Extradosed cable-stayed Pelje ac Bridge in Croatia - Fabrication of steel box girders and on-site installation

The new Pelješac Bridge and access road project, which links Mainland Croatia to the Pelješac Peninsula, is the most significant social infrastructure project in Croatia under construction at present. The bridge site lies in the highly active seismic region with ground acceleration ag = 0.34g and a maximum average ten-minute wind speed above 33.7 m/s. As a result, the execution class for the steel structure was judged to be EXC4 based on the recommended matrix in standard EN 1090-2, which defines execution classes according to consequence class, service category, and production category. The correspondingly determined quality level was class B+, which equates to quality class B under ISO 5817 with supplementary requirements for bridge decks from EN 1090-2. This article describes the whole fabrication process in the workshop, the long-distance transportation and the installation on the bridge site. To satisfy such high-quality technical requirements, the heavy steel structures were fabricated using a wide variety of mechanized equipment and automatic welding techniques. This helped to ensure a more efficient fabrication process and more consistent product quality. The length of the large side span segments was designed to suit the capabilities of the floating cranes and transit barges, thereby making on-site installation more efficient. Against the backdrop of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the contractor CRBC overcame seemingly unsurmountable obstacles beyond their control to successfully complete this challenging assignment in two years.