CSCE 2014 4th International Structural Specialty Conference 4e Confrence Internationale

spcialise sur les structures 2014 de la SCGC

Halifax, NS
May 28 to 31, 2014 / 28 au 31 mai 2014

MACDONALD BRIDGE SUSPENDED SPANS DECK REPLACEMENT:

ENGINEERING CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
1

Keith Kirkwood, P.Eng. , Jon Eppell, P.Eng. , Dusan Radojevic, P.Eng , Peter Buckland, C.M, P.Eng

Chief Project Manager, Buckland & Taylor Ltd., Canada

Senior Bridge Engineer, Halifax Harbour Bridges, Canada
3
Project Technical Director, Buckland & Taylor Ltd., Canada
4
Project Principal, Buckland & Taylor Ltd., Canada
2

Abstract: The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is a major suspension bridge that crosses Halifax Harbour in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The deck of the suspended spans has reached the end of its functional life
and design of a deck replacement scheme is under way. Deck segment fabrication will begin in 2014 and
construction will span 2015 - 2016. On this project, a variety of significant engineering challenges have
been encountered because of the complexity of replacing the deck at night with the bridge open to traffic
during the day and because the design engineers are preparing the deck erection sequences scheme.
This approach will streamline the construction process and lower overall project risk. Main cable
dehumidification is being considered for the project.
Keywords:
Suspension bridge; maintenance; rehabilitation; deck replacement; deck erection; cable dehumidification

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INTRODUCTION

The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, shown in Figures 1 and 2, was completed in 1955 and connects
Dartmouth and downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The suspension bridge is 762 m (2,500 ft) long and the
overall length, including approaches, is 1,347 m (4,419 ft). The deck of the suspended spans has reached
the end of its functional life and it will be replaced segment-by-segment starting in 2015 during full
closures of the bridge at night (and some weekends), with traffic running during the day. This is similar to
the project carried out on the Lions' Gate Bridge in 1999-2001, but with important differences. This paper
examines engineering challenges overcome during the preparation of final designs of the completed
bridge and preparation of detailed erection sequences to be followed by the contractor.

Figure 1: Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Figure 2: Bridge General Arrangement

2

EXISTING DECK CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPETUS FOR REPLACEMENT

Figure 3 shows the cross-section of the existing deck system. The main impetus for the deck replacement
project is that the existing deck system is degrading in three ways:

First and most importantly, water penetrating the T-Grid has caused corrosion between the
bottom of the T-Grid and the tops of the supporting stringers, resulting in separation (corrosion
jacking) of the deck from the stringers. This has resulted in an undulating roadway surface which
is unpleasant to drive on and requires constant and increasing maintenance;

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Second, the thin asphalt running surface continually wears away in the traffic wheel paths,
exposing the upper steel surface of the T-Grid and resulting in a deck with low skid resistance;
and

Third, the deck stiffening truss, a "through" truss, comprises riveted built-up steel sections for top
chords, bottom chords, diagonals and floor beams. These members have exposed areas
requiring labour-intensive maintenance painting, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 3: Existing Deck Cross-Section

Figure 4: Existing Deck Through Truss

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The Owner, Halifax Harbour Bridges, opted to keep the bridge open during the day and do the
replacement of the deck at night because of the negative implications that closing full-time would have
had on the already-taxed transportation network. The Macdonald is one of two suspension bridges that
span Halifax Harbour that are operated by Halifax Harbour Bridges. The other is the A. Murray MacKay
Bridge, opened in 1970. The MacKay is a four-lane suspension bridge. The two bridges carry 34 million
crossings a year: 60% are on the MacKay and 40% are on the Macdonald.
3

COMPLETED BRIDGE DECK CHARACTERISTICS

Figure 5 shows the finished cross-section of the planned new deck system. Differences from the existing
deck system include:

The deck will be orthotropic with a 14 mm thick deck plate in the carriageway and 300 mm wide
longitudinal trough stiffeners at 600 mm centres;

Both top and bottom chords are "closed" sections and are tucked under the deck plate itself. This
situation inherently protects the chords from rain and deicing salt;

The deck plate forms the top plate of the top chord which is an efficient structural arrangement;

Outer vertical plates of the bottom chord extend above the top plates, thereby providing a rail for
the support of under-deck maintenance travellers;

Impact loads on traffic barriers are resisted by specially-shaped longitudinal trough stiffeners
acting in torsion;

Outer sidewalk and bikeway fences are "raked inward" to provide deterrence from climbing; and

A 610 mm (24") water pipe is supported beneath the deck on the lateral bracing system.

Figure 5: Finished Deck Cross-Section

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DECK SEGMENT ERECTION

The Project will be undertaken in a manner conceptually similar to that used for the deck replacement of
the Lions' Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC, as shown in Figure 6. That is, beginning at the Dartmouth Cable
Bent (as shown in Figure 2) and moving to the Halifax Main Tower, 20 m long existing deck segments will
be:

supported from above by a moveable "Erection Gantry;"

separated from the existing deck system by cutting the top and bottom chords and diagonals; and

lowered on strand jacks to barges below.

Figure 6: Deck Erection on Lions' Gate Bridge

New pre-fabricated deck segments will be:

raised up to deck level on the same strand jacks;

joined to the next existing deck segment to be removed via a "Temporary Deck Connection" that
will transfer loads between old and new deck segments; and

joined by bolting to the most recently installed new deck segment.

The processes of releasing loads in the new and old deck segments and aligning new and old deck
segments prior to making connections will involve shortening or elongating existing hangers in prescribed
sequences to transfer loads from the deck to the main cable. Adjustable hanger extensions will be utilized
during this process.
As shown in Figure 3, the existing deck has a cantilevered sidewalk and bikeway. These components will
be removed prior to the beginning of deck segment replacement. New deck segments will weigh less than
existing segments and so new deck segments will be temporarily ballasted with concrete median barriers
in order to equilibrate the weights (this is a prerequisite for ensuring a smooth transition between old and
new decks to allow the daily passage of traffic).

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Because the deck from the Halifax Main Tower to the Halifax Cable Bent is over office buildings of the
Canadian Department of National Defence (DND Forces), lifting from below is not possible. Instead,
segments will be 10 m (half as long as typical) and will be delivered by truck from the Dartmouth end of
O
the bridge over the newly installed deck. The segments will be lifted off the truck, rotated 90 and lowered
into place.
5

ADDED CHALLENGES ON THE MACDONALD BRIDGE PROJECT

The Macdonald Project is more challenging than the Lions' Gate Bridge project in three significant ways:

First, the wind climate in Halifax is much more severe than in Vancouver and dominates the
design the wind load forces in Halifax are about 40% higher than in Vancouver;

Second, the development of erection sequences, erection analyses, and the design of major
erection equipment have been carried out by Buckland & Taylor on behalf of the owner, Halifax
Harbour Bridges, whereas on Lions' Gate this task was carried out in the traditional way by the
contractor. This change in project delivery is being undertaken to lessen overall project risks and
speed up the process by performing much analysis of the erection sequence pre-tender; and

Third, after installation of all new deck segments, the deck will be raised 2.9 m at mid-span to
increase shipping clearance by 2.1 m at the edge of a 110 m wide navigation zone.

Other challenges include the provision of the water pipe and the requirement to keep utilities functioning
during construction. Each of the three bulleted items is discussed in the following sections.
6

WIND

Halifax is geographically situated in an area of the world where many weather systems collide, resulting in
high wind events. In particular, hurricane winds from Atlantic storms have, in the past, caused major
damage in Halifax. A site-specific wind climate study, which included a hurricane study, was conducted to
determine maximum expected winds at the bridge site. Based on the climate study, the mean hourly
design wind speed at deck level is 36.1 m/s, while the deck must remain aerodynamically stable for 10minute wind speeds of 49.2 m/s at deck level. During construction, the bridge must withstand winds of
30.5 m/s and remain aerodynamically stable for wind speeds of 44 m/s.
Dynamic wind-structure interaction is of particular importance on long, flexible structures such as
suspension bridges. On this project, three circumstances of interest have been investigated (RWDI 2012):

Wind on the existing bridge;

Construction wind on the partially-completed bridge, in particular for design of the Temporary
Deck Connection; and

Full design wind, from the wind climate study results, on the completed bridge.

Extensive physical modeling in the wind tunnel was conducted to adequately cover concerns related to
the bridge design and erection sequence analysis. Several models of the existing and the new bridges
were built and examined in the wind tunnel in order to confirm the aerodynamic stability of the completed
bridge and during erection, as well as to measure aerodynamic coefficients which are used as input to the
dynamic buffeting analysis. The following physical models were built and tested:

Sectional model of the existing deck;

Sectional model of the new deck;

Aeroelastic model in the final condition; and

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Three aeroelastic models during erection. These models comprised the partially erected new
deck and the existing deck with connections at midspan and in the sidespan. Figure 7 shows a
photo of an aeroelastic model with the Temporary Deck Connection between the existing and
new decks.

The wind tunnel testing indicated that the bridge deck is aerodynamically stable during the erection
sequence and in its final condition. The wind tunnel models were built and tested by RWDI Inc. in Guelph,
Ontario, Canada.

Figure 7: Aeroelastic Wind Tunnel Model During Erection (deck connection at midspan).
In addition to the physical testing in the wind tunnel, several dynamic buffeting analyses of the bridge in
its various configurations were performed to calculate the force effects in the bridge structure. The force
effects were then used for final design of the new bridge elements and checking of the elements to
remain. Buffeting analysis of the bridge in its existing and final condition, along with the six buffeting
analyses runs for the erection stages, were performed to adequately cover various wind loads on the
bridge throughout its transformation from existing to new.
7

DEVELOPMENT OF ERECTION ENGINEERING PROCEDURES

The Owner's engineer, Buckland & Taylor, has developed erection engineering procedures to be followed
during construction by the contractor. Usually contractors hire engineers to carry out erection design on
their behalf. Having the erection engineering developed by the Owner's engineer has been done because
it eliminates the need for contractors to carry out complicated analysis and design that requires
sophisticated, time-consuming computer analysis. Figure 8 shows a screen shot of one of 730 computer
models used to analyze the bridge for dead, wind and live load at every step of construction.
The analysis sequence has been automated so, as the bridge changes, each new model is generated by
the previous model. This automation has been designed to be flexible to accommodate, for example,
actual construction equipment weights that are different than those assumed during the design and fielddriven changes requested by the contractor during construction.
The public is approximately 100 times more at risk during construction activities than when travelling on a
completed bridge. Therefore, as a risk mitigation measure, Halifax Harbour Bridges is having the erection
engineering procedures independently checked by Ammann & Whitney of New York.

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Figure 8: Analysis Model for Erection Engineering Sequences

8

RAISING OF DECK TO INCREASE SHIPPING CLEARANCE

Halifax is the closest port to Europe on the North American mainland and was a major staging area for
fleets for transatlantic voyages during the Second World War. It is a busy port with ships passing below
the Macdonald Bridge to the inner harbour. An interesting aspect of the project is the Owner's desire to
increase the clearance below the bridge deck to allow the largest post-Panamax vessels to pass below.
Accordingly, after all deck segments have been installed, the deck will be raised by jacking at each
vertical hanger. To avoid inverted "cusps" in the roadway profile at the main towers, the deck will also be
raised at the towers (and a short distance into the side spans).
This process will induce stresses in the deck, particularly compression stresses in the bottom chords of
the deck trusses which must be combined with stresses caused by vertical uplift and horizontal wind
loads (derived from the wind buffeting analysis). Significant analytical effort has been undertaken to
design the structure to accommodate this critical loading combination.
Figure 9 shows the existing bridge deck profile (based on the deck survey) and the bridge profile in its
final condition, after jacking.
Elevation [m] HCB
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
100

DMT

HMT

DCB

NAVIGATION
CHANNEL

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Chainage [m]
Existing Road Profile

Final Road Profile

Existing Clearance

Final Clearance

Figure 9: Shipping Clearance and Road Profile Before and After Raising of Deck

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1000

ADDITIONAL AREAS OF STUDY

Five additional interesting topics have been investigated as part of the Macdonald project. First, there is a
suspicion that the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC CAN/CSA S6-06) may overestimate
the required movement of the expansion joints. This is because, unlike most bridges, live (traffic) load,
applied vertically, can cause longitudinal movement of the deck and the code was likely not written for this
condition. To resolve this, a one-year in-situ displacement measurement program has been instituted by
Halifax Harbour Bridges. The intent of this program is to correlate measured displacements to
meteorological events (e.g. temperature extremes, high winds) and typical traffic conditions. Analysis will
be conducted throughout the data collection period and extrapolated extreme displacements will be
calculated and compared to Code requirements and then the final expansion joint will be selected.
Second, surveying a large suspension bridge is challenging because the bridge is constantly moving with
temperature and live load. Therefore, survey instruments on the bridge also move, which causes conflict
with internal instrument circuitry. While is it possible to close the bridge to traffic, special surveying
techniques must be employed to capture the deck and tower positions when surveyed and to
temperature-correct the recorded data to determine the bridge position at a reference temperature.
Third, special Finite Element Analysis (FEA) study was undertaken to examine 3-Dimensional stress
conditions in stiffening truss member intersection nodes (i.e. where chords meet diagonals and, where
they exist, verticals).
Fourth, a two-part sound study was completed. First, sounds emanating from the existing Macdonald,
MacKay and Lions' Gate Bridges' expansion joints were measured for comparison. Second, simulated
construction sounds were created and measured (to examine the expected effect on local residents of
work undertaken during night-time hours in the dense urban setting).
Fifth, a main cable dehumidification system is being designed for the bridge in order to dry out the insides
of the cables as they have been inspected and found to be wet. Components of this system include
"shrink wrapping" of the main cables to seal them, caulking where hangers attach to the main cable at
cable bands, an air dehumidification plant to be situated in one of the anchor chambers, piping to the
middle of the main span to transport dried air and a humidity measurement system to monitor the efficacy
of the system.
10

CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are drawn from this paper:

1. The deck of the Macdonald Bridge in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has come to the end of its functional life.
However, if the bridge were to be closed for repairs, the nearest alternative route via the A. Murray
MacKay Bridge would have insufficient capacity to handle the extra traffic during peak periods.
Therefore, the owner, Halifax Harbour Bridges, has made the decision that the deck will be replaced
during 10 hour closures at night, 10 or 20 metres at a time, with all lanes open to traffic during the
daytimes (except for closures on a few weekends for segments that cannot be replaced in 10
hours).
2. This procedure has been done before, albeit rarely, but the higher wind speeds encountered in
Halifax have posed a considerable challenge, needing careful wind studies and creative thinking.
3. When the Lions' Gate Bridge was renovated in similar fashion, it was found that the amount of
analysis of erection procedures was so great that bidders did not have the time or resources to
check their proposed erection schemes while preparing tenders, and it was on the critical path once
a contract was signed. To avoid these pitfalls Halifax Harbour Bridge's engineer, Buckland & Taylor,
has performed the erection analysis ahead of time, and has even designed some of the erection
equipment that will be used for the project. This is being done to give proponents more certainty in

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preparing their proposals, speed up the contractor's engineering process, and reduce overall project
risk.
4. It is desirable to have increased headroom for ships entering the harbour, so advantage is being
taken of the fact that during construction the hangers must be adjustable, to increase the headroom
for ships by 2.1 m.
5. Flexing of the main cables, imposed by the erection process, is likely to compromise the watertightness of the cable wrappings, so while there is access to the cables for construction it is an ideal
opportunity to install a dehumidification system for the main cables, if funds permit.
6. For a situation where the national bridge design code may not adequately cover a situation (in this
case longitudinal movement of suspended spans caused by vertical traffic loads) it pays the owner to
make some effort to research what is actually happening, with careful projection to estimate extreme
values.
REFERENCES
Canadian Standards Association, Toronto, 2006. Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, CHBDC
CAN/CSA-S6-06 with Supplement No. 1 (S6S1-10), Canadian Standards Association, Toronto, 2006.
Suspended Spans Deck Replacement, Wind Engineering Services, Final Report, RWDI #1101547,
December 21, 2012.

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