Thurston Avenue Bridge

Thurston avenue bridge serves as a gateway between the residential and academic areas of Cornell’s campus, each day carrying more than 12,000 cars and 2,000 pedestrians. BendTec was the fabricator for the bridge’s reconstruction. it was widened by 12 feet by adding new induction bent tubular arches at each fascia. the addition allowed for 10-foot sidewalks and 5-foot bicycle lanes.

The tube’s large size required BendTec’s custom fabrication services. at 32 inches by 30 inches and 1-inch thick, the tubular shape was larger than any standard tube section produced in the u.s.

To fabricate the tube, two 50 ksi, 1-inch thick at plates were cold bent into u shapes and then welded together with complete joint penetration seam welds. Fed through BendTec’s induction bending machine, the 20-foot steel tube section was heated to 1,850 degrees F. as it was being pushed through, it was bent into a parabolic curve.

Field-welded splices were added to maintain the smooth appearance over the length of the arch.