Exact Scope 

Real-time concrete maturity and temperature monitoring for critical bridge deck pours, ensuring accelerated, safe construction schedule compliance through optimized match curing processes. The scope specifically includes temperature monitoring for critical concrete elements in the bridge structure, maturity monitoring to accurately predict strength for critical path activities, and pre-pour monitoring ambient conditions, although the primary focus became match curing concrete samples of the bridge deck stitch pours. 

Project Objectives, Requirements & Challenges 

Constructing a new, modern, four-lane cable-stayed bridge featuring the tallest bridge tower in British Columbia to replace an almost 90-year-old structure in a highly sensitive, busy corridor presented a unique set of challenges and stringent requirements: 

• Accelerated Deck Pour Schedule: EXACT enabled the Project to cure their cylinders with greater precision and speed. This required match curing of bridge deck concrete throughout to gain reliable, real-time strength data, which is essential to determine when the decks could be stressed or forms stripped without delay. 

• Outdoor Temperature Challenges: Pouring bridge decks in a high-exposure environment like the Fraser River during the winter requires precise control and monitoring to prevent thermal cracking and ensure consistent curing that meets design strength regardless of ambient temperature swings. 

• Strength Verification & Cost Control: The contractor recognized that, “old-school” field cylinder cures were too conservative, and would result in unnecessary downtime and cost incurred waiting for strength requirements. A key requirement was to use a reliable match curing system to accurately cure concrete samples used for decision-making, to safely accelerate the construction cycle.  

• Load and Structural Integrity: Ensuring the structural integrity of the massive and complex bridge decks is non-negotiable before moving to the next phase of construction. This required an in-depth, trustworthy understanding of the concrete’s early-age strength development, particularly the requirement for critical structural activities. 

Meeting the Challenge: EXACT Offerings 

EXACT Technology provided an efficient, reliable solution to meet the critical requirements for high-performance concrete curing on the bridge deck pours, which directly led to the replacement of the contractor’s previous temperature monitoring system and cylinder curing methods for early-age strength recognition.  

At the core of the solution was the use of EXACT Match Cure technology to move away from compressive strength results based on historical curing methods replaced with data-driven construction cycle optimization. 

The contractor reached out to EXACT specifically for the EXACT Match Curing chamber and associated monitoring sensors to collect real-time temperature and maturity data from the concrete bridge deck elements.  

The EXACT Match curing was the cornerstone, enabling the team to perform match curing of field cylinders against the actual in-situ temperature profile of the bridge decks. This precisely determined the exact moment required deck strength was achieved, while also identifying if  “higher temperature” samples were resultant of over estimation of the actual in-situ strengths. 

Project Outcomes 

The project experienced a successful deployment of the EXACT Monitor and Match which resulted in: 

• Schedule Optimization: Safe, accelerated construction by using maturity data to confidently move away from time-based cure requirements for strength determination. 

• Quality Assurance: Achieved accurate, in-situ strength verification for deck pours, validating the structural integrity, particularly critical for high-exposure winter construction. 

• Confidence Building: The success resulted in the complete replacement of the previous temperature monitoring provider, validating the equipment, software, and service level provided by EXACT Technology. 

By deploying EXACT xMatch & xMonitor, Fraser Crossing Partners gained an unprecedented level of control and insight into their concrete’s performance. The ability to match cure field cylinders to the actual thermal history of the massive bridge decks allowed the project team to safely and confidently verify strength achievement faster than their previous methods allowed. This data-driven approach directly supported the construction schedule, mitigating the high-stakes challenges of winter pouring and the complexity of building B.C.’s tallest bridge. The resulting satisfaction with the equipment and level of service made EXACT Technology the preferred partner for critical concrete monitoring on this landmark infrastructure project, ensuring a safer, more efficient path to the opening at the end of 2027.