This week’s operation was for the first of 10 piles being installed in the Clarence River for the US$189 million bridge, which is being constructed by Fulton Hogan under a design and build contract.
An additional 15 piles will be needed on land.
Preparatory work for the bridge began in April (link opens in new tab).
The pour for the 20m-high, 3m-diameter pile took about six hours to carry out and used about 160m3 of concrete. “It’s an exciting day for the Grafton community, because the concrete pour is a sign the bridge is starting to visibly take shape,” said local MP Chris Gulaptis.
Steel brackets will be welded to the steel casing to support a precast concrete pile ‘skirt’, weighing about 70t.
