A a device that uses Continental Tire the Americas LLC’s industrial tires was recently used by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to cut the time of a bridge replacement project time in half.
MnDOT closed and dismantled the Maryland Ave. Bridge spanning I-35E in St. Paul in July as part of interstate corridor improvements planned for 2012 to 2015. A new bridge deck and superstructure were built during the course of the summer on the west side of the roadway.
On Aug. 18, 2012, crews used a giant, automated self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) to move the finished sections of the bridge across the highway and set them into place. The transporter was operated by global heavy moving and transport expert Mammoet. The Illinois-based civil project unit was contracted by MnDOT to oversee the delicate move.
The SPMT, a multi-axle platform machine controlled by computer, moved the bridge sections at a walking pace, rolling them on 352 wheels with special Continental industrial tires based on the IC40 Extra Deep design.
The heavy load carrying capacity and durability of the Continental IC40 industrial pneumatic tires has made them the choice of Mammoet Transport for its SPMTs. Mammoet has also used Continental IC40 tires to move a solid stone church in Germany in 2007.
The Continental tires are specified for Mammoet SPMTs because they can stand up to not only the weight of the materials transported, but also to the immense forces generated when each wheel is individually steered, according to Mammoet.
More information about the I-35E Maryland Avenue Bridge project is available at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/35estpaul/maryland.html.
A YouTube video of the bridge move, filmed by MnDOT, is linked on the Continental Industrial Tires channel, www.youtube.com/ContiIndustrialTires.
