The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) is reconstructing a few state bridges by using precast foundation elements and by constructing the new bridge decks on large supports adjacent to the current bridges. When the new bridge decks are finished this fall, the first structure (East Shore Expressway Bridge) and the road underneath will be temporarily closed. Then, in one 80-hour extended weekend closure, RIDOT will remove the old bridge and install the new one. The process will be repeated afterwards for the second structure, the McCormick Quarry Bridge.
Using accelerated bridge construction methods, RIDOT will dramatically shorten the overall construction timeframe, completing the bridge one year earlier than would be possible using conventional construction methods. Additionally, if RIDOT had not taken this approach, the travelling public would have been impacted over the course of a year with each ramp only opened at half capacity.
"Rhode Island has the worst bridges in the country, and with a great sense of urgency we are exploring all options, including innovative accelerated bridge construction methods like we're using on this project," RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said in a release. "With careful and diligent oversight through our new project management approach, we are committed to delivering the project on time, on budget and with the highest quality."
These two bridges, originally built back in 1959, are being replaced through a $16.7 million project with a $663,000 budget contingency. The East Shore Expressway Bridge, which carries traffic from I-195 East to Route 114 South, carries 20,600 vehicles per day. The McCormick Quarry Bridge services 17,000 vehicles per day making the return trip from Route 114 North to I-195 West.
The East Shore Expressway Bridge is classified as functionally obsolete, with significant concrete cracking that limits its ability to service large vehicles, resulting in the bridge's 17-ton weight limit. The supports on the McCormick Quarry Bridge are severely deteriorated, and are supplemented with large wooden timbers to carry the bridge's structural load.
Pre-construction activities to relocate utilities and minor drainage work began last fall, with full construction resuming last month. Ongoing operations include excavation of the soil behind the bridge's current supporting columns to make room for the construction of foundations for the new bridges. RIDOT also is making use of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls for the bridge's abutments, which utilize layers of crushed stone and reinforcing fabric to quickly assemble the these foundation elements.
In the coming weeks, motorists will see construction begin on the supporting structures for the new bridge decks, followed shortly by the delivery of large steel beams for the decks. Work will progress through the summer in completing the decks to the point where they can be installed using self-propelled modular transporters – multi-wheel dollies capable of lifting the bridge decks off their temporary supports, driving them toward the bridge's foundations and setting them into place.
