In the village of Biskupice, Poland, ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products and Steligence® contributed to the construction of a composite bridge built with ARCOROX® weathering steel beams, ensuring an external reinforcement for the concrete bridge. Inaugurated in March 2021, this is the first bridge in Europe built with the new VFT-WiB® solution and weathering steel.
Arcorox® steel sections for better optimisation
For the external reinforcement of the composite superstructure, 15 tonnes of HEB 900 rolled sections made of Arcorox® weathering steel in grade S460J2W were used.
During the tender phase, the solution was part of the new design suggested by Steligence®’s engineers to guarantee optimisation of the tonnage (reduced by 30%), cost, and maintenance cost and to provide faster execution times. The sections were produced in ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products’ mill of Differdange, Luxembourg, and Steligence® Fabrication Centre supplied them to customer DURA through steel fabricator MOSTOSTAL Puławy S.A.
VFT-WiB® technology
The bridge was built using the VFT-WiB® technology and it was the first time in Europe it was used in conjunction with weathering steel. The HEB 900 sections are split into two t-sections, including puzzle-shaped composite dowels cut in the middle of the web. The t-sections are then used to create an external reinforcement of the steel-concrete superstructure.
ArcelorMittal has been working closely with the customer all along the project, to develop both the steel grade and the technical solution.
