Simpson Bay Causeway – Bridge at St. Maarten

In the open position the center of the bridge is supported by its slewing ring, the ends of the bridge are suspended above the water. In this position the ends are sensitive for wind induced vibrations. Undamped the oscillations at the ends could  surpass the clearance needed to turn the bridge into its closed position. To reduce the oscillations of the bridge end to an acceptable level four vertical tuned mass damper, each with a moving mass of 3200 kg, were installed in the corners of the bridge below the deck. These dampers add damping to both the first vertical bending mode and the first torsional bending mode.

The dampers were calculated, designed, en manufactured by Flow Engineering. The installation of the dampers was done in the Netherlands by the bridge manufacturer Hollandia after which the bridge was shipped to it final location at the Simpson bay –  St. Maarten.