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Interstate 70 in Colorado connects the capital city of Denver to the western portion of the state, winding its way up and over the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Near the summit, just east of the world famous ski and snow sport town of Vail, the I-70 crosses Wilder Gulch with a concrete box girder bridge.
Previously equipped with armored strip seal joints that needed replacement every 3-5 years due to heavy traffic and steep grade, Colorado DoT decided to replace the existing joints with POLYFLEX-ADVANCED PU to put it to the test in this harshest of environments.
For this project mageba USA provided a POLYFLEX-ADVANCED PU expansion joint with a movement capacity of +/-1.5” (38 mm) and technical assistance for the Colorado DoT maintenance department to install this product.
The joint installation was done one lane at a time to keep traffic moving over the bridge even during construction, something that is not possible with an armored strip seal joint.
The POLYFLEX-ADVANCED PU joint is expected to have a lifespan significantly longer than the old expansion joints due to its impermeability to freeze/thaw cycles, road salts, snowplows and the overall durability of the polyurethane material.
Product: | TENSA®POLYFLEX® Advanced PU flexible plug expansion joints |
Installed: | 2018 |
City: | Vail, Colorado |
Type: | Precast box girder bridge |
Main span: | 160 ft (48.8 m) |
Length: | 227 ft (69 m) |
Owner: | Colorado DoT |