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DRILL INSERTER
What's this?
a) An ultra-fast lemon squeezer
b) A surgical instrument for ageing bridges
c) A hydraulic vice
Answer: a surgical instrument for ageing
bridges
Troubled bridges over water
Bridges in Quebec don't have an easy time of it, what
with the intense cold, blistering heat, freezing, thawing,
salt, sand and winds, not to mention all those heavy trucks
rolling over them! And it's those bridges more than 25
years old that suffer the most. Their concrete is cracking,
making it harder for them to stand up to all the stress.
What can be done?
The solution: a prosthesis
The drill-inserter makes it possible to strengthen steel-concrete
bridges, by drilling holes in the metal and concrete and
then inserting metal rods, which act like prostheses and
solidify the structure.
1) Drill a hole in the steel, and then in the concrete.
2) Insert a glass capsule containing adhesive.
3) Insert the metal rod; the capsule bursts and
the adhesive spreads between the rod and the concrete.
Allow the adhesive to set for 24 hours.
4) Secure the rod with a washer and bolt.
Day surgery
This operation would be much more time-consuming and less
accurate without the drill-inserter, since it would take
two different machines.
Another advantage is that the repair work is done from
underneath, without disrupting traffic! Drivers can thank
David Croteau, a civil engineering student at Université
Laval, who invented the drill-inserter as part of his
master's thesis.
Thanks!
The drill-inserter and the cross-section of a steel-concrete
bridge are on loan from the Department of Civil Engineering
at Université Laval.
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