Bath, Maine

 

The Bath Viaduct Replacement is a 20 span rapid bridge replacement project located in Bath Maine, USA. Strescon Limited in Saint John, New Brunswick, produced the first Canadian North East Extreme Tee (NEXT) beam project.  The NEXT beam offers accommodation of utilities, ease of fabrication, reduced installation cost, accelerated construction and an alternative to box beam or I-girders for mid span bridges. The NEXT Beam is a regional standard that was developed by the technical committee of PCI Northeast, the northeast state departments of transportation and fabricators.

The bridge, which has been a vital transportation link for Bath, Maine since 1958, was resurfaced in 2006 and was completely reconstructed in 2016. The reconstruction cost was $12 million dollars. A tender call was put out in the spring of 2016 and the contract was awarded to General Contractor Reed and Reed Inc. in Woolwich, Maine. Strescon Limited in Saint John, New Brunswick, produced 80 NEXT beams for this project.

 

 

In May 2016, preparations began to start the construction of the new bridge. It was critical that the impact on local traffic was minimized.  In October 2016, the existing bridge was closed and the re-opening of the new viaduct was scheduled for May 2017.

 

 

Strescon Limited began the production of the NEXT D36 beams in June 2016 and completed production in October 2016. The shipment of the large girders began in December 2016 (two girders shipped per day) and was completed by February 2017. In April 2017, the guardrails and final closure strips were installed. 

 

 

Project at a glance: 

 

 

The NEXT Beams on this project were some of the most difficult that Strescon Limited has seen to date but production was successfully completed on schedule with all 80 girders meeting Maine DOT’s strict specifications.

 

 

Precast concrete offers speed of construction, durability and resiliency, which are all critical factors for bridge construction. 

 

 

For more information on the Northeast Extreme Tee (NEXT) Beam, click here. 

 

For you free copy of “Guidelines for Accelerated Bridge Construction using Precast Prestressed Concrete Elements”, click here.