Replacing Bridges

By: Roads & Bridges

The Southwest Virginia Memorial Bridge is located on Rte. 11 in Pulaski County and crosses over the New River and the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks, and serves as a vital link between the city of Radford and Fairlawn.

After being in existence for 52 years, the Virginia Department of Transportation began work to replace the single structure with two lanes that handled the northbound and southbound vehicular traffic. A new bridge was being erected with two separate structures, each containing three lanes, and both including pedestrian sidewalks and bike lanes.

Fairfield Skanska, Fishersville, Va., was contracted to replace the bridge. To demolish the old structure, Fairfield Skanska needed a quick and cost-effective way to remove the 1,500-ft-long bridge deck.

Fairfield Skanska utilized a Hitachi EX330 to remove the existing bridge deck. The bridge deck was saw cut into 650 manageable slabs and then removed by using a Kenco Slab Crab bucket. The slabs were removed cleanly and then loaded directly onto a waiting truck. Fairfield Skanska was able to cut their production time in half by using the Slab Crab bucket.