Launching technique for the Viaduc de Millau

Introduction
The Viaduc de Millau is part of the A75 linking Paris with
Barcelona (Figure 1). It is currently the highest bridge in the
world at 343m high with a construction cost of approx 310
million Euros (AUD $525 million). It was opened to traffic
on 17 December 2004, just 39 months after work began.
While this engineering feat set a number of benchmarks
in construction, the purpose of this article is to describe
how the viaduct deck was launched across such a wide gap
between supports. There are a number of articles about the
various aspects of construction of this structure, however
the focus will be on the equipment used to launch the
structure as this method has a broader application to
bridges and structures generally which lends itself to
the launching technique.
Traditionally, one method of launching involves sliding the
bridge deck over PTFE1/polished stainless steel bearings.
However in this case, specially designed hydraulic lift and
transfer units, called translators, controlled the deck launch.
While this technique has occurred before, it has never been
attempted on a project of this size and complexity.

Tony Brooks
Regional Manager Australia and New Zealand
Enerpac

Abstract
The 2460m long Viaduc de Millau in France is a continuous,
eight span cable stayed viaduct symmetrically supported from
seven pylons. The deck has a lightweight steel trapezoid shape
with component parts that were prefabricated offsite with final
assembly on site at the bridge approaches. The deck was launched
in two halves from the north and south abutments, supported by
the permanent piers and temporary piers. The 717m northern half
of the deck and the 1743m southern half, once welded together,
formed a continuous deck structure. The decks were launched in
small 600mm increments with the total distance of each launch
stage being 171m. Maurer Shne and Enerpac manufactured
specially designed translators for the project. Under demanding
environmental and structural conditions, these translators allowed
the launching of a deck structure to be synchronized in such a
way to produce minimal side loads on the very slender support
piers. This launching system is applicable to a wide variety of
industry applications.

Figure 1 Viaduc de Millau under construction showing red

temporary support piers.

Background
This 2460m long cable stayed bridge crosses the Tarn River
and is located 5km west of the town of Millau in France. The
roadway, with two lanes on each side, crosses the river at 270m
above ground. At its highest point, the viaduct is higher than
the Eiffel Tower. Conceived by British architect, Norman Foster,
and designed by French structural engineer, Michel Virlogeux,
this suspension bridge is supported by seven pylons, instead of
the two that are common for this kind of construction.

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Figure 2 Viaduct elevation showing deck spans.

Figure 3 Typical deck cross section.

The Millau viaduct is a multi cable-stayed structure, slightly
curved in plan on a radius of 20,000m and with a constant
3.025% slope. The structure is continuous along its eight
cable-stayed spans - two end spans of 204m each and six
central spans of 342m each (Figure 2).

orthotropic decking made up of metal sheets 1214mm thick

on the greater part of the main spans. To ensure resistance to
fatigue, a thickness of 14mm was adopted for the whole length
of the structure under the traffic lanes. This thickness is increased
around the pylons.

The deck is a lightweight steel structure which is prefabricated

and assembled on site. The cross-sectional profile of the
motorway consists of a dual carriageway, each carriageway
bordered by a 3m emergency lane and a 1m shoulder next
to the central reservation (Figure 3). The width of the central
reservation has been determined by the size of the stay-cables,
which are arranged in a single plane along the centre of
the viaduct. The cross-sectional profile resulting from these
constraints gives an overall deck width of 27.75m.

The longitudinal stiffening of the upper orthotropic decking

is provided by longitudinal trapezoidal stiffeners 7mm thick
which are generally 600mm apart. These stiffeners continue
through the transverse diaphragms.

In addition, the structure is equipped with heavy-duty

security barriers and screens to protect users against side
winds. The high complexity of the construction site such
as steep slopes in various areas, led to the number of piers
being limited and their position being restricted to the top or
bottom of the slopes.
The deck consists of an inverted trapezoidal profiled metal box
girder with a maximum height of 4.2m at the axis with an upper

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The sloping base plates of the bottoms of the side box girders
consist of 12mm sheet steel on the greater part of the spans,
and 14-16 mm sheets around the pylons. Longitudinal
trapezoidal stiffeners, 6 mm thick, are fitted at variable centres.
The bottom of the box girder consists of metal sheets of between
25 and 80mm thick. Rigidity is provided by three longitudinal
trapezoidal stiffeners 14 or 16mm thick. Two vertical webs 4m apart
and consisting of metal sheet between 20 and 40mm thick run the
entire length of the structure in order to spread out the localised
forces of the temporary piers during the launching of the deck.
These webs are stiffened on their lower part by two longitudinal
trapezoidal stiffeners. The transverse stiffening of the deck is
provided by lattice diaphragms at 4.17m spacing on the spans.

Queensland Roads Edition 12, Department of Transport and Main Roads, October 2012

Assembly

Launching the deck

The cross-sectional profile of the deck was designed by Eiffel

Constructions mtalliques so that it may be factory prefabricated,
transported to site, assembled on-site and then launching. The
cross section of the profile of the deck is broken down into a
number of manageable components as shown in Figure 4.

During the initial setup before the launching operations began

and while on firm supports, one single pylon was erected onto
the deck. The support cables from the pylon to the deck were
then partially tensioned. The purpose of this pylon and cables
was to prevent excessive sag of the cantilevered end during
the launch operation. A lightweight lattice frame launch nose
was also fitted. The function of this nose is explained later in
the article. The steel deck was positioned by launching 171m
long sections. Each launch operation consisted of moving the
leading edge of the deck over the 171m span which separates
each support (pier or temporary pier) from the next. At the
southern end, 1743m of deck was launched while at the
northern end, 717m of deck was launched. The two sections
met mid span between piers P2 and P3. Figure 5 shows the
launching operation during the early part of the project.

The component members arrive on site in various stages of

assembly where they are finally welded together.
Behind each abutment on the north and south ends of the
viaduct, a factory was set up. Each factory consisted of three
171m work zones, each with its own specific activities:
s The first 171m zone, farthest from the abutment, joined
together the pieces of the central box girder.
s The second 171m zone was used to assemble the other
elements of the deck and to join them to the central girder.
s The third 171m zone was where the completely-assembled
deck was painted, and the remaining mouldings, brackets
and the uprights of the wind screen with their protective
mesh were assembled.
The welding work on the site necessitated about 75 welders
for each assembly area. The complete assembly of a 171m
deck section required the use of approximately five tonnes of
welding metal with a total consumption of welding metal for
the whole structure estimated at 150t. After an initial bedding
in period, the assembly time for each 171m section was
reduced to approximately four weeks.

Translators
Traditionally a launched bridge would be pushed or pulled
into position with the bridge deck sliding over low friction
plain bearings or rollers. However in this case because of the
bridges length and weight, weather conditions, geometry
and height of the piers, a mechanical launching device
called a translator was developed for this project by Maurer
Shne of Germany and Enerpac in Spain (Figure 7 and 8).
By referring to Figure 7 the operation of a translator is
explained in detail.

Figure 4 Typical deck cross section.

Figure 5 Launching from the southern end with a single pylon in place.

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Figure 6 Docking of the deck onto temporary pier T2 on the

northern end.
1. Initial position while it is difficult to see the small
clearance in the diagram, the decks weight is supported
by the orange cradle through to the balance jacks to the
pier. The deck weight is not supported by the top sliding
advance plate at this stage. The advance cylinder is in
the extended position and the raise cylinders are in the
retracted position. Per wedge there is one raise cylinder
and two advance cylinders. One advance cylinder is
mounted on either side of the wedge.
2. Raising the raise cylinder is extended causing the blue
wedge to force the two adjoining plates apart. The result of
this is the top advance plate is raised a small distance which
in turn raises the deck clear of the orange cradle. Either side
of the wedge is a low friction treatment of PTFE on one
surface and polished stainless steel sheet on the other. The
raising capacity of each translator is 250t. The lifting forces
are transferred into the deck directly through the vertical
web of the central box core of the deck.
3. Advancing while the raise cylinder is still extended,
the advance cylinders are slowly retracted, advancing the
deck by 600mm. The advance cylinders have a combined
force capacity of 120t.
4. Lowering the advance cylinders remain fully retracted and
the raising cylinder is slowly retracted. As the blue wedge
is retracted, the top advance plate and deck are lowered. As
soon as the deck rests on the orange cradle, the weight is
removed from the top advance plate as there is now a small
clearance between it and the underside of the deck.
5. Return to start the advance cylinders are extended,
returning the unloaded top advance plate to the initial
starting position. The hydraulically powered translators
have an overall launch rate of 10 m/h or 16 cycles per hour.

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Figure 7 Operation of a hydraulically powered translator.

Each pier is equipped with four translators together with their
single acting balance jacks (except T1 and T7 which have
two translators). Two translators are mounted into a single
assembly as shown in Figure 8. A number of translators
are also installed in the deck assembly area on the bridge
approaches. Apart from T1 and T7, each permanent pier
and temporary pier is fitted with two translators assemblies
mounted symmetrically about their centreline and spaced
longitudinally apart by approximately 21m. In the highly
loaded areas during the launching process, the balance jacks
had an individual capacity of 600t and a 500mm vertical
stroke. Hence with 24 jacks the absolute lifting capacity was

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Figure 8 Two blue translators form part of an assembly during installation (advance cylinders missing).
14,400t. Other less loaded locations used 280t jacks with
a stroke of 300mm. Hydraulic valves are used to make the
different groups of jacks independent of each other to enable
control of the height and angle of the deck.
During the launch, the balance jacks of the two translators on
the same side of the deck are hydraulically linked to ensure
equal pressure is maintained by all jacks on that side of the
deck. This is to allow for variations in longitudinal rotation
of the deck due to deck deflection. This load sharing feature
ensures that the supporting load was evenly distributed over
each pair of longitudinally aligned translators. The translator
jacks on either side of the decks longitudinal centreline
were not normally hydraulically linked as this would create
a virtual pin joint and allow the deck to roll about its
longitudinal axis. As a safety measure, the balance jacks
could be mechanically locked off by a large nut mounted to
each jacks piston.
The outer advance cylinders on each translator have a
positional transducer that indicates the amount of travel.
This allowed the synchronised control of the translators at all
locations via a central computer. The horizontal deflection

of the top of each pier was monitored by survey methods

to ensure the piers were not subject to unexpected bending
forces. During the final phase of launching from the southern
end, the total pushing capacity was 5280t and from the
northern end a pushing capacity of 2400t. A total of 3280
individual 600mm launches were made from the C8 end and
1540 were made from the C0 end.

Launch nose operation

During the launch of the cantilevered deck, the end of the
deck sagged under it own weight. This deflection was not fully
controlled by erecting the Py2 pylon to the northern end launch
and Py3 pylon to the southern end launch. The leading extremity
of the cantilevered section of the deck was fitted with a launch
nose whose purpose was to facilitate docking onto the different
supports and to stabilise the leading edge in case of an emergency
stop in the launch owing to high wind. The rotation of the launch
nose could be controlled with two hydraulic cylinders.
To make the final height adjustment due to the cantilevered
deflection, a pair of special bar jacks was fitted. These jacks

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Figure 9 Pictorial view of the lifting and advance of the launch nose.
function in a similar manner to a strand jack (1). This system
is comprised of four 270t cylinders with hollow pistons and
205mm of travel. The cylinders work in pairs and transfer the
load to pull bars that fastened to the structure. In conjunction
with Figure 9, a brief summary of the operation of the launch
nose is given below:
1. The launch nose and deck stop short of the translator
assembly on top of a pier (or temporary piers as the case
may be). The translator is in the start position and the
orange column is above the translator.
2. The bar jacks advance and lower an orange column onto
each translator. Further advancement of the bar jacks raise
the launch nose so that its underside and the underside of
the deck are above the advance plate.
3. The raise cylinder on the translator is extended advancing
the blue wedge plate. The full weight of the launch nose is
now taken on the advance plate.
4. The advance cylinder on the translator is now retracted
advancing the deck. This operation must occur synchronously
with all other translators to launch the deck by 600mm.
5. The bar jacks retract the orange column until the launch
nose sits on the launch plate. The orange column is then
lifted clear. The weight of the advance nose is now taken
by the translator.
6. The lift cylinder is retracted which lowers the launch
nose onto the translator cradle. The advance cylinder is

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extended back to the cycle start position. The launch nose/

deck is now on the translator so the deck can now be
advanced in the normal cycle as shown in Figure 7.

PLC control system

All hydraulic systems for pushing each deck are operated
from an individual control centre on the bridgehead.
Although all hydraulic systems operating during a launch are
controlled from this central control centre, each individual
hydraulic system has its own local control panel. This allows
local movement of the translators to be made from that
pier independently, as long as this is allowed by the control
centre, which in turn must receive the approval of each
local control centre in order to make synchronised pushing
movements from all the pushing cylinders of all the piers.
Movement of the deck can be made in three modes: manual,
semiautomatic and automatic. The manual mode is used
for adjusting the system and, if necessary, to make instant
corrections. In semi-automatic mode, each movement is
made step by step: raise, push, lower, withdraw cylinders.
Automatic mode completes the entire cycle.
Hydraulic system integration of high force hydraulics and
advanced control technology played a critical role in the
controlled movement of such a large-scale civil engineering
project the Viaduc de Millau.

Queensland Roads Edition 12, Department of Transport and Main Roads, October 2012

References
1. Chapman C. Strand jacks in the construction industry,
Queensland Roads, Edition 9. Sept 2010.

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Figure 11 Launch nose close-up prior to the initial launch.

Figure 12 General view of viaduct before the last launch.

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