Advantage Steel works on region's high-profile projects
SAXONBURG — Bridges in Pittsburgh draw attention to the engineering talent in the city, and one company in Saxonburg can take credit for some of that.
Advantage Steel and Construction is on John Roebling Way near its affiliate Brayman Construction. But unlike that general contractor, this steel company is known for its work on popular bridges.
Advantage Steel has its own on-site fabrication facility, which is an American Institute of Steel Construction certified shop.
Zach Rosswog, general manager, said bridges are intricately designed, complex structures that require specific tools and substructures to complete. He said the company fabricates all of the materials and parts it needs for its own jobs, plus it also does fabrications for other companies.
“Each job is extremely different, and each is comprised of different components and tasks,” Rosswog said. “We fabricate walkways, temporary support towers, falsework, jacking frames, diaphragms, lateral bracing, stiffeners, and many other miscellaneous bridge members.”
The fabrication entails putting smaller pieces together to form the smaller structures that build the bridge. Using a model plane as an example, this would be like building the cockpit, wings and tail separately and then putting them together quickly and easily at the end.
“It allows us to control the schedule and make adjustments much easier,” Rosswog said.
He said it also is important that the materials are safe and reliable, and the AISC certification verifies that they are just that.
The AISC's Fracture Critical endorsement means that the shop is trusted to produce pieces that can handle high-strain.
“Fracture critical members are basically tension members, or portions of members, of a bridge whose failure could cause a partial or complete collapse,” the AISC website said.
After the parts are made, a team moves to the job site where members focus on moving each piece into place. The pieces are then temporarily suspended while crews weld and bolt them into permanent position.
This piece by piece process is lengthy and time-consuming, but it ensures accuracy and reliability.
The company last year needed a unique strategy to complete the Hulton Bridge project in Oakmont.
“They were building a completely new bridge,” Rosswog said. “We performed all of the new steel erection.”Rosswog said workers deployed a technique called strand-jacking, which involves raising an entire section at once.He said the technique is seldom used, unless there are time-sensitive issues that force the pace. Regulations concerning the river's main throughway put a time limit on barges being in the water.Rosswog estimated the pre-made piece of bridge at 1,000 tons or two million pounds. The piece was floated on a barge beneath the bridge where it could be lifted straight up.Workers connected the structure to multiple, simultaneously-controlled jacks, which are similar to winches, but they are much larger and more powerful.The jacks raise the piece through one control system, and once in place, the welding begins.Rosswog said it took the team six hours to hoist the piece into place. He said it took even longer to weld and situate it into a solid section of the bridge.Rosswog said the technique produces precise placement, but it also demands precise control by the employees, who work to make connections with cables and keep the piece stabilized on cranes on barges.Rosswog said safety was a major concern and the process was done cautiously.“That one was very difficult,” he said. “(We) had the river to contend with.”Rosswog said he felt a sense of accomplishment personally and for the whole team after completing the project.He said building something like the new Hulton Bridge is so unique because it will be used by millions of people, and he can go back to see it.“When you see it all done, and it's in service, it's definitely something you look back on.”Rosswog said the company has already begun its next project, working on the rehabilitation of the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette County, W.Va.That will cost $4.3 million and involve tinkering with a bridge considered one of the largest single-span arch bridges in the world.The arch is 1,700 feet long and the road is 875 feet above the New River.The project will involve replacing and repairing steel and concrete features and adding improvements to the arch's structure. Rosswog anticipates an October 2017 completion.
