The Highland Pedestrian Bridge is a signature bridge connecting the historic Highlands Neighborhood with the City of Denver’s 16th Street corridor. The bridge is a 323 foot long single span pedestrian bridge spanning I-25. The arch is a space frame truss consisting of three (3) 16 inch diameter pipes each with a separate curvature and splay from the bridge center line. The arch rises to a height of 75 feet above I-25. The deck is supported by 12 cables arranged diagonally from the bottom chord of the truss.
The east side of the bridge consists of two (2) plazas: one grade level plaza and an upper plaza constructed as a flat post-tensioned slab. The west side of the bridge consists of an elevated plaza on a structural steel frame.
Hamon Infrastructure initiated the following innovations:
PRE-FABRICATION OF THE TRUSS – The original designer’s plan called for the truss to be assembled in 4 phases over I-25 while resting on temporary supports. This meant that the truss would be cantilevered over several lanes of both north and south-bound I-25 during construction. Hamon combined 2 sections of the truss into one, pre-fabricated the truss off-site and erected it overnight eliminating the cantilever of the partially constructed truss over live traffic.
PRE-FABRICATION OF THE DECK – The original designer’s plan called for the deck to be assembled and formed in 3 phases over I-25 while hanging on temporary cables. This meant that the deck would be cantilevered over several lanes of both north and south-bound I-25 while it hung on temporary cables. Hamon pre-fabricated the deck complete with its formwork off-site. By increasing the planned size of the temporary cables, Hamon was able to transport the assembled deck units to the job site and erect them overnight minimizing the impact to traffic while enhancing the safety of the traveling public.
CABLE FORCE MEASUREMENT – Hamon Infrastructure was required to report cable force measurements to the design engineer both before and after the deck was placed. In order to eliminate the wasteful use of sacrificial load cells, Hamon along with its consultant Bridge Diagnostics Inc. used frequency-based cable force measurements to determine the cable forces on the actual bridge. Measurements were successfully taken and the cable forces were successfully verified.
