Schreiber Bridge Technology GmbH – Delivery of finger joints for A45

At the state border between Hesse and North Rhine Westphalia in Germany, lies the Kalteiche valley bridge on the A45 highway. Within the framework of the pre­liminary investigations concerning the 6-lane expansion of the A45, extensive traffic surveys were car­ried out. It emerged that the traffic load in this sector amounts to 48,000 autos/24h. Comprehensive structural investigations also re­vealed that the bridge was in poor repair. For the new bridge the Schreiber Bridge Technology company has supplied an expansion joint design with push-through anchorage. The threaded rods required for this (M 27 x 1,100 mm) come from the Mürmann company. The complete construc­tion is designed for expansion of 350 mm. The sub­structure (see pho­to) has an un­usual total length of 20.5 m and a unit weight of 13.5 t. The finger plates on the up­per side are 100 mm thick and have a total weight of 55 t. Two further carriageway expan­sion joints are to be supplied for this bridge in the year 2021.