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Cass Avenue Bridge Cantilever Sidewalk
Location: Clinton Township, Michigan |
Project: Cass Avenue Bridge over the Clinton River |
Product: Cantilever Sidewalk
The narrow walkway on the Cass Avenue Bridge was not conducive to pedestrians or bicyclists trying to use the trails on both sides of the Clinton River. The 284-foot-long Cass Avenue bridge superstructure is prestressed concrete girders. Doubling the width of the sidewalk to 10 feet without overloading the exterior girders of the bridge was a major design challenge. The engineer opted to cantilever a lightweight FRP deck off the side of the existing bridge to create the wider shared-use path. The 5” thick FRP decking weighing less than 10 psf enabled the project to be done without extensive modifications to the existing bridge girders. A comparable concrete sidewalk weighs about 60 psf. The decking supports the exterior railing and is supplied with a safe non-slip overlay.