Hydra-Capsule have recently completed a major synchronised bridge jacking and grout bags works for the viaduct half joint strengthening. The project involved working with the Highway Agency and Network Rail hand-in-hand due to the unusual bridge structures.
The A14 bridge viaduct was part of the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton major improvement scheme, but due to the ongoing deterioration of the half joints on the central span of the bridge, without intervention, the bridge would be incapable of of carrying the type and volume of traffic that uses the A14. were becoming deterioration carrying the type and volume of
traffic that uses the A14.
Hydra-Capsule were appointed to design and manufacture 84 number bridge jacking 50 tons capacity screwed ram locking collar hydraulic jacks. All were manufactured in the United Kingdom and to EN BS ISO 9001:2008. In additional, these jacks were interlinked and energised by Hydra Capsule’s synchronised hydraulic jacking system. Which allowed all jacks to be individually controlled by our own computerised system, using precise load and movement displacement (LVDTs) real time monitoring units at each installed strengthening beam position.
Once the defined loads and displacement was achieved, all the hydraulic jacks were mechanically “locked-off” by the screw-ram locking collar.
Once completed, Hydra Capsule installed custom-made grout bags which were inserted at each bearing location and inflated by our grout pump, to wedge the gap. Once the grout bags had cured and reached the specification compressive strength, the hydraulic jacks were energised, locking collars untightened and all jacks loads were de-energised under
controlled pumping. Which transfused the loads into the newly installed elastomeric bearings.
