Case Study: 536T Railroad Bridge Install with Hydra-Slide Skid System

Sliding Into Success With LGH!

EQUIPMENT SUPPLIED

Hydra-Slide Synchronous Skidding System & Included Accessories

(4) 100T Machine Skates

(2) 50T Hydraulic Rams

(2) 150T Hydraulic Rams

THE SITUATION

L.G. Barcus & Sons are no strangers to railroad bridge installations. However, their latest project to demolish an old railroad bridge and move a new 135-foot-long, 536T steel span in position within 22 hours required special planning.

The railroad bridge before.

Before: The railroad bridge.

Several factors threatened to stall the project beyond the customer’s requested repair window. So the project managers, superintendents, and engineers at L.G. Barcus & Sons worked through several options to determine the best way to place the new bridge. However, due to time constraints, accessibility challenges, and increased weight, they had to scrap their usual lift plan.

“On past projects, we’ve been able to build a bridge, double pick it and set it in place, but with the time constraint and weight of the bridge, we had to research some alternate ways to put it in,” Marshall Chambers, Superintendent for Barcus, said.

 

THE CHALLENGE

Within 22 hours, Barcus needed to place the 135′ section of bridge that spanned the river, then install two additional 50′ spans, one each on the east and west side, to complete the bridge and have trains running again. This made time constraints one of their biggest challenges. As a result, building the new bridge in place was eliminated as an option immediately, as well as the possibility of moving the 135’ span separately.

L.G. Barcus & Sons had a 650T and 300T crane on site, and LGH could have provided the rigging gear necessary to make a traditional pick and place happen. However, the weight of the bridge sections and headroom concerns presented an issue. Once the headroom was factored in for lifting the entire bridge structure, the lift would have been pushing dangerously close to the crane’s capacity. To further complicate matters, bringing in a bigger crane wasn’t an option due to space and accessibility restrictions on site.

“We were looking at a lot of ways to do it. Then someone just said, why don’t we roll it in?” Chambers remarked.

 

THE SOLUTION

Enter the Hydra-Slide Skidding System. A project manager for Barcus had come across an LGH demonstration video of the Hydra-Slide on YouTube and was excited for a chance to use it. He connected with LGH Inside Sales Representative Matt Kral, and together, they devised a plan.

Generally, the Hydra-Slide comes with four skid shoes and has a rated capacity of 500T. However, since the span weighed 536T, additional planning had to be done. LGH’s Matt Kral connected with Don Mahnke, President of Hydra-Slide, to determine if the Hydra-Slide could still be an option for this project.

They determined that the track could handle more weight if additional skid shoes were used to distribute the weight across the system evenly. Each shoe adds a 125T capacity, and up to two shoes may be added to safely increase the system’s capacity from 500T to 750T. This discovery put the Hydra-Slide back in play as the most logical piece of equipment for this application.

 

During: The Hydra-Slide is on the jobsite, ready to move the new sections into place.

During: The Hydra-Slide is on the jobsite, ready to move the new sections into place.

 

THE RESULT

After delivering the Hydra-Slide and accessories on-site, L.G. Barcus & Sons constructed the new bridge on top of the Hydra-Slide track sections.

Since time constraints prevented building the bridge in place as designed, the team built special steel frames around each bridge bearing pad to wedge them. This ensured the Hydra Slide’s hydraulic rams could stay in sync.

The Hydra-Slide helping to seamlessly slide the bridge into place.

The Hydra-Slide helping to seamlessly slide the bridge into place.

The application required the construction of 25 feet of h-pile and steel caps to run the Hydra-Slide out on. L.G. Barcus & Sons also added temporary footings to have support legs for the track on top of the Hydra-Slide.

After completing these preparations and constructing the bridge, Barcus demolished the old bridge and cleared it out. Once finished, they were ready to slide in the new structure.

The two synchronized Hydra-Slides moved the bridge straight in effortlessly, while the team ensured the structure remained clear and aligned. Once the sliding began, the Hydra-Slide system had the bridge in position within about 30 minutes. At that point, L.G. Barcus & Sons utilized multiple hydraulic jacks to jack the bridge off the Hydra-Slide, remove the tracks, and lower the bridge back in place. They then installed the two 50’ steel spans on the east and west side of the bridge.

As a result, L.G. Barcus & Sons completed this massive project within the time frame that the customer required with no significant problems or delays.

“It was a huge undertaking, but in the end, the customer was very happy. I would recommend the Hydra-Slide to anyone doing something technical like this. It blew me away. The easiest part of the whole project was sliding the bridge. It actually would have been more difficult to land it where it needed to go with the cranes as opposed to sliding it in,” Chambers said.

 

Some close-up shots showing how the Hydra-Slide supported the bridge's moving sections.

Some close-up shots showing how the Hydra-Slide supported the bridge’s moving sections.

ABOUT L.G. BARCUS & SONS

L.G. Barcus and Sons, Inc. has been in the construction industry for over 100 years, providing services to public and private entities in 38 states. These services include Bridge Construction, Sheeting and Shoring, Augered Cast-in-Place Piles, Retaining Walls, Concrete Structures, Railroad Construction, Railroad Services, Cofferdams, and Deep Foundations (driven piles and AugerPile foundations).

 

ABOUT LGH

LGH is North America’s largest single organization devoted exclusively to the provision of lifting and moving equipment for rent. LGH holds the most comprehensive inventory for hoisting, rigging, jacking, pulling, material handling, and safety equipment. With over 70,000 pieces, our lifting equipment is available for rent from 23 locations throughout North America- our customers are supported by over 50 Rental Representatives nationwide.