When the historic, 350ft-long steel truss Checkered House Bridge was built in 1929 across the Winooski River in Richmond, Vermont, US, it replaced yet another historic bridge: an 1800s-era wooden covered bridge that was severely damaged in the Great Flood of 1927.
Over time, however, the massive steel structure had been restricted to increasingly lower load limits.
This eliminated a major and convenient option for commercial trucks to service the area just minutes from Burlington in Chittenden County, the most populated county in the state for nearly two decades.
Ten specially designed 18-in. stroke capacity hydraulic ram systems were placed on the top and bottom chords and at each abutment, and provided carefully monitored constant pressure to nudge the 65t north truss on Hilman rollers to its new location.
Movement had to be carefully orchestrated, and the team had to advance the support brackets for the jacks with every 12in of movement.