There’s no room for error when it comes to highway bridge construction. Top-quality, high-strength materials and artistry are essential, along with total teamwork with suppliers and a demanding construction schedule that needs following.

Powerful pumps customarily place concrete on bridges. A Bidwell machine levels and finishes the concrete to the correct depth and contour as it crisscrosses the deck and moves forward. Most deck “pours” occur late at night or early in the morning when wind conditions and temperatures are favorable and less likely to cause evaporation on the concrete surface.

Kuhlman Corporation provides paving contractors in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan—such as longtime customers E.S. Wagner Co. and Mosser Construction, Inc.—with extensive expertise in high-performance concrete specially formulated for highway bridge applications.

Exacting micro silica mixes are necessary, which are challenging to work with. Air content, water-cement ratio, and slump requirements for consistent high-performance concrete are difficult. To make sure these demands are satisfied, Kuhlman tests its concrete daily in the company’s in-house lab.

Kuhlman Corp. is the area’s only Ready Mixed concrete supplier using central-mix plants to produce all its concrete. According to Todd Audet, Testing Engineer for District Two, Ohio Department of Transportation, “Central-mix concrete plants truly make a difference when it comes to consistent loads of concrete. Good communication between ODOT, the contractor, and the concrete supplier is also key to a smooth-running project.”

“Of all the projects we’ve built with high-performance concrete, we’ve had the best results with Kuhlman concrete,” declares Doug Shealy, Vice President of Mosser Construction’s Heavy Highway Division.

“Kuhlman was excellent to work with last year when we rebuilt the City Park Avenue Bridge over Swan Creek for the City of Toledo and State of Ohio. Drivers were always on time, the pace of the pour was steady, and the concrete consistency was superb.”

Shawn Gleckler, superintendent for the E.S. Wagner Co., agrees. Kuhlman Corp. has been working with E.S. Wagner to rebuild four large railroad overpasses on State Route 795.

“Preparation is critical, and this is an area where Kuhlman excels. We scheduled four nighttime pours, and everything went like clockwork. I wish all our jobs went so well.”