Hydraulic and earth engineering – Earth treatment or control – Shoring – bracing – or cave-in prevention
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-11
2002-07-09
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Earth treatment or control
Shoring, bracing, or cave-in prevention
C405S292000, C404S085000, C014S077100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06416258
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention is related to a ground advance shoring system and the construction method using such a system. This invention is primarily utilized in the construction of elevated roads or bridges. By utilizing the method and system according to this invention, construction costs can be significantly reduced and the work period can be shortened along with improved construction efficacy.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The conventional construction systems for elevated roads or bridges can be generally categorized into a stationary shoring system and an advancing shoring system. To facilitate better understanding of the technical features and advantages of this invention, the above two conventional construction methods are summarized as follows.
The conventional stationary shoring system, as illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, generally includes stationary supporting frames
11
set up on the ground
10
, and molding plates
16
along with other facilities installed on the supporting frames
11
for subsequent casting of bridge concrete
15
. The conventional stationary shoring construction method includes ground conditioning and pavement of one or several layers of gravel (not shown) thereon. Concrete blocks
13
are then covered on the gravel. Next, a plurality of supporting frame units
14
, as illustrated in
FIG. 3
, are connected by screws and/or connection rods to form the complete supporting frames
11
on the concrete blocks
13
as shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. After completing the installation of the supporting frames
11
, additional supporting facility, such as steel H-beams
12
and wooden corners (not shown) etc., are installed on the supporting frames
11
and the molding plates
16
are installed on the supporting facility for subsequent pouring of the bridge concrete
15
.
The above conventional stationary shoring construction method involves many disadvantages. Firstly, since the loading capacity for a single supporting frame unit
14
is very limited, the overall supporting frames
11
must be connected as a dense supporting network by a large number of the supporting frame units
14
so as to evenly distribute the weights of the supporting frames
11
themselves and the bridge concrete
15
over each of the supporting frame units
14
for safe and sufficient support. Accordingly, the conventional stationary shoring construction method requires a considerable a mount of materials for the supporting frames. Secondly, each of the supporting frame units
14
must be connected by screws, connection rods or other means (not shown) one by one and thus, the installation or dismantling thereof is thus very time-consuming. In addition, the conventional stationary shoring construction method needs movable or fixed concrete blocks
13
such that the weight of the bridge concrete
15
can be evenly distributed on the ground
10
. For the concrete blocks
13
not to be moved, they need to be demolished and shipped away after the completion of the construction. This results in considerable waste of concrete material and requires additional manpower, materials and construction time. For the movable concrete blocks
13
, heavy machinery for moving them is necessary and thus, it still requires substantial manpower and working time.
In the conventional stationary shoring construction method, each of the supporting points
17
needs to be leveled prior to the pavement of the steel H-beams
12
over th e supporting frames
11
. As can be seen in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the amount of supporting points
17
is enormous. Therefore, the time for leveling them is very long. Furthermore, crane truck(s) is/are required to remove and dismantle the supporting frames
11
. Here, a “series of supporting frames” means a plurality of the supporting frame units
14
connected in a vertical direction. The supporting frames
11
shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
are usually disconnected horizontally only, but not vertically, so as to save some time and manpower for the dismantling. Each series of the supporting frames is tilted and put on a truck by the crane truck for subsequent construction process of the next span. If the supporting frames
11
are too high, the usual crane truck would not be able to reach them. Accordingly, a heavy crane truck will be necessary which results in additional costs, machinery and manpower along with increased difficulty in operation.
The advancing shoring system is generally illustrated in
FIG. 4
, characterized in that each of the left and right sides of the concrete post
20
of the bridge has a recess
21
. A bracket
22
can be mounted into the recess
21
and a slidable truss
23
is provided on the bracket
22
. Steel H-beams
24
, molding plates
25
and/or other facilities similar to those utilized in the conventional stationary shoring system can be installed on the truss
23
for the casting of the bridge concrete
26
. After completing the casting of each span of the bridge concrete
26
, the molding plates
25
will be lowered and separated. The advancing shoring system then employs a driving means (not shown) to move the truss
23
to the next span, as illustrated in FIG.
5
. The molding plates
25
will be re-installed again to repeat the casting of the bridge concrete
26
. As compared with the conventional stationary shoring system, the advancing shoring system requires less supporting materials. In addition, the manpower and time for installing and dismantling the supporting frames can be eliminated with significant improvement on the construction efficiency. Nevertheless, the advancing shoring system still has some disadvantages. Firstly, the recesses
21
need to be formed on each of the precasted concrete posts
20
, as illustrated in
FIG. 4
, which increases the inconvenience in the construction processes. Secondly, the dimensions and weight of the truss
23
, usually made of steel, used in the system are generally enormous, approximately 600-700 tons, to provide sufficient supporting strength. Since the complete weight of the truss
23
must be supported by the concrete post
20
, the design of it needs to be changed when this is taken into consideration. Furthermore, the technique of the advancing shoring construction method is more difficult than that of the conventional stationary shoring construction method. Collapse of the supporting facility when moving the system to the next span can happen and thus, extreme caution is definitely required in the advancing shoring construction method. The current costs for an advancing shoring system is generally more than one million U.S. dollars, which is relatively expensive. In addition, at least two crane trucks with more than one hundred ton capacity are required for at least 45 days. Thus, the craning job in the advancing shoring construction method is not only quite difficult but also expensive. For example, if the cost for the crane is US$300 per day, the basic cost for the crane trucks would be 300 (US$/truck)×2 (truck/day)×45 (days)=US$27,000. Accordingly, if the number of spans for continuous construction is not large enough, that is, the construction length of the elevated road or bridge is not long, the actual costs for the advancing shoring construction method is not necessarily lower than that of the conventional stationary construction method.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to overcome the above defects of the conventional art. This invention discloses a ground advance shoring system and the construction method using such a system. The system of this invention comprises a railway assembly for being set up on a ground; at least one movable device disposed on the railway assembly for moving thereon, in which the movable device includes a moving platform and a bottom jack provided below the moving platform for lifting and releasing the moving platform; when the bottom jack lifts the moving platform, the movable device is separated from the railway assembly and unable to move along the railway assembly, whereas when the bottom jack relea
Ladas & Parry
Mayo Tara L.
Pezzuto Robert E.
LandOfFree
Ground advance shoring system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Ground advance shoring system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ground advance shoring system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2827336