AIL Mining is proud to have been selected by one of the world’s largest steel producers to design, fabricate and supply a large Vehicular Truss Bridge for one of their mining operations in Liberia, West Africa. The new crossing was needed to improve road traffic safety over a broad rail/road/utility mine access corridor.
Intensive collaboration, international challenges
This project relied on intensive collaboration between our teams to co-ordinate the drawing approvals (by consultants and Liberian authorities), material supply, shipping logistics, on-site technical supervision and commissioning by local transportation authorities.
“Bridge-by-Numbers”
There were over 600 numbered bridge members depicted on our engineering drawings. These numbers were reproduced on labels which were heat-applied to the bridge components for ease of identification and assembly at the remote site.
600 components, 22 containers and a ship bound for Africa
The client needed all components at the site early enough so the bridge could be installed before the onset of the rainy season. The components were packed in 22 containers at Big R’s Greeley, CO, facility and shipped to Houston, TX, ready to be loaded onto a dedicated ship sailing to the Liberian port city of Buchanan. From there, the containers travelled 300 km by rail to the remote mine site.
The structure was designed in two equal Parallel-Chord-with-Sloped-End Truss Sections of 52.5 m. The bridge had a 10.1 m outside width with a 8.972 m inside clearance, including a pedestrian walkway.
We dispatched a bridge technician to the site on two occasions, once for the assembly of the spans and again for the commissioning of the bridge. The client was pleased with the ease of assembly and the installation of the finished bridge structure, which was completed within six weeks.
