2020

An Innovative Wooden Concrete Bridge has been Constructed in Latvia’s State Forests

On 28 October 2020, JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) celebrated its 21^st birthday. Highly valuing the importance of innovation and experience in sustainable forestry, on this very day a significant event took place in Kurzeme region – Nīca Municipality Construction Board commissioned the rebuilt Ječupe Bridge, which is a combined wood and concrete bridge.

It is an innovative type of bridge structure, where the load-bearing beams are made of wood whereas the board is made of concrete. Thanks to this solution, the weight of the bridge is several times smaller than that of an analogue concrete bridge. This type of bridge structure is used in Latvia’s state forests for the first time.

“Wooden – concrete bridges are a novelty in Latvia, therefore some of the solutions had to be adjusted in the course of the construction works. This was a challenge for all involved in the project. The necessary changes that had to be introduced to the construction design slightly delayed the progress of the construction works; however, the successful cooperation between the involved parties allowed us to complete the works by the set deadlines,” tells Indris Stulpāns, Executive Director LVM Forest Infrastructure.

Ječupe Bridge is 13 metres long and 4.8 metres wide, its load-bearing capacity is 60 tonnes. The construction works have a warranty of five years and the expected service life of the bridge is 50 years.