The Utilization of Movable Scaffolding Systems
in Large Spans
Antonio Albuquerque Póvoas, President, AP-BCS-Portugal, LDA., Lisbon, Portugal. Contact: antonio.povoas@sapo.pt
DOI: 10.2749/101686612X13363869853374
Abstract
The use of movable scaffolding systems
(MSSs) was initially developed for
bridge spans between 36 m and 50 m,
and in very few projects for a maxi-
mum of 60 m. Projects of 70, 80 and 90
m spans were usually executed by form
travelers. The high speed train (HST)
viaducts brought heavier concrete gird-
ers owing to the live loads required for
such superstructures. To perform the
construction of such heavy viaducts,
as for example the AVE-LLobregat
Viaduct in Barcelona, with unit loads of
400 KN/n and spans of 50 m, stronger
MSS were needed. The study of such
bridge construction equipments and
the projects that followed, going up to
60 m span, also for HST, demanded a
step forward in the conception of the
MSS from its structural system to the
mechanical equipments required for
its main operations, such as the open-
ing of the formworks and the move-
ment of the MSS from pier to pier.
As a conclusion of the studies made for
long spans with bridge design engineers
and after the construction of very heavy
60 m span viaducts and road viaducts for
70 m spans, today it can be stated that it is
possible to use MSS for spans of 80 and
90 m with the machines developed so far.
As another consequence of those stud-
ies it can be concluded that for such high
spans it is very important to develop a
joint design of the MSS and the bridge
because the optimal cost solution
can be quite different from the initial
idea of the bridge design engineers.
The cast in situ method with MSS being
the most economical for concrete via-
duct construction, the use of MSS can
be more popular and achieve higher
performances if the bridge engineers’
community provides factual informa-
tion on how far and how often the tech-
nique can be used.
Kewords: movable scaffolding systems;
bridge; construction equipment; live
loads; long span bridges.
Introduction
Movable scaffolding systems (MSS)
were initially developed for bridge
Structural Engineering International 3/2012
Fig. 1: Vasco da Gama South viaduct, Lisbon
spans between 36 and 50 m, and in
very few projects for a maximum of
60 m between piers.
All projects for 70, 80 and 90 m were
usually performed by form travellers.
The high-speed train (HST) viaducts
brought very heavy concrete girders as
a result of the live loads required for
such superstructures. To perform the
construction of such heavy viaducts,
as for example the AVE–Llobregat
Viaduct in Barcelona, with concrete
weight loads of 400 kN/m and spans
of 50 m, stronger MSS were needed.
The study of such bridge construction
equipments and the projects that fol-
lowed, with 60 m span, also for HST,
made a step forward in the concep-
tion of the MSS from its structural
system to the mechanical equipments
required for its main operations, such
as the opening of the formworks and
the movement of the MSS from pier to
pier.
The evolution of bridge construc-
tion equ ipments continues and now
some companies are able to produce
MSS capable of casting in situ spans
of 72 m or even larger, with girder
weights up to 300 kN/m in one single
stage.
The article is directed at both bridge
design engineers and site construction
engineers.
Evolution of Movable
Scaffolding Systems
MSS Evolution in Portugal
The design and supply of MSS in
Portugal, specially designed to carry
the rebar cages and access the front
pier, started in 1994 with equipments
designed especially for motorway
bridges in Portugal, being the first two
supplied for the A4 motorway (Porto-
Amarante), followed by another four
used for Vasco da Gama Bridge con-
struction, in Lisbon (Fig. 1).
The motorway viaducts in Portugal are
mostly designed using π sections up to
45 m span between piers and Vasco da
Gama Bridge had 88 spans of 45 m,
cast in situ girders that weighted about
250 kN/m, requiring 46 m between the
MSS supports due to the spans after
the expansion joints. The nose of the
MSS was 48 m long passing over the
front pier.
The equipments were designed with a
load capacity of 300 kN/m (concrete
Technical Report 395
+ formwork) and with 46 m between – Easy suspension of different shapes
the MSS supports. This also meant of formwork.
that they could already cast in situ – Full autonomy for assembling and
55 m span concrete girders of identi- disassembling their own supports.
cal weight if the rear support could be – Capacity of unloading the trucks
placed 9 m ahead of the rear pier. that feed the materials to the con-
Some important innovations brought struction area.
by these MSS were: – Preparation for carrying the rebar
and the pre-stressing cables when
– The capacity of travelling from launching.
span to span hanging the rebar – Reversibility for parallel viaducts,
beams and two pre-fabricated i.e. the capacity of building one side
diaphragms. of the bridge in one direction and
– The capacity of erecting the supports coming back doing the other side in
over the piers autonomously without the opposite direction.
needing auxiliary cranes or boats. – Minimal man power.
– The constant performance of one
– Maximum automations in all main
span per week, reaching the unique tasks.
record of casting some spans in five
– Radio control for all motion
calendar days. operations.
Evolution in 2004 – Maximum security.
– Transformability into pre-fabricated
The previous MSS were designed decks or pre-fabricated beams
specifically to use only in that bridge, launcher.
which made them very economical – Capacity of hanging pre-fabricated
to use for the specific site they were deck sections in span-by-span method.
designed to, but future reuse in other – Minimal storing space.
bridge sites was not optimized. – Easy transportation overseas, i.e.,
In 2004 a new concept of MSS was all parts fit inside regular 40 ft.
designed based on the following containers.
principles: This full range of capabilities led obvi-
– Easy adaptation for different spans ously to more expensive equipments
or girder weights. considering one-site-use only, but in
compensation there was a substan-
tial economy considering its reuse
in new different sites, now made
much easier.
Also during 2004–2005 some orders
were placed to design equipments for
very heavy slab bridges for the Spanish
high-speed train line–AVE.
A new MSS was designed for Cornella
Viaduct (Figs. 2 and 3), with 11 spans
with different lengths of 27,35,36 and
40 m, with a self weight of 512 kN/m
near the piers and a current weight of
368 kN/m.
The launching operations were done
mostly at night over the motorway. A
record of 2 h and 15 min to open the
formwork, launch the girder and close
the formwork was then established, after
performing it several times in 3–4 h.
In 2005, an MSS for the Llobregat
Viaduct, a U-shaped, very heavy girder
with 4,2 m high walls, girder width of
16,8 m and usable width of 14 m was
designed (Figs. 4 and 5).
The 50 m span girder had a self weight
of 337 kN/m, but considering the local
reinforcements, the average weight
was 400 kN/m. Because of the high
walls and the beams of the slab, the
formwork weighed about 500 mt, but

2% 2%

0,333

0,20

2,00
0,20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1213

0,15

1,10
0,27 0,66 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,66 0,27

0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27

Polystyrene ∅ 1350
Center of the span cross section
Scale 1:100

6,00

0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27

0,45

0,27 0,66 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,66 0,27
0,40
1,30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1213
Cross section of
6,00 × 1,30
0,45

0,20
1,80

Section A-A
A A Scale 1:100

Transversal section over piers

Scale 1:100

Natural
A Ground

1 4 7 10 13

2 3 5 6 8 9 11 12

0,27 0,66 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,73 0,66 0,27

0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27 0,27

Transversal section at construction joint Piles

Scale 1:100
∅ 2000

Transversal section (Cast "in situ" Hollow Deck)

Scale 1:100

Fig. 2: Cornella Viaduct cross section

396 Technical Report Structural Engineering International 3/2012

Fig. 3: MSS over motorway
16 800
1400 14 000
2983
1357
Reinforced cross section
600
350
2700
Current cross section
Fig. 4: Llobregat Viaduct sections (Units: mm)
the MSS could open it in 10 min and
launch the MSS in 3 h.
With these colossal machines it was
learnt how to deal with such heavy
live loads, to simultaneously open very
heavy formworks and launch such
huge equipments.
Evolution in 2009
Following the MSS experience of build-
ing certain other heavy bridges for the
Spanish high-speed train line with 55 m
span between piers and 54 m distance
between supports the next challenge was
the mythical frontier of casing in one sin-
gle stage with 70 m concrete spans.
The MSS capacity is measured by
three values:
– The admissible live load.
– The distance between concreting
supports of the MSS.
– The distance between launching
supports of the MSS, i.e. flying span.
In other constructions during 2006–
2009, the most advanced models pre-
pared to hold 300 kN/m concrete load
have been used, plus the necessary
Structural Engineering International 3/2012
Fig. 5: MSS over the river
1400
314
1572
4200
4200
Transversal section over piers
17 430
external and internal formwork with
self weight casting “in situ” always in
one single stage.
The models used in Vila Pouca de
Aguiar Viaduct, Portugal (60 m
between piers) and Toxa and Martixe
Viaducts (HST) in Spain (55 m
between piers) had the capacity of sup-
porting 280 kN/m of concrete weight
plus 60 kN/m of formwork weight with
the MSS supports 54 m apart.
All those models could easily fly over
63 m distances between piers.
The latest model AP-2005, initially
designed for concrete spans of 55 m,
with very small adaptations could
reach 70 m concrete spans, with a
self-weight of about 200 kN/m for a
motorway viaduct over water.
Viaducto Do Engano (Nóia,
Spain)
Initial Design of the Bridge
The Viaducto do Engano is located
near the village of Nóia, Galiza coast,
30 km from Santiago de Compostela.
The initial design of this viaduct con-
sidered 13 spans of 55 m and two end
spans of 37,5 m, with the particularity
that most of the spans were built over
the water, having 14 piers over sub-
merged foundations (Fig. 6).
Final Design of the Bridge
After checking that the AP-2005 model
could build this bridge with a distance
of 63 m between the MSS supports
while concreting, it was concluded that
using 70 m spans would reduce the
number of piers and submerged foun-
dations from 14 to 10, reducing the con-
struction time as well, as it takes about
the same time to cover 70 m spans or
55 m spans with this type of MSS.
The final layout is now nine spans of 70
m, one end span of 41 m and the other
end span of 50 m (Fig. 7).
The final solution did not penalize
much of the weight of the concrete
girder although the height of the box
girder was raised from 2,65 to 3,20 m,
as the full design was optimized to the
new geometry. The final concrete sec-
tion was heavier only by 5% more than
the initial design, which was highly
compensated by the reduction in the
number of piers (Fig. 8).
The heaviest section is 8,05 m2, which
corresponds to a slab weight of 201,3
kN/m. The layout of the viaduct is curved,
with a permanent radius of 1200 m, and
a transversal slope 3,1%, also constant.
The pre-stressing was designed consid-
ering the execution of the viaduct from
abutment E-2 (right side on Fig. 6) to
E-1, an initial span of 50 m followed
by nine spans of 70 m and a last span
of 41 m.
The construction joint was always 17,5
m ahead of the corresponding pier,
Technical Report 397
1+477,500 790,00 0+687,500
37,50 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 55,00 37,50
E-2 P-14 P-13 P-12 P-11 P-10 P-9 P-8 P-7 P-6 P-5 P-4 P-3 P-2 P-1 E-1

BMVE 1,70
1+500

1+400

1+300

1+200

1+100

1+000

0+900

0+800

0+700
5

PMVE (~5.80)
10

PMVE (~5.80)
1+5

Pedr
ad o Na

0+7
00

9,04 Ense vio

ada

00
do e
1+4

ngan

0+800
00

o E-1
1+300

Pd
12,30

0+900
E-2 P-1

1+200
P-14

1+000
2,55 Tc 8,19
Pd

1+100
P-13 P-2 11,35
2,67 Mb T 16,2
P-12
P-3 c
P-4 11,61 15.5
16,60 3
P-11
5,50 P-10 P-5
3,1 P-9 P-6 Tc
6 P-8 P-7
Mb 16,96
7,4 1,5

CA
9 3,5 6 Pd
NA
4 17,12
1,8
LP
3,876
3,8 22.,656
5 8
1481 RIN
Pun CIP 17,27
ta do
enga
AL
Ase 2,2 no
rrad
oiro 3,3 6
5

Fig. 6: Nóia Viaduct initial layout (Units: m)

E-1 E-2
P.K. 0+689.029
16,08 P.K. 1+410,029

P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5

721,00 P-6 P-7 P-8 P-9 P-10
P.K. 0+730,029 P.K. 0+800,029 P.K. 0+870,029 P.K. 0+940,029 P.K. 1+010,029 P.K. 1+080,029 P.K. 1+150,029 P.K. 1+220,029 P.K. 1+290,029 P.K. 1+360,029
41,00 70,00 70,00 70,00 70,00 70,00 70,00 70,00 70,00 70,00 50,00
Entrada Salida
+16,487 +15,281

Terreno PMVE ~ +2,75

natural BMVE ~ –0,25
Canal
principal
P.C.–30.00
0 + 700 0 + 800 0 + 900 1 + 000 1 + 100 1 + 200 1 + 300 1 +400

5
R1200,00

x=50

2
3
E–1
8295

5
10 P.K.
0+68

4
9,02
,000

9
P.K. P–1 Y=47
0+73
0,02 4149
Pedraplen 9 0
0,00 2 9
E–41
1,25 H/1,00 V 0,02
Pedra do Navio P–2 1+
P.K.
Enseada do Engano P–100,029
Junta de P.K. 0+
 800,02
NOT dilatacion 9 36
A P P.K. 1+
P.K. 0+ –3 P–9 0,029
870,029 29
P–4 P.K. 1+
P–8
00

Junta


P.K. 0+940,02
9 P–5 P–6 P–7 P.K. 1+2
20,029
0+7

de Dilatacion
P.K. 1+010,029
P.K. 1+080,029 P.K. 1+150,029
al
cip

1+400
rin

5
0

lP

10
0+80

na
Ca


1+300

Er
0+900

Tc
1+200

pd
1+000

1+100

Er 

Punta do Engano

Fig. 7: Nóia Viaduct final layout (Units: m)

which allowed the rear support of the on the span pier and a rear support considering the location of the rear
MSS to be placed 16 m ahead of the over the cantilever, 63 m behind. support of the MSS at 63, 58,5 and
rear pier in all spans. 54 m from the front pier (Fig. 12).
The MSS was then designed 148 m
long, for 63 m or less between concret- These calculations were done consid-
Design Requirements for the MSS ing supports. This design configuration ering the reduction of the MSS length
of the MSS allowed it to reach 70 m and self weight, and the corresponding
The initial design of the MSS was done
span between piers (Figs. 9, 10 and 11). reactions.
considering that the construction joint
would be at 1/5th of the span, with Meanwhile, some of the calculations After a global cost analysis for pre-
14 m cantilever ahead of the pier, and had been made using 1/4th of the span stressing + concrete + MSS final cost,
the MSS should have a front support construction joints, instead of 1/5th, the client finally decided to use 1/5th of

398 Technical Report Structural Engineering International 3/2012

 11,00
0,50 1,50 3,50 3,50 1,50 0,50 11,00
3,50 1,50 0,50
walkway road lane road lane walkway 1,50 3,50
0,50 road lane walkway
walkway road lane

Pavement = 0,08 m
3,12% 3,10%

0,4
0
0,40
2,65

3,20
5,00

4,00

4,50
5,50
5,80

1,00 3,50 1,00

PMVE 5,80
BMVE 1,70

1,50

2 Piles ∅ 1,80 m

4,20

INITIAL DESIGN FINAL DESIGN

Fig. 8: Nóia Viaduct cross sections – initial (right) and final (left) (units: m)

148 000

63 000 71 000

Fig. 9: MSS 148 m long with 63 m between concreting supports (units: mm)

139 000

16 000 54 000 70 000

Fig. 10: MSS 139 m long with 54 m between supports (units: mm)

the span joints, and a 9 m shorter MSS
with 54 m between supports, which
became the cheapest global solution.
Relevance of the Construction Joint
Location
The global cost studies made for this
Viaduct brought very important con-
clusions concerning the interaction
between the concrete design and
the building construction equipment
design for large span viaducts.
One important conclusion is that the
location of the construction joint and
its impact on the final bridge cost
play a vital role, which is worth giv-
ing it much more relevance during the
design stage of the bridge.
The increase in weight of the MSS
steel girder was about 70 t by lowering
its span and total length 9 m, which
corresponded to about 300,000 USD.
The increase in active steel as a result
of this solution for the whole bridge
was about half that amount. It meant
that about 150,000 USD were saved
by shortening the span of the MSS
although spending a bit more on pre-
stressing the cables.
Movable Scaffolding Systems
for 80–90 m Span
Another important conclusion that
was demonstrated was that the tech-
nology and equipments needed to
build large spans of 70, 80 or 90 m in
one stage, using span-by-span–cast
in situ method, already exists.
Considering the same MSS previously
designed for Viaducto do Engano,
with the rear concreting support 63
m behind the pier, it was possible to
cast 60 m between concreting sup-
ports plus a cantilever 20 m ahead,

Structural Engineering International 3/2012 Technical Report 399


Fig. 11: Overall view of the Viaducto do Engano with the MSS at the last span
11 500
11 500 2500
16 000
16 000
1500
Fig. 12: Difference for 1/4th and 1/5th of the span joints (units: mm)
80,000
Fig. 13: Concreting 80 m span with the same MSS of Engano Viaduct (units: m)
making an 80 m concrete girder
(Fig. 13).
Comparing MSS and Form
Travellers: Pre-stressing
Requirements during the
Construction Stage
When building large spans with
form travellers, the concrete girder is
designed with multiple segments and
variable inertia increasing from the
piers to the span centre.
This construction method requires
joints every 4 or 5 m, with the corre-
400 Technical Report
58 500 14 000
56 000 14 000
70 000
54 000 17 500
52 500 17 500
70 000
60,000 20,000
Concreting
sponding pre-stressing cables and con-
struction joints, and the construction
rhythm is normally 4–5 m per week,
in two directions per pier and pair of
travellers. It means that 80 m spans, for
example, can be built in 8 weeks with a
pair of form travellers.
In that 70 m span viaduct, an average
cycle of 10 days per span was achieved,
meaning that even if the 80 m span
would require 2 weeks, the construc-
tion with MSS could take 25% of
the time needed by the pair of form
travellers.
The concrete girder is also designed for
carrying the dead load of the travellers
Structural Engineering International 3/2012
at the end of each segment, in successive
stages. Pre-stressing following this
method is highly expensive than when
the whole span is built in one stage
due to the number of joints, as spe-
cial pre-stressing cables and pre-stress
heads for the construction stages are
required.
The optimal design for the viaduct
should be to use just the pre-stressing
and concrete reinforcements necessary
for the dead load and service loads of
the viaduct once finished. With this
type of MSS, due to the weight of the
nose, the reactions over the previous
concrete cantilever become equivalent
to the weight of a traveller.
This reduction of loads on the canti-
levers plus the elimination of multiple
construction joints, corresponding
construction cables and pre-stress
heads makes the analysis of this solu-
tion almost obligatory for 80-–90 m
spans before deciding to build them
with travellers or MSS.
There are some limitations for the MSS
method, such as the number of spans,
the weight of the concrete girder, the
total length of the bridge, its width and
the radius of the horizontal layout of
the bridge spans, but the equipments
built so far can perform 300 kN/m of
slab weight, with 1000 m radius and
16 m width for 80 m span.
Conclusions
On the basis of the studies made on
long span bridges for very heavy 60 m
span viaducts and 70 m span road via-
ducts, it can now be stated that it is
possible to use MSS for spans of 80 m
and 90 m with the mechanical develop-
ment achieved so far.
It can be concluded from those stud-
ies that for such long spans it is very
important to arrive at a joint design
for the MSS and the bridge because
the optimal global cost can be a differ-
ent solution than the initial idea of the
bridge design engineers.
The “cast in situ” method with MSS
being one of the most economical for
concrete viaduct construction, the use
of MSS can be more popular and can
achieve even higher performances if
the bridge engineers’ community pro-
vides factual information on how far
and how often the technique can be
used.