Originally construction in 1972, this bridge was structurally deficient. The 600-foot existing bridge had side-mounted metal bridge railing with over-the-side drainage and sliding steel plate expansion joints which were leaking onto the abutments. The existing deck slab was in poor condition with numerous patches throughout and severe deterioration along the fascias and the exterior steel beams were heavily rusted.
LJB worked with the Montgomery County Engineer’s Office on a solution that improved the safety of the bridge and extended the life of the structure. Instead of completely replacing the bridge, which would have cost more than $5 million and would have taken 18 months to complete, LJB proposed rehabilitating the bridge. This approach reduced both the construction cost and shortened the construction schedule by more than half. Shortening the project schedule was important to the county because this project coincided with a city-led roadway improvement project adjacent to the bridge. By coordinating these two projects, residents and businesses along the river experienced only minimal traffic disruptions.
Rehabilitation of the structure consisted of removing and reconstructing the existing bridge deck, abutment backwalls and approach slabs, installing new strip seal expansion joints, replacing the existing bearings with new laminated elastomeric bearings pads, retrofitting the existing beam cover plates and painting all structural steel.
