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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce
InventorsJames S. Albus, Ken Goodwin, Yair Tene
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A system for rapid, cost-effective construction of highway bridges, traffic verpasses and bypasses, and causeways over water or wetlands utilizes light-lift crane structures together with modular, light-lift bridge sections and an enhanced stabilized crane, using controlled cables, to improve the safety and efficiency of the construction process. Stabilization of the payload against pendulation and rotation enables safe operation in harsh environmental situations such as wind. The construction system utilizes continuous site assembly processes for building bridges and causeways from repetitive modular elements. In some embodiments, the system uses the payload (one or more modular bridge sections) as a component of a stable lifting and positioning system, thereby eliminating the need for heavy auxiliary lifting equipment such as spreader bars and platforms. Lifting cables of the crane are directly attached to the bridge payload, which becomes part of the lifting system during placement. Other embodiments utilize installed modular elements as a staging platform for constructing subsequent modular elements.
A crane capable of lifting and carrying modular bridge sections for overpass bridge construction, the crane comprising:
A lifting system comprising a plurality of cables and carrying a payload, said cables arranged to support said payload in six degrees of freedom, wherein said payload is used as a lifting platform.
A method of constructing a bridge structure using a crane, the crane comprising structure capable of lifting and carrying modular bridge sections, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of constructing a bridge structure using a crane, the crane comprising structure capable of lifting and carrying modular bridge sections, the method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.