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  • Bridge Slide over Gila River on SR 79 in Arizona – 1,416’ Span

    Category: Monthly Webinar Bridge Slide over Gila River on SR 79 in Arizona – 1,416’ Span

    –
    July 18, 2024

    Robert Ringwald, P.E., S.E., Senior Project Manager, Associate Vice President, AECOM
    Christopher A. Labye, P.E., Senior Bridge Engineer, Technical Quality Auditor, AECOM

    Presentation starts at: 8:45
    Q&A starts at: 47:29

    Webinar Document:
    Intro and News Slides: Intro & News Slides July 2024
    Presentation Slides: SR 79 Gila River AECOM ABC Presentation Slides

    Description:
    This 1,416'-10" span bridge replacement project was completed in 2023.  The 14 spans bridge was replaced as a series of 4 x 3-span units and 1 x 2-span unit, on each side.  Each half of the bridge was slid over the course of two separate weekends.   The project is over the Gila River on State Route 79 located immediately north of Florence, Arizona.  The “shortest” detour was over 100 miles in length, therefore, full closure of the bridge for reconstruction was not practical.  A phased bridge slide method was implemented to utilize portions of the new bridge to phase removal and reconstruction activities such that traffic could be maintained during construction.

     Presenters:


     

    Robert Ringwald, P.E., S.E.
    Senior Project Engineer, Associated Vice President
    AECOM

    Rob has 33 years of experience in engineering and another 5 years in construction. He is an Associate Vice President at AECOM. He has served as a project manager on numerous major freeway and rural projects utilizing various delivery methods including design-bid-build, design-build and construction-manager-at-risk.  His recent experience includes two accelerated bridge construction (ABC) bridge slide projects. Rob graduated from Arizona State University with a BSE in Civil Engineering and a MSE in Structural Engineering.




     

     

    Christopher A. Labye, P.E.
    Senior Bridge Engineer, Technical Quality Auditor
    AECOM

     

    Chris as a senior bridge engineer and technical quality auditor for AECOM and also serves as lead quality manager for the Phoenix and Tucson offices in Arizona.  Chris has 27 years of experience in bridge design, and approximately 4 years of geotechnical engineering in transportation.  He has served as the lead bridge designer for over 50 miles of preliminary design concept reports and bridge selection reports for the Phoenix Metropolitan Freeway System. Chris graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a BSE in Civil Engineering.


    Presentation Photos/Graphics:


    1) Superstructure construction adjacent to existing bridge


    2) Demolition of existing bridge


    3) Night bridge slide in progress


    4) Day image of bridge slide in progress

    5) Completed Bridge