Looking gorgeous even in a typhoon

Challenge

Create a landmark bridge that can stand up to over a century of high winds and corrosive air.

Solution

Building the tower tops from Outokumpu Forta duplex stainless steel guarantees both high structural strength and long-lasting resistance to harsh environmental conditions.

Delivery

Steel grade: Outokumpu Forta
Product form: Quarto plate

Massive and monumental Stonecutters Bridge soars above Hong Kong’s skyline, providing eye-catching proof, if there was any doubt, of the city’s prowess as one of the world’s greatest centers of commerce.

Completed in December 2009, the bridge spans the Rambler Channel at the entrance to the Kwai Chung container terminals and is a linchpin in the new Route 8 strategic road link connecting western Kowloon to the international airport. Stonecutters measures 1.6 kilometers from end to end, but it’s the 1,018-meter cable-stayed span that makes record books as the third longest in the world. The cables are supported by two 293-meter mono towers, the top 118-meter of which is a composite structure – an inner concrete core wrapped in an outer layer of stainless steel.

According to Arup, the engineering company that designed and built the bridge, as much as 1,600 tonnes of structural stainless steel went into the bridge’s cable-stay anchorage zone.

 

Tough stuff

Arup quickly dismissed carbon steel for the bridge’s critical tower sections as it just wasn’t durable enough for the job. In addition to figuring out what material would be able to hold up the anchoring the cables under normal conditions, engineers had to consider typhoon-force winds and the possibility that a wayward ship could ram the base of the towers.

As the customer had called for a 120-year lifespan for the bridge, choosing the right material for the tower tops was a must.

The company opted to sheathe the towers in Outokumpu’s high-strength Forta duplex stainless steel quarto plate. With roughly double the strength of austenitic grades, duplex is a popular choice where strenght is a critical factor. Outokumpu duplex stainless steel tubes and plates were also used to form the cable anchoring boxes.

 

Beauty for the ages

Enduring the day-to-day conditions above the Rambler Channel can be a challenge in itself. Hong Kong’s hot, moist weather and sea air make the perfect atmosphere for corrosion, a process further intensified by pollution from the heavy ship traffic in the area.

As the customer had called for a 120-year lifespan for the bridge, choosing the right material for the tower tops was a must. If carbon steel were used, the periodic maintenance needed to recoat it would have been a major undertaking, especially considering the busy roadway below. Using corrosion-resistant Forta duplex stainless steel, however, makes the tower tops practically maintenance free, keeping the Stonecutters Bridge looking every bit as amazing from decade to decade as it did on its opening day.

Read more about the benefits of stainless steel in bridge building

Recommended products and insights

How to build a bridge that saves a fortune

Our expert Andy Backhouse explains how the right grade of stainless steel can create a structure that resists corrosion and minimizes maintenance needs over a typical bridge lifetime.

Stainless steel for bridges

Bridge projects are in a class of their own – just like Outokumpu stainless steel. Marked by harsh environments, heavy lifetime usage and high aesthetic expectations, bridges demand special considerations upfront if they’re to go the distance.

Forta

The Forta range contains duplex and other high strength stainless steels that enable thinner structures and weight reduction (measured in Rp0.2 > 400 MPa. PRE 16 to 43).

Quarto plate

For extra thickness or larger dimensions, Outokumpu hot-rolled plates – quarto or heavy plates – are the ideal solution. Because Outokumpu oversees production from melt to market, superior quality and on-time delivery are assured.

Recommended reading

Article

What if bridges were built to last?

Case pedestrian bridge

Spanning time and distance

Article

Home of Rioja wine toasts sustainable stainless steel footbridge

Case Pedestrian Bridge at TRUMPF Headquarters

Footbridge safely connects TRUMPF employees

Case Stockholm railway bridge

Upgrading bridge construction

Case Södertälje bridge

Designed to last

Case Story

The ultimate cliffhanger - The Gap

Article

Duplex in bridges and structures

Article

Sustainability is driving the adoption of duplex steel