ALL Crane Rental of Pennsylvania, a member of the ALL Family of Companies, and JC Lee Construction & Supply have worked together for years on various bridge erection projects throughout the greater Pittsburgh area. So, when the time came for ALL to build a bridge on its own West Elizabeth, Penn., property, JC Lee was the natural choice of partner.
ALL’s Pennsylvania property was divided by a deep, 25-foot gorge making part of the yard unusable. A growing business called for an expanded yard, and constructing the bridge would open an additional 11 acres of usable land.
While ALL and JC Lee typically work together on precast concrete bridge erection, ALL choose something different for its own yard, an Acrow prefabricated modular steel bridge. It was delivered on three flatbeds and assembled on-site.
The cranes for construction obviously came from the very same ALL yard where work occurred. An 80-ton Grove GRT880 rough terrain crane assisted with bridge assembly, and two all-terrain cranes handled the heavy lifting.
“We assembled the Acrow bridge on the ground adjacent to the gorge,” said Joe Schrecengost, project manager for JC Lee. “Our four-man team plus ALL’s crane operator built the bridge in four days.”
JC Lee crews also excavated, formed, and poured two concrete abutments on either side of the gorge, to which the completed bridge would be affixed.
Then it was time for the ATs to pick and set the bridge, now spanning approximately 90 feet and weighing 60,000 pounds. First, a 300-ton Liebherr LTM 1250-6.1 set up on the east side of the bridge. It single-picked the entire structure, swung it out, and set it on temporary blocking on one abutment and the ground. Next, a 550-ton Liebherr LTM 1450-8.1 connected to the front end, while the 1250 connected to the back end, and the dual pick brought the bridge to rest in its final position.
“We brought in the higher-capacity crane to help due to the 132-foot radius required to finish the maneuver,” said Keith Duell, sales representative with ALL Crane Rental of Pennsylvania.
The 550-ton crane’s boom was configured at 174 feet and the crane had 295,400 pounds of counterweight. For its part, the 1250 was configured with 119 feet of main boom with 214,900 pounds of counterweight.
The cranes held the bridge in place for about two hours while the necessary connections were made. The bridge was finished with steel decking
“ALL Crane Rental of Pennsylvania is a growing yard, and unlocking 11 more acres of land will enable us to better serve our customers,” said Duell.
One of those customers, of course, is JC Lee. “I’ve worked with ALL for 25 years,” said Lee’s Schrecengost. “At this point, it’s like we’re part of the family.”
