Applications
Bridges Projects
Lightweight Concrete
for Bridge Applications.
Bridge owners and engineers face increasing pressure to repair, rehabilitate, and replace aging infrastructure while minimizing traffic disruption, construction time, and long-term maintenance costs. Structural lightweight concrete (SLC) produced with Stalite expanded slate aggregate delivers high compressive strength, low absorption, and proven durability—helping bridge projects achieve longer spans, reduced dead load, and greater design efficiency without sacrificing structural performance.
Bridge Projects Using
Lightweight Concrete
Lightweight Concrete
Across the United States, bridge infrastructure continues to age under growing traffic volumes and environmental exposure. Thousands of bridges require rehabilitation or replacement, often within tight work zones, over constrained foundations, and under aggressive schedules. Conventional normal-weight concrete solutions can increase dead load, limit span efficiency, and drive higher foundation and substructure costs.
Structural lightweight concrete manufactured with Stalite aggregate offers a proven alternative. By reducing concrete density by 15–40% compared to normal-weight concrete, SLC significantly lowers dead load on girders, bearings, piers, and foundations. This reduction enables engineers to extend span lengths, reuse existing substructures, and avoid costly foundation modifications—accelerating project delivery while controlling overall project cost.
These weight reductions do not come at the expense of strength or durability. Stalite SLC routinely achieves compressive strengths exceeding 5,000 psi, with high-strength mixes reaching 9,000–10,000 psi for prestressed and post-tensioned bridge applications. Low absorption characteristics and internal curing improve hydration, limit shrinkage, and enhance long-term durability in demanding bridge environments.
For both cast-in-place and precast bridge construction, structural lightweight concrete improves constructability, simplifies logistics, reduces transportation loads, and allows larger elements to be handled with standard equipment. The result is faster construction, fewer joints, reduced maintenance demands, and longer service life—key advantages as infrastructure funding increasingly prioritizes performance-based solutions.
Key Benefits
Common Uses
- Bridge decks (cast-in-place or precast)
- Prestressed or post-tensioned girders
- Full-depth deck panels and bulb-tee sections
- Precast slabs, pier caps, and substructure elements
- Segmental bridge components
- Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) systems
- Bridge widening and rehabilitation projects requiring reuse of existing substructures
- Bridges in seismic regions requiring reduced mass and improved structural performance
Related Case Studies
Record-setting 223-ft prestressed girder built with lightweight aggregate for the I-5 Puyallup River Bridge in Tacoma, WA.
Long-span fjord crossing in Norway constructed using structural lightweight concrete to reduce dead load and optimize cantilever bridge performance.
Lightweight concrete grid deck system used in the replacement of the I-895 bridge superstructure over the Patapsco River Flats in Baltimore.
Segmental box girder bridge crossing California’s Carquinez Strait built with lightweight structural concrete to reduce seismic forces.
5.2-mile Outer Banks bridge built with lightweight concrete to reduce dead load and deliver long-term coastal durability.
Precast lightweight concrete redecking reduced dead load and improved durability on this major Potomac River crossing.
Norwegian long-span bridge constructed with pumpable high performance lightweight concrete for structural efficiency.
Major U.S. 17 river crossing in New Bern, NC utilizing structural lightweight concrete to reduce dead load and optimize long-span bridge performance.
Long-span Route 33 bridge over the Mattaponi River built with structural lightweight aggregate high performance concrete girders.
Emergency replacement of the I-5 Skagit River Bridge in Washington using lightweight structural concrete to reduce girder weight and meet transportation limits.
Long-span Norwegian concrete cantilever bridge constructed with lightweight concrete for improved structural efficiency and reduced dead load.
Lightweight aggregate concrete deck used in the rehabilitation of the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge, Virginia.
Capabilities Brochure