Lazdynai Bridge constituting part of the Western Bypass of Vilnius will fairly soon acquire its future shape – already this Friday, pushing of girders will start by means of the sliding tracks set up on the right bank of the River Neris. The said works will be carried out in four stages, and mounting of floor slabs on the girders will start as early as in February 2010. Thus Lazdynai Bridge which used to have six traffic lanes will be widened up to eight lanes.
Egidijus Rancys, Work Superintendent at Kauno Tiltai, a Lithuanian road and bridge construction company organising the works, said that it is planned to push in place the 20-metre-long section of the bridge, which has been already welded, at certain time intervals this Friday.
During December, it is planned to accomplish the second stage of pushing girders towards the centre of the River Neris, and in January – the third and the fourth are planned to be accomplished. Upon the completion of the said works, the ends of girders will be finally adjusted, joint-girders will be mounted and welded.
All the steel floors of Lazdynai Bridge, which will consist of 64 girders, will weigh 1.3 thousand tons.
“Then by raising the bridge and having dismantled the sliding scaffolding, the bridge will be lowered on the bearings already set up to the position according to its design. Having accomplished the said works, at the end of February next year, it is intended to start mounting 140 floor slabs”, said Mr. Rancys.
Thus Lazdynai Bridge will be widened by two traffic lanes – everybody coming from Laisvės avenue will use them. Under the contract, the bridge should be opened for traffic on 2 August 2010.
The new section of Lazdynai Bridge will be 11.25 m wide, and the total width of the bridge, including the old reconstructed section, will be 39 metres. The bridge is 233 metres long.
The bridge may become a holder of certain records – the largest bay (the distance between the columns constructed on the opposite banks) is 100 metres wide and according to its designers, it is the bridge of metal construction with the largest bay in Lithuania.
Interesting facts about Lazdynai Bridge:
The new bridge is 233 m long and 11.25 m wide. The old bridge will not be connected to the new one – there will be a 5-centimetre gap between them;
The new section of Lazdynai Bridge will have five supports – three supports on the left bank of the River Neris and two on its right bank;
The foundations for the new section of the bridge are made of bored poles with the diameter of 650 mm, which, if connected, would be 2 km long. 825 m3 of concrete and 100 t of reinforcement were used for setting up the poles;
1200 m3 of concrete and 45 t of reinforcement were used for the construction of intermediate supports;
263 m3 of concrete and 16 t of reinforcement were used for setting up embankment supports, abutment walls, wings and bearing cross-bars.