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The Tunable Bridge

Big R Tunable Bridge carries pedestrians across turnpike and rail lines.Big R Tunable Bridge from AIL, underside detail view of pedway.

The Tunable Bridge – clear spans of up to 122 m

With clear spans of up to 122 m, the Tunable Bridge is a patented, structural hybrid that’s short on costs and long on possibilities.

The Big R Tunable Bridge is a revolutionary breakthrough in prefabricated steel bridge design combining the physics of a hinged tied arch with any standard steel truss system or girder superstructure.

The bridge features an innovative adjustable “tuning” system to balance the live and dead loads between the arches and trusses. The resulting design is lightweight, economical, easy-to-install and very attractive. Ideal over high-traffic or difficult terrain, the prefabricated components install quickly and have all pins and connectors visible for easy inspections.

Benefits

  • Lightweight
  • Economical
  • Easy-to-install
  • Very attractive

Applications

  • Highway and rail crossings
  • Stream Crossings
  • Recreational Trail Bridges

The Tunable Bridge – long on possibilities, short of costs

The Tunable Bridge combines the physics of a hinged tied arch with any standard steel truss system or girder superstructure and features an innovative adjustable “tuning” system to balance the live and dead loads between the arches and trusses.

Longitudinal, tightening rods in the trusses’ lower chords pre-stress the truss modules for dead load before installation. The tied-arch sections are then attached by adjustable, tension hanger rods to balance the live load. Fine tuning adjustable arch and truss rods ultimately balances live and dead loads between the two systems. With no critical members, this redundant stress sharing increases safety and allows for lighter, lower-cost material and longer, more-graceful designs.

Big R Tunable Bridges from AIL install quickly and provide safe and efficient solutions for extra-long spans.

Big R’s Tunable Bridge reaches across light rail station and
            highway.Big R’s Tunable Bridge spans multi-lane highway and light rail
            station.Detail view of Big R’s Tunable Bridge, spans of up to 120 m
            (400’)

Efficient Infrastructure brochure

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Save time and money on bridges

Dave Rogers, of Big R Bridge, on factory-built vs. field-built.

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