Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems
Reedy Creek Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Location | Main entrance to Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom theme park in Orlando, FL |
| State | FL |
| Completion Date | 1997 |
| Contact Person | James S. Guarre P.E. Phone: (206) 431-2300 Email: guarre@abam.com |
| Description | The bridge over Reedy Creek in Osceola Parkway serves as the main entrance to Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom. Owned by a private entity, it was designed to Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) standards and bid as a conventional contract. The winning contractor and engineer reworked the initial design using precast concrete components on the same alignment. Design constraints included the following: the bridge had to be a low-profile structure certifiable by FDOT; it had to be constructed entirely from the top with no impact to the creek bed below; design and construction had to yield a low-maintenance structure; and certain utility lines had to be carried at the center of the alignment between the two bridges. The 1,000-ft. long bridge consisted of five structures, each 200 ft. long with expansion joints at ends and at abutments. The eastbound and westbound bridges were separated by 14 ft, which carried the utility lines on suspended steel framing. Each 200-ft. structure had five 40-ft. spans designed as a continuous structure. Precast components included pile caps and deck panels. All the pile caps were of the same cross section, made in different lengths as needed, and simply reinforced and set on a slope to provide the transverse grade. Most of the deck panels were haunched panels--thicker at the ends. The haunched panels were prestressed with strands designed to provide eccentricity in the middle region while coming close to the neutral axis at the ends. Remaining panels were prismatic, with some of them having width varying from one end to the other, and all were simply reinforced. The shallow precast pile caps supporting the precast deck panels resulted in a total depth just under 5 ft. with the deck itself only 2 ft. 5 in. deep. Except for touch-up painting of the steel piles, all work was completed from the top with no activity on the creek bed below. |
| Photo |  |
| Prefabricated Elements | total |
| Advantages | Minimized environmental impact, minimized environmental disruption |
| Photo Credits | BERGER/ABAM Engineers, Inc. |
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