| Steel
Erector: Palmetto
Bridge Constructors
Project
Description:
Charleston's
landmark Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge over the Cooper
River carries with it some impressive statistics that
help explain why it was High Steel's largest job ever.
In addition to being the largest public works project
in South Carolina history, the 3.5-mile, eight-lane
span of graceful white steel is also the longest cable-stay
bridge in North America.
High
Steel delivered on its $58 million contract by fabricating,
inspecting, coating and delivering 38,000 tons of
steel, a total of 6,194 pieces that included massive
40-ton girders and shark-fin-shaped anchors that hold
the bridge's cables in place. High's work on
this design-build project began in 2001 and included
refinement of the bridge design, a new method for
cutting the steel components with extreme accuracy,
and some one-of-a-kind fabrication techniques.
The
new bridge replaced two obsolete bridges, the Grace
Memorial Bridge and the Pearman Bridge, allowing modern
container ships to pass through into the Charleston
Harbor, one of the country's largest ports.
The
bridge opened to the public a year ahead of schedule
on July 16, 2005.
For
more project information and photos, we recommend
the following web sites:
The
Cooper River Bridge - SCDOT
Fabrication
of the Cooper River Bridge
Ravenelbridge.net
- Building the final edge girders
The
Bridge Builders - Charleston Post and Courier
Wikipedia
Project Page |
