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Fabrication and Transportation of Orthotropic Box Girder for New Carquinez Bridge
YANAGIHARA Masahiro : Manager, Overseas Project Department, Bridge & Road Construction Division, Logistics Systems & Structures KIDA Akihiro : Manager, Manufacturing Department, Chita Works, IHI SA Technology Co., Ltd. YAMANE Mitsuhiro : Messina Project Department, Bridge & Road Construction Division, Logistics Systems & Structures NAKAYAMA Takeshi : Overseas Project Department, Bridge & Road Construction Division, Logistics Systems & Structures MURATA Shinji : Manufacturing Department, Aichi Works, Manufacturing Division, Logistics Systems & Structures

IHI obtained the subcontract for fabrication and delivery to the site of orthotropic box girders for the suspension bridge, which was constructed to replace the existing bridge over the Carquinez Strait in the vicinity of San Francisco. A total of 12 700 t steel structures was fabricated in Aichi works and transported across the Pacific Ocean. With technical trials and investigations, IHI succeeded in fulfilling the clients high quality requirements and won satisfaction from the general contractor and the owner. With regards to ocean transportation, which was done with double stacking of heavy units and across the Pacific Ocean in winter, all three voyages were successful to deliver on time with no problem.

1. Introduction
New Carquinez Bridge was planned to replace the First Carquinez Bridge constructed in 1927 as a part of measures to improve the earthquake resistance of the bridges around San Francisco Bay. The official name of the new bridge is The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge. It is a 3-span continuous suspension bridge with a center span of 728 m and a total length of 1 055 m. Its main tower is made of reinforced concrete, and the girder is an orthotoropic box with steel (hereinafter called OBG). The construction of this bridge was ordered by the California Department of Transportation (hereinafter called Caltrans), and the order for the entire construction was received by FCI Constructor Inc., Cleveland Bridge California Inc., a joint venture (hereinafter called JV). IHI received the order for fabrication and transportation of the OBG from JV. Twenty-four units (standard unit mass 570 t, total OBG mass 12 722 t) divided in accordance with the JV erection plan were fabricated at our Aichi Works and transported to the site by sea. This paper reports on the fabrication/transportation of the OBG of this bridge undertaken by IHI.

third bridge constructed in parallel to the 2 cantilever truss bridges (Fig. 2, Fig. 3) constructed in 1927 and 1958, respectively, over the Carquinez Strait (Fig. 1), which is located approx. 30 km northeast of San Francisco. California encountered such disasters as the Sylmar Earthquake in 1971, the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, and the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. For this reason, it conducted seismic analyses on all the bridges in the state, including the two above-mentioned existing bridges. It was concluded that the second bridge constructed in 1958 could be used by reinforcing it to be

Erection Location

2. Work outline
2.1 Project background The New Carquinez Bridge completed in 2003 was a
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Fig. 1

Site location

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New Carquinez Bridge

First Carquinez Bridge

Second Carquinez Bridge

Fig. 2

Site photo after completion of New Carquinez Bridge

New Carquinez Bridge

Second Carquinez Bridge

Fig. 3

Site photo after demolishment of 1st Carquinez Bridge

earthquake-resistant but that the first bridge constructed in 1927 would not have sufficient earthquake resistance even with reinforcement. It was therefore decided to replace it with the third bridge. As a replacement, the same cantilever truss bridge as the old bridge, a doublearch type, and a cable-stay type were cited as candidates, but finally the 3-span continuous suspension bridge was adopted. It was the first modern suspension bridge constructed in the U.S. after the Chesapeake Bridge was built in 1973. The new bridge was named after Mr. Alfred Zampa, who made remarkable contributions as an iron worker to the bridge construction work in this area, including the Oakland Bay Bridge, the Benecia Bridge, the Richmond San-Rafael Bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge since the construction of the First Carquinez Bridge in 1927. 2.2 Bid The schedule from the date of invitation for bids to

ordering is shown below. August 23, 1999 Date advertised January 13, 2000 Bid open Lowest price $187 837 346 Date order placed with general contractor January 28, 2000 Date fabrication order placed with IHI April 15, 2000 This construction work was paid for out of only the state and local budgets without any federal funds. For this reason, the Buy America provisions were not applied to the steel products, including the OBGs and cables. 2.3 Contract outline The main contractors of this construction work are shown below. In concluding the agreement, Caltrans made it mandatory for JV to provide a 50% performance bond and a 50% payment bond.(1) JV issued a 100% payment bond exclusively to IHI, and IHI issued a 100% performance guarantee to JV. Owner Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) Designer Deleuw Cather, OPAC, Steinman General contractor FCI Constructor Inc., Cleveland Bridge California Inc., a JV Fabrication of OBG Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Transportation Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Delivery terms of IHI Subcontract DDP, Incorterms 2000(2) The California State Public Contract Code(1) prohibits placing an order with a subcontractor without a performance capability. The general contractor must submit the company names of the main subcontractors. 2.4 Bridge outline(3),(4) Figure 4 shows the general drawing of the bridge, and the bridge specifications are shown below. Bridge type 3-span continuous suspension bridge Span length 183 m + 728 m + 148 m Effective width 25 m (4 lanes + side strip + sidewalk) Main tower Made of reinforced concrete, 131 m in height, installed through multi-tiered self-climbing form system, 1 cycle = 4 m in height, shortest term 2 days/cycle Cable Wire 5 mm in diameter (made in U.K.) 8 584 wires/cable, 232 wires/strand, mass about 1 t/coil. The aerial spinning method was used, and wires were pulled out during spinning so that 15% of the dead weight was loaded on the catwalk. The wire tension was controlled by a computer.
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1 056 000 147 000 728 000 181 000

Fig. 4

General drawing of the bridge (unit : mm)

Galvanized round steel wire of 3.5 mm Zinc paste + acrylic polymer coating (3 layers) Girder Orthotropic steel deck mono-box girder (total mass: 12 722 t) The OBG was the first of its type to be used for a U.S. suspension bridge Foundation Steel pipe piles Diameter 3 m. Total length 6 030 m. Bedrock about --50 m. Footing is precast footing manufactured at a factory near the site. Pavement Waterproof layer + Trinidad lake asphalt 2.5 Construction schedule Table 1 shows the entire construction schedule of this work.

Wrapping Coating

3. Design
3.1 Design outline(4),(5) The design outline is shown below. The detailed design was made by Deleuw Cather, OPAC, Steinman as described above, and IHI was not directly involved in the detailed design.

(1) Design method For the OBG and main tower, the AASHTO LRFD (load and resistance factor design method) was adopted, and for the cables, ASD (allowable stress design method) was adopted. (2) Design live load The design live load was based on the standards of AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials). (3) Earthquake-resistant design No damage by earthquake of recurrence interval 300 years and traffic secured against earthquake of 1 000 to 2 000 years. (4) Wind resistance design No damage by wind of recurrence interval 100 years. (5) Fatigue design characteristics For trough rib welding, penetration of 80 to 100% was secured (melt-through was not allowed). The shape of trough rib scallop is devised. (6) Painting Waterborn inorganic zincrich of painting 100 to 200 m was used for the inner surface, and waterborn inorganic zincrich painting 100 to 200 m + latex

Table 1
Year Item month 2000

Construction schedule
2002 2003 2004

2001

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 1 2 3 4 5

Foundation, tower Cable erection Fabrication of OBG Erection of OBG On-deck work

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(rubber type) paint 100 to 200 m for the outer surface. 3.2 Shop drawing IHI received orders for both the fabrication and transportation for this project and prepared the shop drawings. Figure 5 shows the procedure for preparing the shop drawing. The U.S. shop drawing is the last document to be approved by the Engineer before fabrication was started, and the inspection for the full-size drawing in Japan was not conducted. Data for weld shrinkage and accessories installation had to be included in the shop drawings. Another characteristic of the American shop drawing is that it contains the data of assembling sequence. Adding such data, about 1 300 shop drawings were prepared in this work.

4. Fabrication
4.1 Outline The OBG was fabricated at our Aichi Works. The factory was required to be qualified for major bridges, fracture critical, and sophisticated paint of the categories of American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and to pass a Caltrans audit. In accordance with the erection plan, the OBG was divided into 24 units. Segments with the size of 1/3 unit were fabricated in the shop and welded/bolted together into one unit on a leveled stage in the shop yard. Then units were trial-assembled. From 4 to 8 Caltrans engineers and inspectors, and 1 to 3 JV engineers were always at the workshop to inspect/control the work during the whole fabrication period. 4.2 Fabrication standards The following specifications were applied to the project. Standard specifications State of California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency Department of Transportation 1999. Special Provisions for Construction on State Highway in San Francisco County in San Francisco from 0.6 km to 1.3 km East of the Yerba Buena Tunnel East Portal AWS D1.5 (1996)

Fabrication procedure Approval Welding procedure Specification clarification (RFI) Welding data (shrinkage, WPS) description Solution of design problems Development from assembly drawing to single-component Start of shop drawing work

Panel dimensions description

Fig. 5

Procedure of shop drawing

4.3 Steel The main steel is ASTM A709M Gr345T2 (JIS : SM490Y equivalent). Check samples were cut out and tested for each plate thickness and heat to confirm mechanical property of the steel. 4.4 Welding, heat straightening 4.4.1 Approval of welding The specifications and AWS code were strictly applied to the welding work. To meet the specifications QCP (Quality Control procedures) had to be submitted for the owners approval. This includes the procedures of welding, inspection and non-destructive test for every welding method. Especially AWS D1.5 was strictly applied to the welding method. WPS (Welding Procedure Specification) was required for all the welding operations. Welding tests for obtaining the essential WPS variables and for supporting WPS were executed. The results of latter were recorded as PQR (Procedure Qualification Record). Since the welding procedure depend on the welding location, welding process and welding position, 124 tests for WPS and 62 tests for PQR were conducted. These will be valuable assets for Aichi Works in future projects. Welder qualification tests were also performed in accordance with AWS D1.5. A total of 130 welders including tack welders got qualification eventually. 4.4.2 Welding quality control During the whole fabrication period severe quality control was required especially for welding. Four resident welding inspectors dispatched from Caltrans were present in the workshop to check all welding activities. Since the specifications required that an AWS-CWI, certified welding inspector, and an AWS-CAWI, certified assistant welding inspector, control the welding operation at the workshop without leaving for more than 30 minutes, some people needed to get such qualifications quickly prior to commencement of the project. Five people obtained CWI qualifications and controlled welding work together with CAWI. 4.4.3 Heat straightening Welding distortion was minimized by providing precamber with the components prior to welding to minimize heat input during heat straightening operations. The amount of deformation of all components (approx. 1 300 pieces) was surveyed and recorded before/after heat straightening. Moreover the actual heat locations had to be recorded. 4.5 Panel assembly For the trough rib welding to the both deck and bottom plates, 80% penetration for the trough rib plate thickness was required. Since melt through was not acceptable, welding penetration had to be controlled to between 80 and 100%. To satisfy this requirement, welding tests were repeated. One year was spent to obtain the owners approval, including coping with the additional quality requirements. As the non-destructive inspection, 15% of the welding length was inspected by UT (Ultrasonic
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Test). But if a defect was found, 100% of the welding length was required to be inspected by UT for all the trough ribs of the panel where the defect was found. A smooth weld profile was required, and the allowable underfill value of less than 0.25 mm was specified. Figure 6 shows a welding macro. Trough rib welding was executed after the trough ribs were tack welded to the skin plate with a gap of less than 0.6 mm. Since tack welds interfered with the penetrations of the final welding, resulting in incomplete penetration, the size of tack weld was reduced to the extent that no tack weld would be cracked due to the welding distortion during the final welding, and tack welds were ground off to be thin enough before the final welding. As to the welding process, various experiments and tests were repeated, confirming that SAW (Submerged Arc Welding) satisfied the aforementioned specifications and owners requirements. Figure 7 shows the welding work. Panelto-panel seam-welding was done by one side submerged arc welding (FCB method). Since this welding method was not in the AWS code, many tests and documents were required to obtain the owners approval. High evaluation was finally obtained from the owner because FCB welding method does provide less distortion, fewer defects and stable quality. 4.6 Shop yard assembly, trial assembly It had to be proved that no effect of twisted deformation remained in the OBG unit after three segments were welded together at the unit assembly stage. The welding sequence was set to minimize twisted deformation and such deformation was monitored by a system to display real-time reaction fluctuation at 24 supporting points during welding. This monitoring confirmed that through dimensional control and reaction control the amount of twisted deformation was kept within the allowable range and proved that there were no ill effects. To keep the
8
Trough rib 356

Fig. 7

Welding work on panel assembly

305

24 850

Melt-through: not allowed

Con trol

led w

Und erfil l
ithi n 1.6

: no

t mo re th

an 0

.2

Penetration: 6.4 or higher (not more than 8)

Fig. 6

Photo of cross section of trough rib welding (unit : mm)

temperature difference within 4 throughout a unit during works, temporary tent-roofs were installed. Temperature rises of the OBG due to the direct rays of the sun were minimized, and the OBG temperature became stable in shorter time in the evening. That enabled us to continue the work on the night shift in allowable temperature conditions. To obtain the root gap of the site joint and unit length within the specified range in the trial assembly, the site joint area was required to be trimmed after completion of shop assembly for each unit. The trimming amount and trimming lines was checked in the presence of the JV inspectors before the trial assembly. During the trial assembly, Caltrans inspectors independently took a survey the unit using three dimensional measuring equipment at the same time and measuring points as IHIs. They checked if the difference of survey results between Caltrans and IHI was within 1 mm (maximum 2 mm). After confirming that the difference was within allowable range, the site joint portion of trough ribs was allowed to be drilled. The necessary numbers of drift pins had to be driven into holes before dawn. Then the root gap of the site joint and joint fitting were inspected by the JV inspectors under the very tight schedule. By strictly implementing the welding sequence, dimensional control, reaction control and temperature control, the accuracy of deck elevation and longitudinal alignment, and elevation at the center of the pin hole for hanger fixing were kept within 2.5 mm/50 m and 3.0 mm/100 m, respectively, meeting the owners requirements. 4.7 Painting The use of water-based paint was specified in terms of the regulation of VOC (Volatile Organic Compound). The first coat of waterborne inorganic zinc rich paint (100 200 m) was applied to the interior and exterior surfaces at the shop. Painting work was performed in a paint shop whose atmospheric conditions were controlled to satisfy the severe requirements such as 7 to 29 for the ambient temperature limit. Four MPa for the required minimum value of adhesion was successfully obtained eventually.

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5. Transportation
5.1 Outline The total number of OBG units was 24, and 8 units were transported at one time at the owners request. To minimize transportation cost, the OBG units were doublestacked, upper and lower, so that 8 units per voyage could be transported by one ship. Since the owners specification prohibited direct stacking of OBG units, special frames were installed on the hull deck to separate the upper and lower tier (Fig. 8). Because of the owners delivery time requirement, it was difficult to use one ship for 3 voyages, and 3 ships were therefore chartered from ZPMC Shipping affiliated with ZPMC in Shanghai (China). The order for the fabrication of the transportation frames was given to ZPMC. Forwarder services in Japan and the U.S., a ship chartering agency service and mooring work were undertaken by Giyu Kaium Co., Ltd. (Japan). The average number of navigation days per ship was about 20. 5.2 Shipping The OBG of standard unit mass 570 t was loaded by dual lift of 2 goliath cranes of Aichi Works. Since the trial assembly direction was different from the loading direction on the hull, each unit was turned 90 with 4 dollies. Figure 9 and Fig. 10 show the loading and turning, respectively. The OBG units were lashed using fastening jigs installed as part of the frames around the receiving point of all the transportation frames. 5.3 Marine transportation The OBG units were each 29 m wide 49.6 m long, and each unit was loaded sideways across the hull in order to stack 8 units per ship in two tiers. As a result, the OBG units overhung about 9 m from both sides of the hull, and there was the possibility of the overhung portion being damaged by waves during transportation. For this reason, the OBG units were raised 6 m above the hull deck by means of a transportation frame structure, and the Hawaii route, where waves are relatively mild, was selected. Hull movement during transportation was numerically

Fig. 9

Loading unit onto ship

Fig. 10

Horizontal turning of unit

Fig. 8

Transportation ship with deck units doubly stacked (first shipment)

analyzed with the cooperation of IHIs Research Laboratory, and then we reported on the effects on the OBGs during transportation with the loading method and transportation route to the owner for their prior approval. Figure 11 shows the transportation routes of the 3 ships. To prevent corrosion of the inner surface of the OBGs due to waves and wind/rain, the openings at both ends of the OBGs was closed watertight with a canvas sheet capable of withstanding wind velocity of 60 m/s in consideration of stormy weather and long transportation period. 5.4 Mooring at site and erection The OBG units were directly unloaded from the transportation ship and erected except for some OBG units requiring transhipping onto smaller barges because of the inaccessibility to unloading point for the ships. Thus each time a unit was erected, the transportation ship was brought under the bridge from the standby site and moored with 4 anchors installed in advance in the sea area. For this mooring operation, winches were locally installed on the hull deck. Since the ships were moored in
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: First ship : Second ship : Third ship

150E Japan

165E

40N 35N 30N

180E

165W

150W

135W

U.S.

Tropic of cancer 20N

Fig. 11

Sea transportation routes (actual)

a navigation channel, a local pilot boarded the ships, and they were positioned using a tugboat and moored in accordance with his instructions. During mooring, the position was checked by JV by means of optical surveying instruments from the land. Figure 12 shows the releasing of anchor lines. The erection was made at low tide when the tide was starting to rise. This was done to avoid hull movement during hoisting operation and prevent the OBG load from being unintentionally loaded on to the hoisting equipment when the hull lowers due to the ebbing of the tide. Since the OBG units were installed on the hull at a narrow clearance of 1.5 m, hoisting guides were provided to prevent collision during erection. But neither hoisted unit nor hull moved horizontally during hoisting, because the ships were positioned with high accuracy. Because the coast guard did not allow the transportation ship to be moored under the bridge for standby within the navigation channel, they moved after every erection to an open mooring area near the site for standby. At the standby site, they were kept moored with 4 anchors as a safety measure for other marine traffic because the space was limited. The erection undertaken by JV was made using 4 strand jacks installed in advance on the OBG at the standby site. After the erection was completed, strand jacks were transported by barge to the standby site to prepare for the erection of the following OBG unit. Figure 13 shows the erection of OBG. For the erection operation, the mooring position was checked first, and then the strand end of each jack was picked up from the catwalk by means of a winch and fixed to the temporary clamps installed in advance on the main cable, and the ship position was checked again. Then the OBG was hoisted through jack operation while the load balance was checked. Four strand jacks and all the equipment including power pack were placed on the OBG, and the hoisting operation was done in a concentrated way by means of a wired remote controller from the transportation ship or catwalk. For one strand jack, 19 galvanized PC steel
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Fig. 12

Releasing of anchor lines with tug boats

Fig. 13

Lifting up of unit

strands of 18 mm in diameter were used. Some units were moved horizontally in the air because of site conditions. This horizontal movement was made by means of load shifting between 2 sets of strand jacks (2 4 units) (Fig. 14).

6. Conclusion
The fabrication and transportation of OBG for the New Carquinez Bridge were outlined above. Under a severe delivery schedule, we, including factory workers and project group, united to perform the operations, and as a result made the delivery on schedule. We intend to utilize the technologies and experiences accumulated through the severe conditions and schedule for this project for our future overseas projects.

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and cooperation from people both inside and outside IHI. We hereby express our heartfelt thanks to them. REFERENCES (1) State of California, Department of Transportation : Standard Specification 1999 (1999) (2) International Chamber of Commerce : International Commercial Terms 2000 (2000) (3) California Department of Transportation : Spanning the Carquinez Strait (2003) (4) M. Marquez, R. W. Wolfe and E. Thimmhardy : New Carquinez Strait Suspension Bridge, San Francisco, California, Structural Engineering International Vol.13 No.2 (2003) (5) Thomas Spoth and H. Ohashi : Design of the New Carquinez Bridge, Bridge and Foundation Engineering Vol.35 No.6 June 2001 pp.17-25

Fig. 14

Traversing status of unit performed by load shifting under hoisted condition

Acknowledgments In implementing this project, we received much guidance

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