Nehemiah’s cost-saving, longest girder awarded by M’sia Book of Records

NEHEMIAH Towoong Bridgetech Sdn Bhd’s (NTB) 200-metric tonne BH Girder was today awarded the longest T-shaped pre-stressed concrete beam ‘BH Girder’ by the Malaysia Book of Records.

NTB’s record of the 63.11-meter BH Girder is for the category of fabricator, while its client, Ekovest Bhd’s record – using the girder as part of its construction – is for the Longest T-Shaped Pre-stressed Concrete Span of 67.5 metres, measured from centre to centre of piers, according to Nehemiah group’s executive director Tan Cheng Chong.

NTB is a partnership between the Nehemiah group and Towoong Engineering & Construction Korea. This Korean-Malaysian technology went through a full-scale static load test on Nov 21, 2018.

 It was able to withstand a point load of up to 200 metric tonnes – surpassing the ultimate design load of 100 tonnes – before showing signs of cracking.

“With the longer BH girders compared to the conventional concrete beams, the client can save up to 30% for their project cost and expedite the project, especially when they have to construct fewer piers for a one-km stretch of the flyover,” Tan explained.

The 63.11-meter girder was successfully launched between Pier 19 and Pier 20 at the Kerinchi Interchange, Section 1 of the Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway (SPE) which was formerly known as Phase 3 of the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE) Highway.

“As this bridge span is located directly above the Federal Highway – near Mid Valley Megamall (fronting Pullman Hotel and Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s building) – it poses extreme challenges during its construction,” Nehemiah pointed out in a statement.

Construction work is currently ongoing at the SPE – Duke Phase 3 Section 1 and 3 – which is due for completion by 1Q 2022.

Once completed, the expressway is expected to traverse north to south of Kuala Lumpur and will serve areas such as University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Wangsa Maju, Setiawangsa (Ampang), the Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia development corridor and Kerinchi.

“Earlier, another BH Girder measuring 59.6 meters was launched onto a double deck bridge structure at Section 3 of the Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway (SPE) on Nov 22 last year,” noted Tan.

“This was also a first in Malaysia because the girder was the longest ever launched on a double deck bridge developed by Ekovest.”

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Tan shared that the girder business has contributed to about 20% of the total group business turnover in 2020.

“We are looking forward to a better year in 2021 onwards as we eye for new projects,” he added. – April 6, 2021

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