Two VARIOKIT composite formwork carriages using the backstep method
The A1 motorway connects the two cities of Athens and Thessaloniki and is considered to be the most important arterial road in Greece. For crossing the National Highway 3 and a railway line, an 840 m long steel composite bridge was constructed. The two separate, parallel superstructures both feature 22-field spans ranging between 27 m and 45 m.
Using the back-step construction method, the two VARIOKIT composite formwork carriages - each 25 m long and 14.50 m wide - ensured that concreting could take place every second day. The field cycles with standard cycle lengths of up to 22.50 m, were constructed in advance and the second formwork carriage was used to form the areas of the piers. Reinforcement work was carried out in advance on two additional sets of slab formwork which were then subsequently attached to the fomwork carriage for concreting operations.In regular 2-day cycles, one section could be always concreted while the other carriage was moved to the next area by means of heavy duty rollers.
As all system components of the VARIOKIT engineering construction kit are standardised, and therefore rentable, hardly any special parts were required. This makes the PERI formwork carriage solution extremely cost-effective. Nevertheless, VARIOKIT was very flexible in its use because individual components were optimally matched to each other in order to suit the requirements of the construction site.
“The decision to use the VARIOKIT formwork carriage was correct. Both carriages are very stable and all the system components are rentable. With this, shuttering and striking is simple and moving is also very easy - the planned construction period has been shortened by around 3 months.”
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