June 8, 2023

Spotlight: Asphalt Core Bridge Crew

A very important, yet often overlooked crew on site are the individuals who place and remove the temporary bridges over the asphalt core. These bridges allow the 100-ton CAT 777 haul trucks to dump rockfill on either side of the main dam without damaging the core. As the asphalt core paver passes over the centerline of the main dam, the temporary bridges must be moved to allow the paver to pass. Once this has occurred, the bridges are then carefully reinstalled as quickly as possible. 

On days that asphalt is placed, the two temporary bridges are removed and replaced four times. The crew can tear down and reinstall a bridge in approximately 10 minutes. 

A 16-second timelpase of crews removing one of the bridges.