PROGRESS AS ON 18 SEPT 2014 - Getting Ready to Install the Prestressed Beams

As on 18 September 2014, the contractor is nearly ready to install the first beam across the river, however the cranes to lift those beams are yet to arrive.
This would be the first bridge in Penampang with a long span beam of this type and would be a very interesting event to witness.

 Right hand bank:  The filling to the formation level of the road is nearly completed. Remaining work would be gravel stones and the premix layer.
(oops, wrong. below is the correction)

This is not the formation level but a temporary filling at the right bank in order to install the 5 prestressed beams. After that this will be removed to re-instated the original slope of river bank. My next posting will clarify this issue. (corrections inserted 9 Nov 2014)

 Left bank viewed from the opposite side:
The earth bank is probably meant for construction access and would be removed once the works are completed.  I hope some of the earth near the waterline would be recovered otherwise wasted when the flood water simply brings them down to the sea.

 RH bank: the concrete retaining wall is now fully completed, waiting for the backfilling behind the wall.

Right hand bank pile cap:  Special grout as base for the rubber bearing which will carry the 5 prestressed beams.

 Filling between the abutment and left hand pile cap. (ooops, this is wrong)

Here is a correction inserted today 9 Nov 2013.
BOTH the pile caps here are meant to hold beams. The filling in between these two are temporary and is meant for access to drag and place the longest 45tons prestressed beams across the full width of the river starting from the cap at the right. After the 5 number of beams are installed, this filling will be dug out and the original slope of the river bank will be re-instated.
----  end correction.

 Meanwhile Telekom is re-aligning their cables by tunnelling under the existing road at the right hand bank of the river, next to the existing roundabout.



 

Close-up of their tunnelling or boring machine.  Note the boring piles stacked up ready to be connected from the machine with a chain-wheel.

 

PROGRESS AS ON 12TH SEPT 2014 - DAMBAI BRIDGE Bambangan fruits all GONE

Hi folks, just in case you like to see more photos, here you are:

 

 The road approaching the left abutment has been filled with road gravel and getting ready to roll all those beams onto the pile caps

 The end caps of the cable tendons are already fully sealed with cement grout.

 More gravel filling and compaction at left abutment.

 View of the prestressed beams from the end with two cappings for the steel cables.

 Earth filling between left bank abutment and pile cap

 Location for the bearings between prestressed beams and the pile caps

 Completed concrete retaining wall at the right bank to protect a house on top of the small hill.

 View of the left bank pile cap with earthfilling works.
Seems to me that those red clay needs more compaction otherwise they will all go to the river on the first rain.



And lastly this will be the last pic of the Bambangan tree that I will post because all the fruits are already gone or harvested by the owner or maybe the workers as well.  He he.

The Bambangan fruits are only good for making pickles.

 

PROGRESS AS ON 24TH AUG 2014

Something technical worth noting here:

 

The tendon cables end looked like this. Note the black tube already cut off because the cable duct has already been grouted.

After the tendon cables have been tensioned, notice that the beam have deflected upwards at the centre, or huncing upwards due to the compression of concrete at the bottom of the beam.

 The gap between the casting floor and the deflected midspan of the beam is about 90 cm

The other end of the beam with the two end-caps for the cables.

 Progress of the retaining wall

Concrete of pile caps have nearly reached the full strength



And the Bambangan fruits have nearly gone. Who took them, well maybe the owner and the workers ?

 

PROGRESS AS ON 17 AUG 2014

Hi folks, again some backlog of progress photos here.

I had been waiting for the chance to see the contractor tension the tendon cables but as I passed the worksite on this date, the work was already done and all I can see was this. The end caps were given a temporary covering  as they monitor the performance of the whole beam. The black pipe here is where they feed the grouting concrete to fill the voids in the tendon tubes.

View from the ends where there are two end caps

 View from the end with a single end cap

 Right hand bank, the works on the retaining wall and concreting of the rhs pile caps

 The river was muddy that day

 

And the bambangan fruits are nearly gone

 



SITE QUITE AND LOOKED ABANDONED FOR THE HARI RAYA HOLIDAYS as seen on 30 July 2014

Yes OF COURSE it is still holidays for the workers as on 30th July.

perhaps the workers deserve the long break as it is not that fun working under the sun, if you have ever tried just being a project supervisor.

Just being on site for one day will make all of your aircon office workers squirm. ha ha

 Not a soul seen on site since all workers on holidays even though 30 July is a working day.

 Five concrete beams all completed and the last two still waiting for the curing period.  Notice those cables jutting out from the top and bottom of the beams.  They are not yet tensioned and the end plates are still pending installation.

 At the left bank pile cap, these positions must be for the bearing points for the prestressed beams.

 Right bank pile cap have just been concreted.

 Extension base for the Slope retention wall

 Construction access for the bank protections or gabions

 Nearby, the cover for this waterpipe manhole was again broken and gone. Last time I saw, it was made of concrete but when vehicles ran over it, as always it get damaged and broken and some idiot even have his car wheel going into the gap.  Ha !

And the nearby bambangan fruit is still growing.  I think I gonna ask the owner for a few.

DAMBAI BRIDGE PROGRESS ON 23 JUNE 2014

Ooops this was last months progress pics which I did not upload on time, but anyway the works seems going slowly but smoothly and some breaks for Hari Raya on 28 and 29 July.

There was not much drastic changes so that's why sometimes I forgot to comment on my photos but here goes.

Four beams concreted on 23rd June
of course as of July all 5 beams completed but waiting for the cable tendons to be stressed. I think the concrete has to be fully cured before they can do that.

 Another view with the Bambangan tree at the background

 First part of retaining wall completed. There must be some continuation near that big boulder.

 Some excavator works under the bridge. Placing some rock armouring to protect the river banks from erosion.

 Big gap behind the retaining wall because of the size of the footing. The toe of the footing has to be long to ensure the wall do not slide or topple over.

And finally the bambangan fruit was big enough to make some dish, but somehow its seems most of them are now gone.  Must be free for everyone who happens to be around.

DAMBAI PROGRESS FROM 5 MAY TO 10 JUN 2014

SORRY folks, I had a backlog of photos to upload because there was simply too many harvest festival events to cover in May and even late Jun some are still having kaamatan parties.

Anyhow these are the progress that I have seen while passing the bridge everyday. The solid concrete retaining wall is already completed by now.

On 5 May 2013

 Concreting using the crane 5 May

 Concreting the pile caps which will support the prestress beams

 

from 12 May 2014

 Progress of the retaining wall as on 12 May 2014



From 10 June 2014

 Note the gunny sacks used to water-cure the prestressed beams - 3 beams completed up to this date.

 and the bambangan fruits have grown - good enough for cooking fish with.

 Bridge caps left bank completed

retaining wall half completed by 10 Jun 2014.