The National Highway 44 (NH 44) is the longest highway of India, spanning 3,745km from Srinagar to Kanyakumari.

As time moved forward, the cities close to the highway expanded at such a pace that the neighborhoods adjoining the highway mushroomed to very significant numbers.

As a result, the pedestrians and light vehicles along the two sides of the road often affect the flow and speed of long route heavy vehicles. It also poses a big risk for those local lighter vehicles and pedestrians.

To solve this problem, the Highway Authority of India proposed the road widening to be coupled with flyovers over the stretch wherein the highway is running through densely populated towns.

The 34-km long elevated stretch of highway in Nagpur-Hyderabad area is being constructed to improve the road network between Nagpur and the capital city of Hyderabad.

The authorities selected a segmental construction technology for the elevated bridges, and each heavy segment was casted in the quality-controlled environment of precast yards.

Considering the substantial size of these precast segments, it has been necessary to source easy-to-use lifting material, capable of sustaining high loads.

Dextra hot rolled fully threaded bars were the best fit to those requirements.

More than 100 sets of fully threaded (FT) post tensioning bars for lifting and launching of precast segments with launching girder have been supplied for this project, along with accessories such as end nuts and couplers.

Dextra FT Bar systems are frequently used for temporary applications such as heavy lifting and stitching of precast elements and anchoring of steel frame supports.

In the case of permanent applications, the FT Bars can be used for the connection of girders and piers in segmental bridge construction.

Temburong Bridge, also known as Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Bridge, is located in Brunei Bay in the northeast of the country. With a length of 30 kilometers and four lanes, it is one of the world’s longest sea bridges.

The bridge connects Sungai Besar and Mengkubau. It allows commuters to travel between the two territories without crossing Malaysia, avoiding the four immigration checkpoints on the current route, which is frequently congested.

Dextra involved in this project by supplying 34,000 linear meters of Sonitec tubes for the integrity testing of foundation piles using the CSL (crosshole sonic logging) testing method.

Construction of the bridge began in 2014 and was officially opened to traffic in 2020.

Source of images: https://www.reduper.com/industry/traffic/bridge/sea-bridge/temburong-bridge/

Barapullah Elevated corridor is a major infrastructure project in India. The main purpose of this extension is to ease traffic congestion, as well as to provide a new express connectivity between Indira Gandhi International Airport and east Delhi.

Reinforcing the elevated road with PT bars

For the construction of this flyover, Dextra has been supplying its fully-threaded PT bars, as well as its well-known Bartec rebar splicing solution to the contractor L&T Construction.
The PT bar systems were applied in temporary applications of the construction project. Dextra fully-threaded post-tensioning bars are currently being used for lifting and launching the precast elements of the expressway’s elevated structures.

The Atlantic Bridge project, also called the Third Bridge Over the Canal, is being developed closed to the Atlantic Ocean entrance of the Panama Canal. This $600M project consists in construction of a 1-kilometer cable-stayed bridge, along with access viaducts on both sides and connections to the existing roads, as well as pedestrian and bicycle lanes. When archived, the bridge will allow vehicles to cross the Panama Canal even when the locks are in operation.

One of the World’s longest concrete cable-stayed bridge with Bartec

With its 530-meter central span and its vertical clearance of 75 meters above sea level allowing the passage of Post-Panamax ships, the four-lane Atlantic Bridge is one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the World. It is also supported by two delta-shaped main pylons, reaching 212.5 meter height.
Dextra Latin America, with its main office in Panama City, was involved in supplying its rebar splicing solution Bartec for the reinforcement of the bridge’s concrete structure.

More than 350,000 Bartec couplers were delivered to the contractor VINCI Construction Grands Projets for the reinforcement of the bridge’s pile cages, pile caps and pylons for up to #14 (dia. 43 mm.) bars. Plus, three Dextra Bartec machine sets have been used to support the bar-end preparation on site.
Moreover, in order to avoid steel congestion in the heavily reinforced areas, more than 50,000 Dextra end anchors Headed Bars are used in the bridge’s pile caps.

The Atlantic bridge is now in its final construction stage, and is planned to open in early 2019.

Phuoc Khanh bridge is a 4.7-kilometer cable-stayed bridge linking Ho Chi Minh City with Dong Nai. The bridge is part of the southern Vietnam’s longest highway, Ben Luc – Long Thanh Expressway, running through Long An province, Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai province.
When completed, the highway will connect the south-western region with the south-eastern region of the country, facilitating the transportation between the two parts of the country with improved traffic flow and larger lanes. The project aims to develop the socio-economic activities of this area.

Dextra post-tensioning bars for permanent applications of the bridge

For the construction of the Phuoc Khanh Bridge, Dextra is supplying its post-tensioning bar systems as permanent post-tensioning anchors.
Over 250 high performance fully-threaded post-tensioning bars and over 200 smooth bar systems were delivered to site. Also known as PT bars, they are specifically designed for post-tensioned applications. They can be corrosion-protected as is the case for the equipment supplied in the project. The corrosion protection is done in a controlled facility in Dextra’s factory, before being shipped to site.

To learn more about our products, discover Dextra’s solutions for bridges and viaducts.

The Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link (TM–CLKL) is a road project between the Northwest New Territories and Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge, the Airport and North Lantau.

The total length of the road is around 9 km, consisting of two elements which are the Northern Connection and the Southern Connection.
The Northern Connection will join Tuen Mun Area 40 to Hong Kong Port through an undersea tunnel, while the Southern Connection will link the Hong Kong Port and North Lantau Island on viaducts.

Dextra supplied 100,000 Bartec rebar couplers for the structure of diaphragm walls and tunnels.

Full-performance Bartec couplers are an optimal replacement for rebar overlapping, reducing both cost of material and rebar congestion at the lap zone.

Moreover, to avoid rebar congestion in the ventilation building structure, more than 50,000 Headed Bars were applied at the top of the columns. Headed Bars act as a substitute for hook and long development length with more simple and effective anchorage.

The Southern Connection was opened in October 2018. The project is expected to be fully commissioned by 2020.

Pumarejo Bridge is a 3,200m-long bridge including an 800m-long cable-stayed section and 1,300m of viaducts as well as access roads.

The new cable-stayed bridge is located over the Rio Magdalena river in Barranquilla and the Salamanca Island Road Park in Sitionuevo, Colombia.

It replaces the old Puente Pumarejo: with its two lanes, the old bridge was no longer doing justice to the increased traffic, and it quickly became an obstacle for shipping on the Rio Magdalena due to a clearance below of only 16 meters.

The new bridge comprises of 6 lanes of traffic (3 lanes each way), 2 side bike paths and a pedestrian path along its side.

Dextra provided rebar connection solutions that were designed to reinforce the concrete structures.

More than 120,000 Rolltec couplers were provided for pier and deck reinforcements.

In addition, over a thousand of Unitec bolted couplers were applied for the connection rebars without the need of threading.

Since its completion, it became the longest road bridge in the country and one of the largest in Latin America.

Source of images: https://www.khl.com/international-construction/colombias-longest-road-bridge/139582.article, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puente_ pumarejo.jpg

Being the new fast-tracks linking the Center to the East of Thailand, the construction of Bang Pa-In – Nakhon Ratchasima Motorway is therefore considered one of the country’s major infrastructure projects.

The main purpose of this project is to stimulate the country’s economy. When completed, it will connect Thailand’s major urban centers within the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
The Intercity Motorway includes two sections: the six-lane 103-kilometer section from Bang Pa-In to Pak Chong, and the 93-kilometer four-lane from Pak Chong to Nakhon Ratchasima. Having been started in 2016, the project is planned to last until 2020.

The project’s required completion period of 4 years being challenging, the construction of the motorway has been divided into approximately 40 contracts to accelerate the project’s schedule.
To minimize potential impacts to local residents, a number of underpasses, overpasses and elevated structures (e.g. large viaducts) are provided throughout the Bang Pa-In – Nakhon Ratchasima Motorway.

Optimize the infrastructure project with Dextra’s rebar couplers

For the construction of the motorway’s elevated structure, the contractors of different packages opted for Dextra’s full performance Bartec rebar couplers to save time and money on the mechanical connection of the diameter 20mm to 32mm reinforcement bars.
Thanks to Bartec’s unique splicing system, all applications (Standard/ Position) can be fulfilled by one and only model of rebar coupler, reducing inventory management of the project to a minimum.
Further to this, Dextra’s Sonitec sonic tubes were also installed for cross-hole sonic logging tests in the foundations of the Bang Pa-In – Nakhon Ratchasima Intercity Motorway structures.

Dextra’s post-tensioning bars for the Motorway’s elevated structures

In addition to Dextra’s splicing and cross hole logging solutions, both smooth and fully-threaded Post-Tensioning bars were also used for both temporary (lifting and launching girder assembly) and permanent applications in segments. Approximately 28,000 sets of both PT bars have been delivered as per June 2018.
For more information about Dextra’s solutions in Thailand, please contact our Bangkok office.

The construction of Binh Khanh Bridge is a part of Vietnam’s Ben Luc – Long Thanh Expressway project, which will run through Ho Chi Minh City and southern Long An province and involves the construction of 58-kilometer long roads.
Being started in 2016 and scheduled to be in service within 2020, the main purpose of this project is to develop the country’s transport facilities for fast vehicles.
To ease the construction of this 58-km long expressway, the project owner Vietnam Expressway Corporation has divided the project into three phases: the western, the middle, and the eastern sections.

Smooth and Fully-threaded PT bars: post-tensioning solutions for bridges and viaducts

For the construction of the 3-kilometer long Binh Khanh Bridge, which is part of the middle section, Dextra has supplied smooth and fully-threaded post-tensioning bars have been delivered. These have been used in the main structure, the stay cable, as well as the bridge’s western and eastern approaches.

For more information about our solutions in Vietnam, please contact our Bangkok office.

Thane-Kalwa Creek Bridge is a nearly 2.4-km long U-shaped road bridge over the Thane creek at Kalwa Naka, India, aiming to ease the traffic congestion between Thane and Navi Mumbai along with congestion in Kalwa and Thane city areas.

Dextra delivered more than 20 sets of Tension Rod system in various lengths (maximum length supplied is ~24m), size M108, grade 700, used as suspenders for basket handle bridge/steel arch bridge.

Tension Rods typically act as bracing or suspension elements and provide the benefits of high strength, length adjustability, ease of installation as well as the ability to be post-tensioned after installation. A wide range of sizes and accessories in various steel grades and in both carbon and stainless steel is available.

The bridge was originally scheduled to be opened in 2020, but the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns significantly delayed the construction.