Vist-A-Walls take the lead on Antigonish Bypass. |
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The AIL team has been busy this fall as their Vist-A-Wall MSE Structural Wall System was a key part of a major Highway 104 upgrade project in Nova Scotia - the long-awaited Antigonish By-Pass. As the first structure tendered, the Beech Hill Road grade separation structure is a high visibility site. Aesthetic considerations were expressed early in the design, leading to the choice of the Precast Panel Wall System with Ashlar Stone finish on the panels. This system uses precast panels with galvanized steel wire mats to reinforce a retained soil mass. This technically-sound and well-proven system is composed of alternating layers of soil reinforcement and select backfill to create an extremely stable reinforced structure that is easily adaptable to meet the structural and aesthetic demands of today's infrastructure projects. Panels are available in a variety of sizes, colours and textures, as well as custom designs.
With the first panel shipment in early October, 2009, the overpass abutments progressed steadily through the fall. Prior to Christmas, the contractor placed the last panels for the season, which included the full front faces of both East and West abutments and substantial sections of the skewed wing walls (up to grade) to permit winter site work for the bridge structures themselves.
On a side note, this is one of the first bridge structures designed in-house by the Structures Design Group of Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, and was an opportunity for some junior members of their team to prove themselves under the watchful eye of senior designers.
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