Sometimes it takes a disaster to accelerate the decision to adopt innovative solutions. That’s the situation the county engineer for Lancaster County, Neb. found herself in after a 2019 bomb cyclone struck — causing the loss of 28 of the county’s bridges.
Looking at the extent of the damage, it became clear that an innovative approach would be necessary to address the loss, efficiently and effectively. County engineer, Pamela Dingman, P.E., researched the PBFTG (Press-Brake-Formed Tub Girder) products available, along with the experiences other states in the region had with the bridge system.
“It seemed to me that based on my research, once a region had this model of bridge construction, it took off. That indicated to me that this was a solid way to construct bridges,” she said. “From the very beginning, I felt this location was a good candidate for this method of construction. The size of the channel and the drainage area fit the press-brake-formed tub girder system really well.”
In addition, the Nebraska Department of Transportation had created the Nebraska Transportation Innovation Act with a County Bridge Match Program designed to encourage new and innovative ways to build bridges in the state. A grant was awarded for the bridge construction using the U-BEAM™ steel press-brake-formed tub girder.
Working with any new product can create questions from contractors and others who are used to traditional bridge construction methods. According to Dingman, Valmont “went above and beyond in coordinating with the contractor to make sure he was comfortable with constructing this bridge.”
“When we were ready for the bridge beams, they were set in place in less than 90 minutes,” Dingman said. “We were able to get the deck on and get that bridge open. Traditional construction of a slab bridge in this location would probably have taken another three to four months. So the time savings using the PBFTG product to get this corridor back open was significant.”
The 40-foot span bridge was opened in May 2023. And there are two other bridges in Lancaster County that will also be replaced using the same system. In addition, Dingman hopes to use Valmont PBFTG beams as part of a standardized solution that can be pre-ordered and put into the Lancaster County inventory. “As we go forward in the future and look at additional bridges of this type, we might go ahead and get the bridge beams from Valmont and just keep them in inventory,” she said.
“What I’m really looking at is corridors where I need rapid bridge construction or I can’t be down for an excessive period of time. This is where we’re looking at putting this particular type of structure in,” said Dingman.