forces in motion

Vienna. The police had to stop traffic only three times for 15 minutes to lift the central supports of the new expansion joints into position on the four-lane A23 highway bridge. The only way to adhere to the ambitious time schedule was the use of MMBS (MAURER Modular Bridging System). The bridging system had been tested by the client, ASFINAG (Autobahn- und Schnellstraßenfinanzierung AG), prior to its first deployment on an Austrian highway.

With 220,000 vehicles per day on average, the Prater Bridge as a section of the south-east expressway Vienna (A23) is the busiest highway bridge in Austria. Now the expansion joints (MAURER DS420) on the four-lane bridge have to be partially renewed. The expansion joint replacement in southern direction was done in September/October 2019. The expansion joints in northern direction are scheduled by ASFINAG starting in April 2020.

The challenge was to organize the reconstruction without considerable traffic impairment. During the day, traffic had to continue on four lanes, and even at night no full closure had been approved. The official authorization said that the police could stop traffic for 15 minutes at most. Within these extremely short timeframes, the constructional measure, which is complex both in terms of technology and logistics, had to be completed – with high employment of staff and machines on an extremely confined construction site.