October 4, 2019—Boucherville, Quebec, Canada—MAADI Group is proud to have our new deploy-ready product GuarDECKTMand our global company recognized in the distinguished Light Metal Age publication. Since 1943 the U.S.-based technical trade magazine has showcased the best of what the aluminum industry has to offer. The bi-monthly publication distributes worldwide to executives, general managers, plant managers, technicians, metallurgists, chemists, and engineers focused on fabrication, production, and operations in the area of light metals.
Its founder Roy Fellom, Jr., owner of Fellom Publishing, forecast an increase in the use of aluminum back when he first began the publication. Since then—due to its combination of light weight and high strength—aluminum has become a top choice for many to build customized weld-free structures, such as bike and pedestrian bridges and temporary or floating bridges.
Our article titled, “Deploy-Ready Aluminum Bridge Decking: Addressing the Challenges of Aging Infrastructure” appears in the August edition of Light Metal Age and focuses on a brand new product that our team of in-house engineers designed especially for our customers and partners in order to reduce the amount of construction time and increase the product’s lifespan. MAADI Group specializes in aluminum bridge decking that is unmatched for durability and lasts several decades. With this specific product our team envisioned a bridge that municipalities, developers, architects, construction companies, governments and other parties could assemble quickly, would be ultra-resilient, and also be within a project’s short- and long-term budgets.
For the Light Metal Age article we spoke to Scott Walbridge, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. Walbridge was at the forefront of discussions with MAADI Group CEO Alexandre de la Chevrotière about developing a weld-free vehicular bridge deck product. He and his research team were working at Waterloo at different stages of the development process to carry out structural analysis of prototype designs to confirm stress levels and weigh in on the concept as it evolved.
“I see very strong potential for this product to be used in retrofit applications,” Walbridge said when interviewed for the Light Metal Age. “The upside to this is that you can make the bridge lighter at the same time the aging deck is replaced, thanks to the strength and the material’s lightness.” Walbridge goes on to explain that, not only will the product be useful for replacing slowly aging decks, but it may also be used in emergency situations due to extreme events.
Other features of GuarDECK that we highlighted in our article are that it deploys in record time and cuts down on maintenance costs in the long run due to minimal upkeep. GuarDECK’s innovative design is also resilient and tailored to a range of applications and environments.
A key feature of our weld-free product and one that we were eager to share with the readers of Light Metal Age is that it relies on innovative Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC). This exciting technology cuts down on traffic interruptions and costly traffic control as a team can install a weld-free aluminum deck and open the bridge to traffic later that same day. The aluminum product’s lightweight system is especially good for structures tailored to pedestrians and 15-ton vehicles, road or movable bridges, civil security, temporary or military bridges, marine structures and construction platforms.
What’s around the corner for MAADI Group and GuarDECK will depend on the research findings that MAADI Group is managing in the coming months. The global aluminum company will work closely with the University of Waterloo’s structural lab to carry out specific tests to improve GuarDECK using precision equipment.
“Research is planned on the fatigue performance and thermal effects between the aluminum deck and main steel girders,” said Alexandre de la Chevrotière. “If the continued research on fatigue performance proves successful to ensure the greatest possible versatility of the product, then many more applications beyond bridges are possible.”
We’re pleased to have our brand new product featured in Light Metal Age, a technical trade magazine devoted to primary production, secondary production, and semi-fabrication of light metals, specifically aluminum, titanium, magnesium, beryllium, and their alloys.
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