A Sturdy Foundation
To create a stable foundation for the ramps, 120 piles will be drilled into the ground, each of which has a diameter of 1.2 meters and an impressive length of up to 18 meters. The load of each ramp will be distributed via the supports and piles. To build the supports, construction workers weave and weld steel cages, each of which weighs up to 4.5 tonnes and is nine meters long. A truck-mounted crane lifts these “rebar cages” onto the individual supports for the ramps. After a carpenter has surrounded the cages with formwork, the concrete can be poured in. This work forms the basis for the superstructure carrying the actual road.
A Complex Bridge Geometry
The access ramp is implemented as a trough-shaped composite substructure consisting of solid steel sections that is subsequently paved over. Later the steel components are connected to the concrete surface for greater stability. This is required for structural reasons to meet the requirements posed by the complex bridge geometry and traffic routing around the access ramp. Below the access ramp there are ground-level roads leading to the arrivals level, a service road, and the new Sky Line people mover route. Before the first steel sections for the access ramp could be delivered in December 2017, it was necessary to erect a supporting structure on the foundations. The steel segments, which were prefabricated in a factory, weighed up to 42 tons. The 29-meter-long and four-meter-wide elements had to be lifted and placed onto the supporting structure with the utmost precision. Heavy lifting equipment was a must: each steel section weighed as much as seven adult elephants.
2,600 Cubic Meters of Concrete
About 900 cubic meters of concrete were poured for the access ramp and another 1,700 for the exit ramp. To increase the concrete’s loadbearing capacity, metal “tendons” consisting of multi-wire strands were connected and tensioned. The final steps were to pave the surface and attach the railings and guardrails.
Related Topics : Relaxed Arrival and Departure
