LBJ express project: an example of accelerated bridge construction techniques for large and complex projects

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe I-635 Managed Lanes project, also known as the LBJ Express, was a USD$2.7 billion, 22 kilometres highway reconstruction that more than doubled the capacity of the existing corridor. It is the largest significant transportation improvement project in northern Texas (USA), with the goal to relieve severe congestion along the I-635 and IH-35 in a dense urban area of Dallas. The LBJ Express project has over half million square metres of deck, as large as 120 football fields, more than 5,700 precast beams, 100 km of piling, and over 300,000 square metres of retaining walls with 7 million cubic metres of earthworks, this article presents the innovative design approach and the accelerated bridge construction techniques implemented for the structures, which was an exceptionally complex project. Through the use of innovative structural solutions for the bent caps (headstocks) and straddle bents (extended headstocks), skilled design optimisation, and careful construction analysis, including the ad-hoc design of launching gantries, the team was able to accelerate the bridge construction ensuring traffic flows in excess of 270,000 vehicles per day.