Saturday, April 11, 2009
Concrete Being Remixed With Environment in Mind
Soaring above the Mississippi River just east of downtown Minneapolis is one remarkable concrete job.
PEARLY WHITE A concrete mix in sculptures on the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis is designed to scrub staining pollutants from the air.
There on Interstate 35W, the St. Anthony Falls Bridge carries 10 lanes of traffic on box girders borne by massive arching piers, which are supported, in turn, by footings and deep pilings.
The bridge, built to replace one that collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people, is constructed almost entirely of concrete embedded with steel reinforcing bars, or rebar. But it is hardly a monolithic structure: the components are made from different concrete mixes, the recipes tweaked, as a chef would, for specific strength and durability requirements and to reduce the impact on the environment.
See full Article.