U.S.

Route 40 Bridge Slide

(Pokey Slide) Location: Pocahontas, IL
Contractor: Keller Construction, Inc.
Bridge Designer: IDOT
Project Description

 Construct permanent bridge superstructure on temporary abutments adjacent to permanent

bridge location, and slide superstructure into final location within an 8-hour time frame.
Structure Type & Location

 108’ Single Span Plate Girder Bridge

 Dual lane with 4’ shoulders each side
 Semi-integral abutments with no skew
 IDOT Special Provision Geometry Requirements

Construction Procedure
The temporary substructure platform geometry, jacking procedure, and slide-in procedure shall control twisting,
distortions and deflections within the tolerances specified below:
 Final elevations of individual bridge bearings shall be within plus or minus 1/8 inch of plan elevations.
Additional shims or grinding of the concrete seat may be used to adjust elevations accordingly
o Matches Standard Specification requirements of Section 503.15 (c) for bearing seat
surface finish, Section 521.05 for setting bearings
o Easy to achieve when substructures are built (Contractors are accustomed to this)
o Possible to meet requirement on both substructures yet lock in relative differential
displacements between adjacent girders due to cumulative effects
1 ”
2
IDOT Special Provision Geometry Requirements

 To satisfy twist distortion requirements, each corner of the bridge shall maintain a two inch
maximum differential elevation from the plane defined by the concurrent elevation of the
remaining three corners at all times
o Interpreted this to only apply to slide of superstructure
o Easy to satisfy
o Shot elevations at four corners and calculated twist when the slide was at 3’,
6’, 13.5’, 21’, and in final location. Maximum calculated twist was about 1/8”
IDOT Special Provision Geometry Requirements

 Individual CL bearing locations shall be within ¼ inch of the plan bearing locations, both
longitudinally and transversely
o Easy to satisfy if guide tracks are straight and parallel
o Just about impossible to change plan shape of our bridge deck
o Superstructure can get rotated in plan view but is easily adjusted by adjusting
differential travel at either end
IDOT Special Provision Geometry Requirements

Design Requirements.
The superstructure of the proposed bridge shall be constructed on the temporary substructure platform
supported on piles adjacent to the south end of existing bridge.
The stiffness of the pile supported temporary substructure platform shall be sufficient as to limit total
deflections at any location on the support to less than 1/16 inch.
o Strict interpretation is: at no location at any point in time could the temporary
substructure displace vertically more than 1/16 inch
o Couldn’t satisfy this requirement
i. Estimated elastic shortening of our pile about 3/16 inch.
ii. Asymmetrical temp substructure cantilever deflected 3/8 inch (while deck
concrete was plastic)
o We accounted for displacements > 1/16 inch, and met final 1/8” bearing elevation
tolerance
Temporary Substructure
Temporary Substructure
Things Change
 Spread footing. Not used due to fill and calculated differential settlement. Would not consider this
substructure type in the future except in rare favorable conditions (very stiff soil / rock).
 Precast abutment with 4 evenly spaced pile. Not used due to powerline issue.
 Asymmetric steel beam abutment on piles with precast slab topper.
o Minimized temporary substructure depth, excavation, and allowed us to accurately predict
girder deflections.
o Contractor re-usable components
Temporary Substructure
Temporary Substructure
Design Considerations
 Accurate deflection calculations. Required to provide level guide track after superstructure is
poured.
o Varying guide track shim heights to account for 3/8” deflection
o Correct superstructure cross section
 Moving load analysis for varying conditions during slide.
 Lateral load due to lateral pull forces.
 Transition between temporary substructure and permanent abutment (transfer beam).
Temporary Substructure

Constructability
 Fewest piles and most efficient member
sizes and connections possible to control
cost and construction time.
 Design of substructure components to
allow for unknowns, construction
tolerances and field variations.
o Temporary substructure guide track
elevations
o Adjustable field connections and
contractor verified shims
o WT connection
Temporary Substructure
Lateral Slide System
Lateral Slide System
Things Change
 PTFE and stainless-steel slide shoes with guide track. Not used due to revised roller cost
from supplier.
 Hilman Rollers with channel guide track. Used due to revised cost and known success rate.
 Would be comfortable using either system in the future. Have used rollers and even
greased plates on past slides without issue.
Lateral Slide System

Lateral Slide System

Main Components
 Hilman Rollers
 Channel Guide Track
 1” diameter threaded pull
rod
 Lateral Jack Support Frame
 Lateral Jacks = Enerpac
hollow ram hydraulic jack
with sync system
 Vertical Jacks = Enerpac
hydraulic jacks with tilt
saddles and sync system
Lateral Slide System
Design Considerations
 Design lateral pull force = normal force * static coefficient of friction. Used 0.05 per Hilman Roller
technical specs
 Limited lateral jack pressures to not exceed a certain pull force that would overload the system.
 Design of concrete diaphragm for vertical jacking forces (required per special provision)
o Would prefer this be done by the original bridge designer to reduce plan modifications.
Lateral Slide System
Additions / modifications to contract plans
 Holes in girder webs for pull rod and
continuous reinforcement
o Coordinated with fabricator
 Shear studs at ends of girders
o Coordination with fabricator
 Continuous reinforcing bars in bottom of
concrete diaphragm
o Modification to contract plans
 Top of slab elevations
o Modification to contract plans
o Superstructure not built at same
elevation as final condition
o Had to account for cantilevered
deflection of temp. substructure
o Best to be done during construction
phase of the project.
Erection Plan
Erection Plan
General Overview
 Required clearance zone to power lines would not allow the 2 north girder lines to be set in
place.
 Set girders directly on top of rollers outside of clearance zone and roll into required temporary
location.
 No Erection Plan required in the project specifications

Procedure
 Set single girder and brace off existing bridge
 Erect 3 girder box outside of clearance zone
 Pushed 3 girder box into place by 3 men on each end
 Set remaining 3 girders in place

Interesting Observation
 Estimated required push force at 5% static COF is approximately 1,550 lbs.
 Three men probably can’t push 1,550 lbs.
 Actual static COF was probably closer to 2% or 3%
Slide Day
Slide Day
Slide Duration
 Must be done in 8 hours (Special Provision requirement)
 Length of slide about 39’
 Jack stroke about 8 ½”
 Therefore, about 55 cycles to move 39’
 Jacking cycle consists of: stroke jack, retract ram, re-tighten threaded rod nuts
Slide Day

Slide Duration
 Start time 8:30 AM  4:30 PM latest
end time
 Slide rate over first 2 hours was about 13
minutes per cycle  end time at this
rate about 8 PM!
 Contractor increased rate until stroking
was at system maximum by about
1:30 PM (initial rate was recommended
by system supplier)
 At maximum stroke rate cycle time
dropped to about 6 minutes per cycle
 Slide completed at 4 PM
 Probably could have completed around
2:30 PM if maximum stoke rate was used
at start
Slide Day
Slide Uniformity
 Travel at each end measured with
electronic wire device and with tape
measure
 East end tended to lag behind west
end
 Early on adjustments made about
every 6th stroke
 Adjustments did not exceed ½”
 Adjustment frequency and
magnitude both decreased as the
slide progressed
 It was recognized that nut re-
tightening was different between
ends uniform nut re-tightening
later on seemed to cause reduction
in adjustment frequency and
magnitude
Slide Day
QUESTIONS?