Walsh Construction Company was awarded a $5.6 million contract to replace twin three-span bridges carrying eastbound and westbound Interstate 70 over State Road 121 / New Paris Pike in Wayne County.
Walsh used method known as Slide-In Bridge Construction to rebuild the two structures. Construction started in April 2017 and all work is expected to be complete before June 2018.
What to expect
The second bridge slide was finished ahead of schedule and opened to traffic on October 22, 2017. The slide was expected to take 13 days but crews were able to complete the bridge slide in just 8 days.
State Road 121 (New Paris Pike) will be closed for up to one week below I-70 as the old structure is demolished and the new bridge deck is slid into place. During the closure, a signed detour will direct highway traffic south to U.S. 40 via U.S. 27 and Ohio Route 320 (Washington Street in New Paris, OH).
How Slide-In Bridge Construction Works
The new bridge deck will be built on temporary supports adjacent to the existing bridge. After the new bridge is built, that direction of traffic will be reduced to one lane and temporarily shifted across the median to share the other side of the interstate with the opposing direction of traffic separated by concrete barriers. The existing bridge will be demolished and the new bridge will slide laterally into place. The approaches to the new bridge will be rebuilt, and traffic will be returned to its normal configuration. This sequencing will occur twice, once for each bridge and direction of traffic.
Visit the project photo gallery to see different stages of construction and bridge slide.
Benefits of Slide-In Bridge Construction
Slide-In Bridge Construction is intended to provide innovative solutions to the challenges of interstate bridge replacements. This project will substantially further the goals of adopting innovative bridge construction techniques, accelerating construction, increasing safety, reducing the costs of maintaining traffic, and minimizing impacts to motorists during interstate bridge construction.
Building the deck in a temporary location and sliding it into place will also improve construction quality. The entire deck can be built at once, which eliminates construction joints in the deck that expose the structure to the elements.