Full Issue (17 MB) - Pile Driving Contractors Association

Member Profile
Pile driving operation in Sumter County
(US-301) for the FDOT
Leware takes new
technology for a spin
With nearly 40 years of expertise in the field, Leware Construction Company continues to
find new ways of building bridges that benefit their clients, the industry and the community.
Most recently, the Florida-based business was the first to use Self-Propelled Modular
Transporters that increased safety and drastically decreased the project duration.
By: Aileen Goos Bérard
You could say that Leware Construction Company of
Florida Inc. is building bridges between the old and new
ways of, well, building bridges. The Florida-based business,
subcontracted by Ranger Construction Industries, Inc. on
a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) project, was
the first to use Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTS)
over an interstate in the U.S.
This innovation was applied to the Graves Avenue project
in central Florida as part of an interstate expansion. Graves was
a two-lane county road that crosses I-4 by way of a four-span
bridge that had to be demolished and replaced with a two-span
structure.
“It was a different and unique type of challenge,” says
Andy Clark, executive vice president of Leware Construction
Company. “Between FDOT, Ranger, Mammoet and Leware, we
had a great team of professionals working together, resulting in
a very successful outcome.”
That’s with much thanks to the Mammoet’s SPMTS system,
which is a computer-controlled multi-axial trailer that can
lift heavy structural components into position. The technology,
which is relatively new to North America but widely used in
24 • Q4 • 2009
Europe, provides numerous benefits. First and foremost is the
impact to the traveling public as the overhead components of
the bridge were constructed off-site and then set into position
as a virtually completed item.
This method of construction also allowed greater and safer
access by the work crews and equipment. Also, the concrete,
materials and pre-stressed components were delivered without
interfering with the Interstate traffic. The engineering layout
had to be precise with the spans being constructed at one site,
and then moved to the permanent location.
In this case, it meant the interstate only had to be closed
for four days, rather than approximately 32 days had they not
used SPMTS technology. That was an essential piece of managing
the project because the bridge is close to a school and
needed to be reopened in time for the first day of the new
school year.
It drew a lot of attention and visits from the media, colleagues
and professionals from across the states. They were
interested partly in the removal of the old structure, but more
so in the building and erecting of the new bridge.
The first step was removing the existing superstructure