Nellmapius Bridge Traditional Cache

BKS was appointed by SANRAL as the consulting engineers for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project: Package C. The construction of Nellmapius bridge formed part of the responsibilities allocated to BKS.

With regards to the architectural façade panels BKS had the following responsibilities: Structural Design, Project Management, Site Supervision and Quality assurance. All these aspects are briefly discussed in the subsequent sections.

The bridge has a deck width of 14,97 m that includes a 1,4 m sidewalk. It replaced the old bridge that had to be demolished due to insufficient span lengths to accommodate the widened Ben Schoeman Freeway. The bridge deck is a four span continuous pre-stressed concrete voided slab. The main spans are 31,25 m long and the end spans 18,75 m and 22,45 m respectively. The deck was constructed by means of overhead structural steel gantries supporting the formwork and wet concrete. The aesthetic appearance of the bridge deck is enhanced by the use of long cantilevers. The substructure comprises multiple column type piers. The western abutment consists of a perched wall type structure with a pile cap just below the natural ground level. The eastern abutment is a frame type abutment behind a reinforced earth wall, which is an extension of the reinforced earth wall of the bridge over the Gautrain railway.