed the 300 t of
post-tensioning and the 440 t of
stays, using the SSI 2000 system.
The bridge has a single, 60-degreeinclined,
post-stressed pylon on the
south side of the crossing. The
whole structure is 160 m high. On
the north side, 13 pairs of stays
support the main deck, which is
designed to carry four lanes of
Portugal
Free-sliding bearings
> VSL recently completed the
launching of the 1,200 t steel
superstructure on the 600-m-long
Perdigao viaduct near Beira.
The steelwork was pulled on special
free-sliding bearings. Two steel/
concrete decks with 12 spans were
built by assembling precast concrete
slabs on a pair of previously launched
steel girders. VSL Portugal was in
charge of the design and execution
of the launching method. ■
Contact: ralmeida@vslsistemas.pt
traffic. The pylon is being erected
over an important highway. Once
the pylon is completed, this highway
will pass through it. The deck is
composed of a 185-m-long concrete
transition span receiving two future
access ramps and a 150-m-long
composite (structural steel and
concrete) structure connecting to
the north viaduct. Production
peaked 10 months after work
started on the Puente de la Unidad,
with 220 workers and 30 staff
working round-the-clock shifts on
five simultaneous fronts: pylon,
stays, in-situ transition span, main
span and end span. Completion is
scheduled for September 2003. ■
Contact: arossetto@vslmex.com.mx