Tanana River bridge steel girder Q&A.

• Author: Harrington, Susan
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Building Alaska - Interview

I was interested in learning about the steel girders China Railway Shanhaihguan Bridge Group Co. Ltd. manufactured for the Tanana River Crossing project in Alaska that is being built by Kiewit for the Alaska Railroad Corp., so I emailed the company. My questions and the responses from Mr. Guo Shuangcai, the project manager on the CRSBG Tanana River Bridge Team, are below. CRSBG is located in Qinhuangdai City, Hebei Province, People's Republic of China. --Susan Harrington, Managing Editor

Q: How long did it take to manufacture the 80 steel I-beam bridge girders?

A: From the time of contract signing through detailing, steel ordering and fabrication; approximately 10 months for all girders.

Q: How long did it take to assemble the girders once manufactured? (And to take apart for shipment?)

A: After a trial run, each span took about 10 working days for assemble and disassemble.

Q: I am told the girders are assembled during the manufacturing process with bolts, then taken apart for shipment and reassembled at the project site and this makes me curious about the nuts and bolts.

Did CRSBG also manufacture the nuts and bolts to assemble the project?

A: CRSBG used domestic bolts for local assembly process, which where were the same size as project required bolts. Please note the bolts used for our assembly are NOT the same bolts used for final erection.

Q: How many nuts and bolts did it take to assemble the girders?

A: CRSBG used approximately 7,500 nut and bolt assemblies for each span. CRSBG assembled four spans at one time, thus about 30,000 total.

Q: Since arriving in Alaska, these giant pieces of steel are being trucked, one at a time, 300 miles from the port at Valdez to the project site. In comparison, how far away is the port in China from the CRSBG facility? Were there any challenges or special considerations in transporting the beams to the barge from the factory?

A: Approximately 15 miles. The main challenges were making sure the loads were transported per project specifications, and...