Bridge Construction Equipment

ICE Publishing, ISBN 9780727758088 (2013), p.488, best-selling US title, available for purchase:

• At icebookshop.com/ISBN=9780727758088
• By email at orders@icepublishing.com
• From alternate online retailers such as Amazon

After writing Launched Bridges (1998, ASCE Press) and Bridge Launching (2002, Thomas Telford), I widened my professional and research activity to other types of mechanized bridge construction and wrote several publications on self-launching gantries and movable scaffolding systems. The Scientific Committee of the IABSE (International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering) thus invited me to found and chair working group WG-6 Bridge Construction Equipment for the 2009-2013 term.

With WG-6 I had the privilege of organizing and chairing the IABSE Seminar State-of-the-Art Bridge Deck Erection: Safe and Efficient Use of Special Equipment in Singapore in November 2010. The seminar was an incredible success: IABSE expected 20-30 registrations and we gathered more than 160 people for a 2-day full immersion in modern bridge technology. Numerous publications on the topic followed through two special editions of Structural Engineering International, the IABSE journal.

The United Nations noticed the social relevance of mechanized bridge construction and the need for guidance, safety and technical culture in the field. So, in 2011 the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) invited me to write Chapter 6.37.40 Bridge Erection Machines in the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems. Chapter 6.37.40 of UNESCO-EOLSS found widespread interest worldwide, which further encouraged me to deepen this research field.

After 32 years of professional activity and research in the field, therefore, I wrote Bridge Construction Equipment for ICE Publishing (the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, UK). Like Launched Bridges (1998, ASCE Press), Bridge Construction Equipment (2013, ICE Publishing) was the first books ever written on the topic, and 4 years later it is still the only title available. The international bridge community received Bridge Construction Equipment with such an interest that in just 5 months (it was published in July 2013) it became the 2013 US bestselling title.

The book provides exhaustive coverage of new and emerging bridge construction technology and modern construction methods for all bridge professionals looking to save time, labor and costs, reduce risk, and increase the value and quality of bridge projects through mechanized construction. Bridge construction equipment is becoming increasingly more complex and sophisticated; with extensive illustrations, the book explores configurations, operations, kinematics, performance, productivity, structure-equipment interactions and industry trends for every family of special equipment:

• Beam launchers and shifters
• Overhead and underslung self-launching gantries for span-by-span erection of precast segments
• Overhead and underslung movable scaffolding systems (MSS) for span-by-span casting
• Lifting frames and self-launching gantries for balanced-cantilever erection of precast segments
• Form travelers and telescopic MSS for balanced-cantilever casting
• Underslung travelers for segmental casting of arches and cable-stayed bridges
• Forming carriages for in-place segmental casting of the concrete slab of composite bridges
• Self-launching gantries for span-by-span macro-segmental construction
• Lifting platforms for suspension bridges
• SPMT
• Tire trolleys, telescopic launchers and portal carriers with underbridge for full-span precasting

Each chapter includes extensive coverage of deck construction. The book provides guidance on prevention of human error, design for robustness and redundancy, modelling and numerical analysis, instability and prevention of progressive collapse, and repairs and reconditioning of second-hand machines.

Management-oriented chapters describe procurement, fabrication and commissioning of special equipment. An outline of technical specifications is provided for easy adaptation to specific cases. A chapter on forensics illustrates failures of special equipment investigated throughout three decades in the bridge industry.

• A great book that deals with temporary bridge construction structures - Gary Vito Carafian, AECOM Technology (USA)
• The book is fantastic. Invaluable source of information - Matthew Carroll, Bridge Manager, GHD (Australia)
• Marco Rosignoli's ability of merging field work with research and innovation makes his books and publications precious to the international bridge community - Giuseppe Mancini, Prof.Ing., Dr.Ing., Professor of Structural Engineering, Professor of Bridge Design, Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
• This book bridges a big knowledge gap in the bridge construction methods industry. A must have book for all bridge professionals - Prashanth Ramesh, Larsen & Toubro (India)

Addressing the needs of bridge designers and constructors, designers and manufacturers of special equipment, resident and construction engineers, inspectors and safety planners, as well as bridge owners, architects, academics and forensics, the book delivers solid professional guidance for the use of special equipment during each stage of the bridge construction process.