The region’s tallest bridge is being rebuilt, with the main contractor calling on RMD Kwikform to supply a selection of standard and special formwork items to meet a variety of practical demands in a physically challenging working environment.
The Mdeirej Bridge had spanned the deep valley in Lebanon’s Sannine mountains for just six years when it was destroyed during the war. Now it is nearing completion with Man Enterprise being the main contractor that RMD Kwikform is supplying with its formwork systems for the first time.
With the piers rising up to 70 metres in height, safe working practices were paramount and RMD Kwikform’s proposal of employing its lightweight Alform aluminium beams proved pivotal; weighing far less than the competition’s timber alternatives. The company’s Superslim Soldiers, plywood faced panels and special brackets were also utilised.
Within the height of each of the 10 piers being rebuilt, the section went from rounded to octagonal, and then splayed out into the crosshead or capital – requiring RMD Kwikform to supply three different designs of Alform shutters.
Then from an economic point of view, RMD Kwikform’s solution of securing the bracketry with recoverable screws, rather than sacrificial anchors, cut costs considerably. With sufficient equipment on site to permit four piers to be erected simultaneously - the formwork assemblies being raised every three days – the climbing formwork systems enabled the contactors to keep well within the programme targets.
RMD Kwikform’s representative in Lebanon, Youssef Alouf recounts: “This has been a highly prestigious project to be involved with, not simply because it is the highest bridge in the Middle East, but because it carries the highway which is a vital link between Lebanon and Syria.
“Because the piers are so tall, it would have been hugely expensive to scaffold all the way up to support the construction of the crossheads. We therefore designed and fabricated special brackets which carry the cantilevering formwork. Everyone has been very happy with progress.”
By April 2009 the majestic Mdeirej Bridge will once again dominate the landscape, carrying traffic between Lebanon and Syria.
