Pasquotank River Bascule Bridge Replacement (Elizabeth City)

The Elizabeth City Bascule Bridge is a complete replacement of the existing 80-year-old moveable “bascule” bridge and carries approximately 10,000 vehicles per day on the Camden Causeway.

DBM Vircon’s Scope of Work:

Working with client Prospect Steel Company, DBM Vircon provided 3D BrIM modeling and shop detailing of approximately 1,320 tons of structural steel including the bascule girders, floor beams, stringers, lateral bracing, counterweight, centering device and trunnion columns for the new double single leaf bascules.

Project Stats:

• The new bridge includes two (2) 12-foot traffic lanes, an 8-foot wide bike path and a 5.5-foot wide pedestrian sidewalk
• 146-ft double-leaf trunnion bascule span

Pasquotank River Bascule Bridge Replacement Project Highlights & Challenges:

• Our team encountered problems with bascule girder field/shop splice locations. The depth of the bascule girder heel exceeded maximum available plate width, and it was decided to utilize two (2) horizontal shop splices. Design drawing field splice locations ended up fouling the floor beam connection as well as web stiffener plates. The field splice was re-positioned thereby altering field splice design. The re-located field splice created changes in lateral bracing connections.
• Issues with Trunnion Column configurations. Column cap/base plates had to be modified to accommodate welding and knife connection, also swedged anchor bolt lengths were changed in order to achieve minimum embedment requirements.
• Issues with Bascule Girder and Rack Assembly interface. Geometric interface between bascule girder flange and rack assembly as originally shown on contract drawings was out by one (1) degree, hole pitch and gage were adjusted/revised to suit rack assembly.