The US$1.4 billion highway infrastructure project is under construction in the Ontario municipalities of Windsor, LaSalle and Tecumseh. The Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway will carry car and truck traffic from Hwy 401 in Canada to a new crossing across the Detroit River to I-75 in Michigan. The works will improve traffic flow at Canada’s premier trade gateway. The scale of the project’s community enhancement and environmental features are also said to be unprecedented for a highway in Ontario. The Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway consists of 11 tunnels of which seven will be constructed by PCR Contractors. Because of the length and width of the tunnels, the covers were designed to be poured in transverse strips, some as wide as 48m, with each pour consuming 800 to 1,000m³ of concrete subsequently placed in three pump trucks. For covers for each of the seven tunnels the firm is constructing, PCR Contractors is required to make 33 individual pours using an Allen Bridge Deck Finisher
To accomplish these extreme pour widths, PCR Contractors is said to have relied on AEC to provide them with a 49.37m long Allen Model 6048 Bridge Deck Finisher. Allen designed this machine using their standard 1.21m deep truss system and added a transition truss system to increase the mainframe of the machine to 1.67m tall, allowing the machine to span the Model 6048’s 49.37m length.
In conjunction with finishing these extremely wide slabs, PCR also has to apply curing materials to the slabs. To accomplish this, Allen provided their Model 4834 Motorised Work Bridge with a rolling work platform attached to it. This is said to have allowed the contractor to cover the slabs with curing materials with minimal manpower.
