TRX North South Bridge (Contract C9)

North-South Bridge (Contract C9) is one of the main gateways accesses connecting peripheral roads and highways to Kuala Lumpur’s upcoming international financial hub, the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX). The North-South Bridge is constructed over the existing Smart Tunnel portal and besides connecting to peripheral roads and highways also serve to connect the TRX South to North development plots.

Technical Description

The North-South Bridge spans over 66m from the north abutment to the south abutment, with a width of 27.25m. The bridge deck comprises of composite steel truss system and supported on a mechanical bearing to allow for the longitudinal movement at the expansion joints of the bridge. The composite steel truss system comprises of 8 numbers of longitudinal steel trusses with cross steel ties within the main truss. The deck slab thickness is approximately 250mm thick with a Bondek formwork. Structural steel grade S355 was adopted for the bridge.

The North-South Bridge is design to function as connecting bridge, pedestrian link and also to serve as utilities crossing. The bridge infrastructure utilities such as High Tension (H.T) cables were designed to meet Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) which is Malaysia’s electric utility company and local authorities’ requirements and specification. The utilities tunnels are located within the truss system below the concrete deck. Fire protection of 2 hours rating for the steel structures was provided. The bridge natural frequency exceeding 5Hz is designed for the pedestrian’s comfort. Bore piles were adopted for the bridge foundation, where the site is underlain by KL Limestone Karst Formation. Cavities were detected at localised area which were then grouted.

Project Highlights, Achievement and Recognition:

• Single lift launching of 66m span steel box truss bridge (220 tonne) across existing Smart portal and elevated bridge.
• 1600 tonne heavy lifting crane and 250 tonne crawler crane was engaged for the launching works to lift 220 tonne trusses at a 50m radius. The 1600 tonne lifting crane ground slab was supported with pile raft close to Smart Portals to reduce impact on the Smart structures and to ensure that the crane remain stable during lifting of the trusses.