New Pantai Highway
Location: Malaysia
Client: Road Builder (M) Sdn Bhd
Owner: New Pantai Expressway Sdn Bhd
Value: RM100M (US$28M)
The design of the major bridges on the New Pantai Expressway was carried out by RB as the lead consultant in association with the other Benaim Group companies, and was divided into 3 packages.
The first package comprised 1.2km of dual 3 lane carriageway made up of precast post-tensioned ‘T’-beams supported on post-tensioned precast segmental crossheads cantilevering some 12m over busy roads. The crossheads are supported on single central columns on single large diameter caisson piles and spans are typically 38m. RB introduced the technique of Precast Segmental Crossheads for the first time to Malaysia, and this method has become widely used ever since. The use of single columns and single piles eliminated the need for pilecaps, and reduced the space in-take in the road leading to savings in road diversions and permanent works costs as well as reducing the disruption to traffic during construction.
The second package was designed utilising cast in-situ twin rib construction of the deck monolithically connected to the substructure throughout. Expansion joints in the deck are placed at the pier, every 5 to 6 spans, and there are no bearings at all within the viaduct thus minimising maintenance costs.
The third package consisted of several interchanges (free flowing junctions) with 4 high level ramps constructed over rivers, existing live highways and KTM railway tracks. The prestressed concrete box girder decks typically carried a single carriageway, erected using the balanced cantilever method. Spans vary between 30m and 50m, with a total length of 1.6km. This project won the Construction Industry Development Board’s Award for Excellence in Construction in 2005.
