NewsBreak! Articles > February 1, 2006

Taylor & Murphy Construction Co., Asheville, NC, received the Carolinas AGC Pinnacle Award for “Best Highway-Heavy Project” for its work as contractor on t he Liberty Pedestrian Bridge in Greenville, SC.

This striking pedestrian bridge overlooks the 28-foot high Reedy River Falls in downtown Greenville.

Its 12-foot wide reinforced concrete deck spans 345 feet. It is basically supported by a “wire rope”—an interlocking network of steel ribs, masts and cables. As a single-sided suspension bridge in a horizontal curve, it's the only bridge of its kind in the world.

The tricky cable erection process was compared to threading a rope uphill into the eye of needle. Taylor & Murphy used robotic equipment to meet extremely tight tolerances in building superstructure—5 millimeters in all 3 dimensions for each component.

Technology played a key role in this project, such as 3-D modeling and electronic plan submittals back and forth with a German engineering partner. With products never used in the US for this type project, two complete bridges were built—the first 100% on falsework. This project called for a special breed of construction managers, who could suspend disbelief and think way out of the box.

The result: a strong but lightweight structure that appears to almost float in mid-air. Completed on time and within budget, the Pinnacle judges called this a signature construction project, and indeed it's already being called the postcard of Greenville.

The Best Highway-Heavy Project award was presented to Taylor & Murphy at the Carolinas AGC Annual Convention at The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando, FL, January 27, 2005.

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