Baytown-Houston Ship Channel Crossings-Crane Load Analysis

Stiver Engineering was asked to provide a crane lifting plan for lifting an expansion joint for the Fred Hartman Bridge located over the Houston Ship Channel. As the combined weight of the heavy-duty crane and the expansion joint exceeded the optimum load rating of the bridge, Stiver Engineering came up with a frame design that was placed under the crane outrigger pads to distribute the loads efficiently. Due to the limited work area Stiver Engineering proposed the lifting and installation of the expansion joint to be carried out in three stages.