Chenab Bridge – Gap compensation with MM1018 on the world’s highest railway bridge

Engineers at the Bridge contractor upon intense discussions with the bridge designers and DIAMANT engineers decided upon the use of the liquid-shim material. A decision was taken to place the arch base on the base plates in their final position and then proceed with pressure grouting. One of the concerns with such a project is always to prove to the client that the grouting is providing 100% fill and the resultant transfer of full load at cure. While these are good when used with concrete interfaces they have shown to severely fall short in steel connections and also the stresses transmitted through the metal segments. These have led to crushed or shattered grouting and in turn expensive bearing loss and replacements. The success of the metal-to-metal grouting at the arch base helped the installation of the bridge bearings interfacing with the bottom of the girder. An approach similar to arch-based grouting was followed to solve the issue of gaps due to the bridge camber and bearing top plate. As steel fabricators learn and implement new possibilities using the advanced metal grouting material, new possibilities are available to them to ensure even the smallest of gaps are reliably filled.