AGF Access Group chosen for bridge work

Montreal-based AGF Access Group, Inc. has been selected by Ship Channel Constructors (SCC) to provide access equipment for the construction of a new bridge in Texas. AGF Access Group’s major projects team, along with its Hydro Mobile and Winsafe manufacturing divisions, developed a variety of standard and customized access solutions to be used during the next six years of construction and demolition of the two span stay-cable Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge in Harris County, TX .

Hydro Rents Inc., a company of AGF Access Group, will supply a 1,000 feet of stairs to access both main pylons and road deck at different locations, two Raxtar temporary elevators 525 feet high for pylon and form work access, four 90-foot custom-designed Hydro Mobile traveling gantries for under bridge deck operations including stay cable installation and finishing works, and eight specially adapted Winsafe suspended platforms for pylon construction activities and stay cable installation. 

The current Ship Channel Bridge will be replaced by two one-way bridges of four lanes each. The new bridge will be 500 feet high, 1,300-feet-long and have a total of 128 stay cables, making the bridge the sixth-longest main span in the nation and the second-longest in Texas.

“Given our track record, and most recently with the execution of several high-profile bridge projects including the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal and the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York, we were in a competitive position to offer these solutions under a single roof,” said Alex Di Domenico, vice president major projects, AGF Access Group. “The ability to supply access solutions from one source is both economical and efficient for the customer’s overall project management.”

“We are proud to fulfill the access needs for the Sam Houston replacement bridge project,” said Rick Harland, regional manager, Hydro Rents. “We have provided equipment to major projects in Texas before and fulfilled their needs with the same focus on safety and on time execution true to the Hydro Rents reputation.” 

AGF Access Group’s deliveries are scheduled for July 2019 through February 2020. The bridge will take six years to be completed, with the southbound bridge set for completion in 2021 and the northbound bridge in 2024.