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Super•Cor® saves time, money, hassles and fish.
In any road construction project, disrupting traffic flow is always a major concern. But, when a Super•Cor® project got underway in Kelowna, BC late in the summer of 1996, motorists and pedestrians were only part of the story. Migrant fish were also in the picture. The job was to span Mill Creek with a low- profile, bottomless box culvert.
"In BC, government regulations are very strict when it comes to disrupting fish habitat, we had exactly 31 days from start-up to be out of the stream. An extension was out of the question." - Dale Gaston, C.E.T., AIL Technical Representative
Assembly took only eight days and backfilling was just two more.
City engineers wanted to maintain two lanes of traffic throughout the project, which meant a two-staged construction process. Erecting a concrete span under these conditions would have meant costs 40 to 50% higher and a significant lengthening of construction time. The installation phase was critical. AIL was always on site to make sure everything went smoothly. Assembly took only eight days and, backfilling just two more.Speed of installation was one of the reasons the city engineering department chose Super•Cor®.
"This is a large creek at a busy intersection, we had a large span, 12.2 metres, with a very low rise, just over 2.7 metres. We had to reroute the creek and maintain regular traffic flow at the intersection. We couldn't have done the job using a clear span. There's no doubt economics was a determining factor in choosing Super•Cor®. We're very pleased with how things turned out." - Michael Duggan, P.Eng, Kelowna City Engineer
Super•Cor® was also chosen because the Mill Creek bridge is part of a five-year road project. With a Super•Cor® box culvert, they'll be able to raise the road grade as the project expands. That job will go much easier and be less expensive with this kind of structure.
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