A Study of Structural Lifting to Replace Elastomeric Bearing Pad for Chalerm Maha Nakhon Expressway

Abstract

Most of the expressway structures consist of a superstructure and a substructure, with “elastomeric bearing pads” installed between the two structures to support the superstructure weight and vehicle weight, also to support the movement of the structure. From a preliminary survey, it was found that some locations of the Chalerm Maha Nakorn Expressway's elastomeric bearing pads had deteriorated due to their service more than 30 years, causing the structural behavior around the supporting base to be inconsistent with the design. Therefore, the replacement of elastomeric bearing pads and other related materials is needed in order to maintain the expressway structure to continue operate safely and efficiently. This paper aims to study the process of replacing elastomeric bearing pads, including surveying and assessing the damage of elastomeric bearing pads, analyzing and designing of lifting structures guideline, analyzing structure before lifting operate and initiating the procedure of lifting the structure to replace the elastomeric bearing pads. In this study, the elastomeric bearing pads replacement process was considered under the important condition, that is, the expressway must be able to provide service continuously, with the safety of the expressway users and people traveling along the expressway or people living in the vicinity at all times.