By: Tim Gregorski
Name: Crooked River Bridge
Location: Terrebonne, Ore.
Cost: $15.8 million
Completion date: Sept. 2000
Type: Concrete arch
Length: 538 ft.
Overview: Located adjacent to a classic Conde McCullock steel arch, the Crooked River Bridge, built using segmental construction, spans the Crooked River Gorge 300 ft above the river.
With an arch span of 410 ft, the bridge is being built in 28-x 43-ft segments.
Additionally, the arch supports a concrete box girder that is 79 ft wide and 5 ft, 6 in. deep and spans 53 ft between spandrel columns.
A public process to define the site, bridge character and terms for replacing the old bridge preceded the selection procedure.
Segmental construction of a concrete arch at a limited access, deep gorge site has no precedent in recent domestic practice, therefore, the bridge is known as the first cast-in-place segmental arch bridge in the U.S.
The arch was closed this past August and work is continuing on construction of the spandrel walls and deck.
T.Y. Lin International designed it and the general contractor is Kiewit Pacific Co. It is owned by the Oregon DOT.
Name: Sidney Lanier Bridge
Location: Brunswick, Ga.
Cost: $65.5 million
Completion date: June 2001*
Type: Cable-stayed
Length: 7,780 ft.
Overview: As a replacement for a lift-span structure that opened in 1956, the new Sidney Lanier Bridge acknowledges increased shipping access to the Port of Brunswick due to the size of the structure.
It is designed with a 1,250 cast-in-place concrete main span, with side spans of 625 ft and a vertical navigation clearance increased to 185 ft from 139 ft.
Supported by 176 stay cables, the main span is to be anchored into twin pylon rising 480 ft above the surface of the river.
Additionally, approach spans measuring 180 ft in length lead up to the cable-stayed bridge. The spans are comprised of precast concrete post-tensioned girder with conventional cast-in-place decks.
On the topside, vehicular traffic is to ride on a four-lane superstructure that’s designed to have an overall width just short of 80 ft.
After declaring the existing 43-year-old bridge a hazard to navigation, the U.S. Coast Guard is helping Georgia pay to replace and remove it.
*Completion was originally scheduled for the latter part of 2000 but was pushed back due to the collapse of a piece of construction equipment. A 53-x 70-ft platform serving as a form for casting concrete fell from a support tower in June. No workers were seriously injured.
Name: Leverett Circle Connector Bridge
Location: Boston Central Artery, Boston
Cost: $300 million
Completion date: Oct. 1999
Type: Steel box girder
Length: 830 ft
Overview: The Leverett Circle Connector Bridge, which is being built 100 ft west of the signature Charles River cable-stayed bridge, connects I-93 with Beantown’s Leverett Circle. The bridge’s three spans measure 225 ft, 380 ft and 225 ft long, respectively, and is to carry four lanes of traffic across the Charles River.
Unique in its design, the bridge’s 80-ft-wide steel girders are the largest in the U.S. The bridge, also known locally as the Storrow Drive Bridge, is being constructed under four separate contracts.
Name: 17th Street Bridge
Location: Broward County, Ft Lauderdale, Fla.
Cost: $62 million
Completion date: April 2000
Type: Mid-level bascule
Length: 1,908 ft
Overview: Designed to be Ft. Lauderdale’s "signature bridge," the 17th Street Bridge is being constructed along side the existing alignment. It measures 1,908 ft in length, while the total width of the main span checks in just short of 107 ft. It offers 55 vertical ft of clearance at the waterway when closed.
It consists of nine approach spans of precast segmental superstructure on C.I.P. piers and drilled shaft foundations, and a twinleaf bascule span of 242 ft. The bascule spans rest on Y-legged "carina" piers of post-tensioned, C.I.P. concrete, on drilled shaft/cofferdam foundations.
There are over 5,660,000 lb of rebar on the bridge, just over 19,000 ft of steel and aluminum railings, 86,650 cu yd of embankments and surcharges in addition to 37,533 sq ft of temporary and permanent Tensar MSE wall systems.
Traylor Brothers Inc. is the constructor, while Figg Engineers designed the concrete segmental approaches and E.C. Driver designed the bascule main span. The Florida DOT owns the bridge.
The approach structure is made up of twin bridges each a few inches over 53 ft wide.
It provides two 12-ft lanes, an 18-ft shoulder and an 8-ft sidewalk in both directions.
Name: Foster’s Bridge
Location: Tuscaloosa County, Ala.
Cost: $7.9 million
Completion date: N/A
Type: Segmental I-Girder
Length: 1,470 ft
Overview: The Foster’s Bridge across the Black Warrior River incorporates eight 98-ft simple spans and one precast 680-ft three-span continuous post-tensioned segmental concrete unit.
The precast concrete three-span continuous unit was designed by Janssen and Spaan Engineering as part of a value engineering proposal accepted by the Alabama DOT. This is the first time this segmental I-Girder design has been used on an Alabama DOT project.
According to the contractor, Scott Bridge Co., the bridge was necessary because the existing bridge was functionally obsolete and structurally deficient.
Name: Sailboat Bridge Project
Location: Grove, Okla.
Cost: $20 million
Completion date: May 2001
Type: Precast segmental
Length: 3,045 ft
Overview: According to the contractor, Traylor Brothers, construction on the precast segmental bridge, located across Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees, is a replacement of the existing bridge built in 1937.
Figg Engineering Group designed the twin 3,045-ft structures with typical spans of 122 ft, matching the existing bridge pier spacing, for erection in the span-by-span method.
Also of note, one of the bridges is planned to utilize 16 of the original bridge piers to reduce foundation costs in the 70-ft water.
Vertical navigational clearance is 52 ft, opening the northern end of the lake to nautical crafts. The bridge will still be the home of US 59.
It is being built in conjunction with the Oklahoma DOT. Figg also is responsible for shop drawing review and on-site inspection.
Name: Chowan River Bridge
Location: Edenton, N.C.
Cost: $40 Million
Completion date: July 2000
Type: Single (multi-lane) high-rise structure
Length: 9,500
Overview: Constructed 100 ft south of the existing bridge, the Chowan River Bridge project involves the replacement of the US 17 bridge crossing. A 230-ft main span provides a solution to the desired navigational clearance, 65 ft, as well as maintaining operation of the swing span and one channel during construction.
It was designed utilizing lightweight decks on normal weight AASHTO beams and is being constructed with lightweight concrete decks containing Stalite lightweight aggregate.
The roadway width will be 711/2 ft and will consist of a four-lane divided highway with a median barrier.
This bridge is N.C. Department of Transportation’s first bridge structure to make use of 30-in. piles.
Name: To be determined
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Cost: $200 million
Completion date: 2003
Type: Either concrete box girder or cable-stayed
Length: N/A
Overview: A new high-level bridge is to span the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio, replacing a 45-year-old bascule structure currently carrying I-280 traffic over the river on Toledo’s East Side.
Scheduled to open in 2003, the new bridge will have a minimum 120-ft vertical clearance over the river.
Located adjacent to the old bridge, the new bridge is to replace one of only three remaining moveable bridges on the U.S. interstate system. After completion of the new bridge, the old bridge is to be used as a local traffic crossing.
Public feedback on the shape colors and textures for the bridge elements will be taken into consideration when the bridge is being designed.
About The Author: Gregorski is Technology Editor for Roads & Bridges