During the Spring and Summer of 2023, Advanced American Construction completed the assembly and installation of a 208’ long deck plate girder bridge for BNSF Railway near Stevenson, WA. AAC used a Manitowoc 4100 Ringer Crane to assemble and fly four girder sections across Rock Creek. Each girder section was 12’ tall by 208’ long and weighed approximately 310,000 pounds. Favorable wind conditions were necessary due to the size of the girders and critical single crane pick.
In June, AAC hired Lampson to erect a second 4100 Ringer Crane on site in preparation for bridge changeout. AAC was granted a 31-hour BNSF rail shutdown on June 25th. We used two Ringer Cranes to lift the 100+ year old railroad bridge off its foundation then set onto a floating barge in Rock Creek. The existing railroad bridge was 150’ long and weighed approximately 420,000 lbs. AAC then used the Ringer Cranes to demo pre-cut concrete pier sections each weighing 150,000 lbs. Before bridge changeout, AAC had to slide the new railroad bridge approximately 5’ to the South to open up clearance for the Ringer Crane’s counterweights. This move allowed the cranes to swing 360 degrees and perform the two-crane pick of the existing railroad bridge.
Both Ringer Cranes had to be erected under extremely tight site conditions, due to permit requirements limiting the amount of fill in Rock Creek. The Ringer Cranes were erected on Lampson’s mud boats for additional stability, due to the small pad size of 50’x55’.