Blog Post

11/04/2022

Adding 50 Years of Service Life to Victoria’s Lerderderg Bridge

MasterBrace

Located between Melbourne and Ballarat, the Lerderderg Bridge is a key piece of Victorian infrastructure, consisting of two bridges, totalling four lanes of traffic.

Major Highway Upgrade Project

As part of the Major Highway Upgrade Project by the Department of Transport (VicRoads), a range of Master Builders Solutions MasterBrace products were specified to increase the load-carrying capacity and extend the design life of the bridge by more than 50 years.

MasterBrace Products Utilised

VicRoads utilised four MasterBrace products during the rehabilitation works:

  • MasterBrace Laminate: Long 100mm wide strips of carbon laminate, bonded to the I-beams to increase the general load-bearing capacity in flexure.

  • MasterBrace Fibre: A 50cm wide carbon fibre sheet was used to wrap the underside of the bridge to increase the shear strength.

  • MasterBrace MBar: Pultruded carbon fibre rods, embedded into the bridge deck, providing increased tensile strength over the piers.

  • MasterBrace 1446: A two-pack, thixotropic epoxy structural adhesive used to bond the MasterBrace products mentioned above to the concrete surfaces of the bridge.

Traffic Management

As each bridge consists of two lanes, traffic was able to continue flowing in both directions while repairs were made to either bridge.

Watch the project reference video below.

Contact Information

To find out more about MasterBrace, contact:

Andrew Sarkady: National Industry Advocate: Civil Infrastructure – Transport

  • Phone: 0418 530 763

  • Email: andrew.sarkady@masterbuilders.com