V&M Erectors has been busy on the the largest infrastructure project in the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) history.
Dubbed the ‘I-4 Ultimate’ project, the US state is investing USD2.3 billion, over four phases, to overhaul the 21 mile (33.8 km) stretch of motorway. The project requires substantial bridge installation works that will improve traffic flow through the heart of central Florida. 13 existing structures will be widened, 53 new bridges added and 74 bridges replaced.
Area 2 is currently under construction and Vern Nix, owner of V&M Erectors said: “We will be adding or reconstructing 40 structures in this area … we need to place 22,680 tonnes of steel for this phase of the contract.”
In order to execute these works, V&M purchased three Terex cranes: a 208-tonne lifting capacity HC 230 lattice boom crawler; a 250-tonne HC 275, plus a HC 285 crawler with a 258-tonne lifting capacity and a 91.4 m main boom.
Nix explained: “The carbodies of the cranes have heights and widths no greater than 3.66 m, so they are easily transported to the site on a lowbody trailer,” adding that, “we move the cranes on our own and have them rigged with counterweight and boom in 1 to 1.5 days.”
V&M and FDOT has been closing the roads for 40 to 56-hours at a time, in order to to limit the impact on traffic and expedite the installation works, according to Terex.
