ShibataFenderTeam delivers 174 tons of UHMW-PE sliding plates to protect new power lines in Baltimore, US

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, the second longest continuous truss bridge in the US, crosses the lower Patapsco River and the outer harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. In recent months, a new overhead power line system was built to run parallel to the bridge’s steel structure. The project involved the construction of five transmission towers and two dolphins in the water, crossing the 2-mile wide river.

Covering the concrete foundation of the towers and dolphins to protect them from potential water-traffic collisions, SFT designed and delivered 385 UHMW-PE Sliding Plates with most of these pieces being unique: customized sizes and different bolt layouts to fit onto each of the towers and dolphins concrete substructure.

The total tonnage of the supplied UHMW-PE amounts to 174 tons; a weight similar to the Lincoln Statue in Washington, DC, and being not the only massive figure in this project. The SFT in-house engineering team worked to a great amount of detail to deliver a solution that, when considered in total, sizes the equivalent of 6.5 NBA basketball courts.

Additionally, the manufacturing took place in Germany, and, to meet the client's corporate identity requirements all plates were produced in a special gray color, to offer consistency in the looks of the final structure.

A complex project, where customization was the standard and also a prestigious one; and a great example of our Holistic Approach that put not only components and manufacturing but also project conditions in the center and focuses on the uniqueness of each project to deliver the appropriate fender solution. (#0953).


SFT has extensive references in designing UHMW-PE panels for foundation projects, some of the most prestigious projects next to this one is the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco.

📷 See more pictures of these UHMW-PE Sliding Plates in the reference section of our website.