MonkeyBar in Pioneering use at Gateway

MonkeyBar wins landmark civil engineering project - Gateway Upgrade Project, Brisbane

10-Oct-2008

The Gateway Upgrade Project, including the new Gateway Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland, is using MonkeyBar steel reinforcement bar connectors in a world first for civil engineering.

The $1.88 billion Gateway Upgrade Project includes construction of a second Gateway Bridge over the Brisbane River and is the largest road and bridge project ever undertaken in Queensland.

The project is being delivered by Queensland Motorways with design, construction and maintenance by the Leighton Abigroup Joint Venture. The new bridge will have a design life of 300 years and is groundbreaking in being the first civil engineering project to use the revolutionary MonkeyBar reinforcement connection system.

The MonkeyBar construction system is being used in critical elements of the bridge’s cantilevered structure, connecting the main pierheads over the Brisbane River to the span structure of the bridge and was approved for use following the company’s rigorous test program. This test program included standard tensile and compression testing but also high-cycle fatigue tests of the parts to the new Draft ISO/DIS standards 15835-1.2 and 2.2 and was approved by Dr John Fenwick of the Department of Main Roads, Queensland.

Julian Mitton, CEO Monkey Steel said “As one of our first sales this really proves the value of the MonkeyBar construction system as a high-performance, price competitive option in major infrastructure projects.”

Mr Steven Clarke, Site Engineer for the Gateway Bridge Duplication said:

“The Leighton Abigroup Joint Venture analysed various coupling systems for the superstructure of the Gateway Bridge and we decided on the MonkeyBar because it gives us more tolerance on constructability and it is a very robust system. Price was also an important consideration”. Mr Clarke added, “ Monkey Steel have always been professional in their dealings with us and we would definitely consider using their products again in future”.

The MonkeyBar products have been used in the bridge following rigorous engineering scrutiny by structural engineers from the Cardno Group. Prior to use, Leighton Abigroup construction engineers also conducted on-site trials of the MonkeyBar construction system to prove the construction efficiency. Finally individual bars were randomly selected for independent testing prior to use in the new bridge.

Mr Mitton said of the result “We are proud to be associated with such a high-quality team on this internationally recognised project and are happy to see the rewards of our significant investment in quality manufacturing processes for the MonkeyBar technology.”

When complete the new Gateway Bridge will be the sixth largest cantilevered span bridge in the world.

For Further information
Julian Mitton, CEO Monkey Steel
Tel 02 8354 4000

For more information on the Gateway Upgrade Project visit:

www.gatewayupgradeproject.com.au

 

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