Name: John Lawson Bridge Location: Neuse River, New Bern, Craven County, N.C. Cost: $119.5 million Completion date: Sept. 1999 Type: Painted steel and pre-stressed, pre-cast concrete girders Length: Approximately 8,500 ft over the river Overview: Replacement was necessary due to traffic congestion in downtown New Bern when the swing span opened for river traffic. Replacement of the aging, over-capacity, two-lane, swing-span steel structure, allowed elimination of highway and river traffic conflicts and improved safety by allowing freer passage of emergency vehicles. The new river crossing includes a tri-level interchange connecting U.S. 70, U.S. 17 and N.C. 55, the Trent River and the Neuse River totaling over 2.2 million sq ft of bridge deck.
Name: Maysville Bridge Location: Ohio River between Maysville, Ky. and Aberdeen, Ohio Cost: Approximately $30 million Completion date: 2000 Type: Cable-stayed bridge Length: 2,420 ft Overview: Construction of the cable-stayed bridge is now under way between Maysville, Ky. and Aberdeen, Ohio. The newly constructed connecting route (KY 3071) from the AA Highway to existing KY 8 has been completed and is now open to the public. This route will become U.S. 68/62 when the new bridge is completed, linking the AA Highway to U.S. 52 in Ohio. The Maysville bridge will have towers that will reach upwards of 304 ft above the river in addition to two 12-ft lanes and two 12-ft shoulders. It will be located at mile point 411.3 on the Ohio River, approximately three miles down stream from the existing bridge.
Name: Lower Buffalo Bridge Location: Kanawha River, Putnam County, W. Va. Cost: $21.7 million Completion date: Oct. 12, 1998 Type: Cantilever Length: 1,845 ft Overview: The Lower Buffalo Bridge contains two steel box girder sections that weigh 475 tons and measure 435-ft long, 13.5-ft deep and 10-ft wide. The West Virginia Division of Highway’s current innovation in steel design accomplished in 30 months what normally takes seven years. The bridge connects U.S. 35 to WV 62, providing access to the new Toyota plant, which is nearing completion.
Name: Charles River Crossing-Mainline Bridge Location: I-93 Central Artery Project, Boston Cost: Part of the $7.7 billion Central Artery Project Completion date: 2001 Type: Signature cable-stayed structure Length: 1,407 ft Overview: Located over the Charles River, the Charles River Crossing-Mainline Bridge, will be a 10-lane structure carrying four lanes of I-93 traffic in each direction and two additional lanes on its eastern side serving downtown Boston and Sumner Tunnel traffic to I-93 northbound. The bridge will be a five-span, 1,407-ft long, continuous cable-stayed structure with a main span of 745 ft. The cable arrangement and the sculptured inverted Y towers are among the features of this bridge. Over the vertical section of the inverted Y, an internal steel cable anchor box, acting composite with the concrete tower walls, will be used to facilitate connection of the cables to the tower. The superstructure is of a hybrid design where the main span is of steel composite design and the back spans are of multi-cell concrete box girder construction. Upon completion, the bridge will be the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge in the world and the first hybrid cable-stayed bridge in the U.S., according to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
Name: East Fork White River Bridge Location: Columbus, Ind. Cost: $7 million Completion date: Spring 1999 Type: Composite concrete and post-tensioned cable-stayed bridge Length: 465 ft Overview: The four-lane East Fork White River Cable-Stayed Bridge spans the East Fork of the White River, connecting SR 46 with Second Street in downtown Columbus, Ind. The superstructure is fully suspended from a single quadripod pylon by two inclined planes of stays. The four steel pylon legs are a continuation of the inclined drilled caissons, which are socketed into the shale below the river bed. An intricate part of the bridge is the structural steel pylon head, which contains the anchors for all 40 stays. The pylon head consists of an extension of the pylon legs with slight kink to align the top portion parallel with the planes of the stays. A sector of the pylon legs is then removed to accommodate the stay anchor box. The two halves of the pylon head are connected at the top and bottom of the anchor boxes by two compression struts. These struts result in a rigid frame, which provides the lateral stability to the quadripod configuration. The deck is constructed with a cast in-place concrete with both transverse and longitudinal post-tensioning. The deck section spans between transverse steel beams spaced at 21-ft 9-in. and it provides the necessary longitudinal bending stiffness and acts as the longitudinal frame for the superstructure. In the transverse direction, the concrete deck acts compositely with the steel beams and it is supported by parallel strand stay cables anchored at the transverse beams. It supports a clear roadway of 51 ft, which is designed to accommodate four lanes of traffic.
Name: Golden Gate Bridge Location: San Francisco Cost: Estimated at $217.6 million Completion date: 2004 Type: Suspension Length: 4,200 ft Overview: A seismic retrofit project, the Golden Gate Bridge remains vulnerable to earthquakes and must be retrofit to withstand a nearby earthquake up to magnitude 8.3 on the Richter scale. The seismic retrofit construction project has been separated into three phases, which can be constructed concurrently over a five-year period. The retrofit measures have been designed to allow the bridge to be opened to emergency vehicles immediately following a major nearby earthquake while it would be open to limited vehicular access within a few days and fully operational within one month of a quake. The retrofit measures also allow for smooth traffic flow during retrofit construction and maintaining the bridge’s aesthetics. Seismic retrofitting for the bridge includes both tuning the structures, to reduce violent actions caused by the ground motions of an earthquake and strengthening the structures to reduce damage caused by these actions. These retrofitting measures will be applied to the structural steel of the main bridge and its approach viaducts, as well as to the reinforced concrete piers, pylons and anchorage housings. The connection of the main cable saddles to the tops of the towers will be reinforced. The steel tower shafts and the struts that connect them will be strengthened. Connection between the towers and the roadway trusses will be reinforced and dampers installed. The reinforced concrete piers will be strengthened while the pylons at the ends of the bridge will be strengthened and hold-downs within them will be extended down to bedrock level. Additional strengthening of connections throughout the bridge also is required. The structural steel approach viaducts and the Fort Point arch will be retrofitted with foundation strengthening, member strengthening and replacement, installation of seismic motion isolators and dampers and linking of the separate spans so that they will move together during an earthquake. The reinforced concrete anchorage housing and pylons will be retrofitted by installing new internal framing and shear walls, strengthening the connections between the existing walls, floor and roof diaphragms, which reinforce the foundations.
Name: James River Bridge Location: Richmond, Va. Cost: $38.6 million Completion date: Early 2001 Type: Steel plate girder bridge Length: 4,200 ft. Overview: The I-95 James River Bridge and adjacent Broad Street ramps are having their driving decks replaced with preconstructed span sections. The on-site construction will take place overnight, allowing for normal traffic flow on I-95—three lanes open in each direction—during the peak traffic times. This was the preferred method recommended by community advisory groups because it offers the least amount of inconvenience to the traveling public, while it also takes the least amount of time to be completed.
Name: Court Street Bridge Location: Woonsocket, R.I. Cost: $6.0 million Completion date: Fall 1999 Type: n/a Length: 510 ft Overview: According to the Rhode Island DOT, the purpose of the project is to remove the existing bridge that was built in 1895 and construct an entirely new one. The work includes new granite curbing, concrete sidewalks, signage, gas and water main upgrades, as well as traffic signal improvements at the streets approaching the bridge.
Name: Damen Avenue Arch Location: Chicago River, Chicago Cost: $12.6 million Completion date: 1999 Type: Steel arch bridge Length: 94 m Overview: Three major innovations were incorporated into the design in order to advance this state-of-the-art steel arch bridge and satisfy the project goals: the ribs, 25 mm thick, are not connected by lateral bracing; the ribs are fabricated from large diameter structural steel pipe; and the ribs are filled with concrete at the base to achieve composite action. These innovations offered the following benefits: elimination of rib lateral bracing; more than 500reduction in rib wind loading; excellent local stability allowing for the elimination of internal stiffeners; and superior aesthetics as compared with conventional steel arch bridges. The elimination of lateral bracing between the ribs was one of the primary aesthetic goals identified during the concept of development. The city of Chicago also has future plans to construct a riverfront walkway and bicycle path that will extend along the river and under the new bridge. A wetlands area, nature trail and boat launch are planned to be constructed adjacent to the bridge site as part of the riverfront improvements.
Name: Owensboro Bridge Location: Owensboro, Ky. Cost: $55.5 million Completion date: Fall 2001 Type: Cable-stayed bridge Length: 4,505 ft Overview: One of the longest cable-stayed spans over an inland waterway system, the Parsons-Brinckerhoff-designed Owensboro Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Ohio River between Owensboro, Ky., and Rockport, Ind. Presently, the embankment with relief bridge approach on the Kentucky side and the main tower foundations are complete and construction has started on the foundations of the approach piers of the main crossing. The steel spans of the Kentucky and Indiana approaches are continuous with the cable-stayed spans. A 38-mm latex modified concrete overlay is provided only in the areas of the cable-stayed spans.
Name: Garcon Point Bridge Location: Pensacola, Fla. Cost: $95 million Completion date: April 1999 Type: Precast concrete segmental bridge Length: 3.5 miles, plus 7.5 miles of roadway construction Overview: The Garcon Point Bridge is being constructed by Oderbrecht-Metric, a joint venture for the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority. The local community wanted a major bridge so they did it themselves, starting out with no money and the concept of a political partnership with the bond community. Seven 140-ft spans were completed in seven days for a total of 980 ft of completed bridge in one week, a world record for span-by-span bridge construction.
Name: Queensboro Bridge Location: New York City Cost: $162 million for Contract #5 Completion date: Contract #5 is to be completed in Aug. 1999. Estimated year of completion on entire project is 2001 Type: Suspension, cantilever Length: 7,449 ft Span: 1,182 ft Overview: The current project, Contract #5, is rehabilitating the lower outer roadways and it is to be completed in Aug. 1999 at a cost of $162 million. In the planning and design stage, which will take place March 2000 through Sept. 2001, the cleaning and painting main span upper trusses will occur at an estimated cost of $40 million. Between April 1981 and May 1996, a number of construction projects were completed on the bridge at a cost of $255 million. The past projects included: repairing the lower roadways; reconstructing two ramps in lower Queens; reconstructing north and south upper roadways; reconstructing ramps C/D and Queens approaches A/B; rehabbing pier tops and truss lower chords; and rehabbing Queens approach trusses and lower inner roadway.
Name: Point Street Bridge Location: Providence, R.I. Cost: $5.1 million Completion date: Nov. 1998 Overview: This reconstruction project includes replacing the bridge spans with new rolled steel beams and a new reinforced concrete deck and sidewalks. The project will include replacement of all pedestrian rails and a traffic rail will be installed to protect the bridge truss from vehicular impact. The existing drum girder house will be refurbished and the navigation light system will be upgraded.
Name: San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Location: Between Oakland and Yerba Buena Island Cost: $1.5 billion Completion date: 2004 Type: Single-towered self-anchored suspension bridge Length: 2.2 miles Overview: Scheduled to start construction in 2000, the east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge between Oakland and Yerba Buena Island will meet the requirements set for earthquake safety. Alignment of the new bridge has been approved just to the north of the existing bridge. It is important to note that the new span has only been brought to the 303design stage, which means that the bulk of the design work (or 70 remains to be done. In this final design phase, consultants will refine the look of the causeway portion of the span, further develop the transition between the new bridge and the existing double-decked tunnels at Yerba Buena Island and explore options for enhancing the touchdown on the Oakland side.
Name: Unnamed Location: Croatan Sound in Dare County, N.C. Cost: $101.1 million Completion date: Aug. 2001 Type: Concrete girder bridge Length: 27,580 ft Overview: A new bridge (at press time an official name for the bridge hadn’t been selected although it has been referred to as the Manteo Bypass) to facilitate evacuation of North Carolina’s northern outer banks in the event of a hurricane, nor’easters or other natural catastrophes. The existing bridge between the mainland and Roanoke Island is two lanes and traffic is regularly disrupted by side friction from city streets and businesses. The new bridge will bypass the city of Manteo connecting directly with the bridges over the Roanoke Sound and Muddy Channel.
Name: Storrow Drive Connector Location: Central Artery Project, Boston Cost: Part of the $7.7 billion Central Artery Project Completion date: n/a Type: Three-span continuous variable depth steel spline girder with cantilever floor beams Length: 830 ft Overview: One of the largest steel box girders in North America, the Storrow Drive Connector carries two lanes of traffic in each direction for the Storrow Drive/Leverett Circle to I-93 link. The bridge is a three-span steel composite box girder measuring 830 ft in total length with a main span of 380 ft. The 76-ft wide roadway is carried by a single trapezoidal steel box girder, measuring 34 ft, 6 in. out-to-out of top flanges and 18 ft deep at the main piers. The bridge’s size, weight and the resulting constructability considerations, the highly varied rock properties and the liquefaction potential of some of the overlaying soil strata were among key design issues. The Storrow Drive Bridge, a single spline girder with cantilevers in composite steel, will span the Charles River just west of the cable-stayed bridge and connect to the interchange north of the Charles River.
Name: Williamsburg Bridge Location: New York City Cost: $130 million for Contract #6. Total cost for entire rehab project: $798 million Completion date: Completion of current rehab project, Contract #6, is Feb. 2000, entire project will be completed in 2005 Type: Suspension Length: 7,308 ft Span: 1,600 ft Overview: The on-going construction project, Contract #6 at a cost of $130 million, will be completed Feb. 2000 and includes: replacing BMT approach structure; rehabbing BMT structure on the main bridge; replacing transit signal, communications and traction power systems; and improving the Brooklyn Plaza geometry. In the planning and design stage, which will conclude the bridge’s rehab in 2005 at an estimated additional cost of $283 million, the NYCDOT will replace the north approach roadways; replace the main span north roadway decks; install north side bike path and permanent Manhattan approach pedestrian/bike path; rehab tower bearings; rehab travelers; and conclude with painting and architectural work. Between August 1981 and July 1998, a number of projects were completed on the bridge at a cost of $385 million including replacing the main span south roadways deck; replacing the south approach roadways; installing south pedestrian walkway and interim Manhattan approach roadways; repairing flag conditions on north roadways; rehabbing main cables and installing new suspenders; painting towers and main spans; demolishing DOH and DOS buildings; and repairing the Brooklyn Tower foundation to replace bulkhead. --
