PCA's Tenth Biennial Bridge Awards

Concrete International, Dec 2006

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has named 10 winners in its Tenth Biennial Bridge Awards Competition. The awards recognize excellence in design and construction of concrete bridges. Roads and Bridges magazine was a co-sponsor of this year's competition, and the winners were recognized at ACI's Fall Convention in Denver, CO.

The 2006 program attracted 79 entries from the U.S. and Canada, covering a variety of bridge types and construction methods. All projects were completed between June 2004 and March 2006.

Winning projects were selected based on creativity, functionality, and economy by a jury of three prominent bridge professionals: Daniel Dorgan, State Bridge Engineer, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Oakdale, MN; Mary Lou Ralls, Ralls Newman, LLC, Austin, TX; and Louis Triandafilou, High-Performance Structural Materials Specialist, FHWA Resource Center, Baltimore, MD.

This year's winners are:

Guadalupe County I-40 Overpass Bridges, Guadalupe County, NM-These routine highway overpass structures have the added role of helping to welcome visitors to both New Mexico and Guadalupe County, making aesthetics a priority throughout the planning and construction process of the three two-span continuous precast/ prestressed concrete bridges. Southwestern-style artwork was incorporated into the mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls, wingwalls, piers, and barrier rail. Judicious use of high-strength, high-performance concrete, prestressing strands in the top flanges of the beams, spread footings, and semi-integral abutments resulted in economical, durable, and pleasing structures.

Project credits: New Mexico Department of Transportation, owner; New Mexico Department of Transportation Bridge Section, engineer; Reiman Corp. and James Hamilton, contractors; RER Ready Mix and Costillo Ready Mix Concrete, concrete suppliers; and Coreslab Structures, precaster.

Elk Avenue/Doe River Bridge Rehabilitation, Elizabethton, TN-This bridge, originally constructed in 1926, was selected for replacement in the late 1990s after it began to suffer the effects of age. During discussions, however, a strong desire to have the bridge rehabilitated was expressed, and the designers and Tennessee Department of Transportation agreed. The work included partial and full deck repairs, removal of portions of the arch ribs under shored conditions, replacement of rib reinforcement in areas near the crown of each span, epoxy injection of various shear and delamination cracks, replacement of spindle rail components and concrete lamp posts, and the addition of a reinforced concrete deck overlay.

Project credits: City of Elizabethton, TN, owner; Division of Structures, Tennessee Department of Transportation, engineer; General Constructors, contractor; and Summers-Taylor Construction Co., concrete supplier.

Moose Creek Bridge, Timmins, ON, Canada-This is the first fully prefabricated integral abutment bridge built in North America. It comprises six 47 in. (1194 mm) deep precast/prestressed I-beams on 8 ft (2.4 m) centers spanning 72 ft (22 m). The beams were pretopped with an 8 ft (2.4 m) wide by 9.5 in. (241 mm) thick deck. The adjacent decked beams were joined together by a 16 in. (406 mm) wide cast-in-place concrete closure joint with interlocking looped reinforcing bars. The deck was gradually thickened from 9.5 in. (241 mm) at midspan to 11.5 in. (292 mm) at the prefabricated abutments to account for beam camber.

Project credits: Ministry of Transportation, Ontario, owner; Stantec Consulting Ltd., engineer; Miller Paving (Northern) Ltd., contractor; Custom Concrete, Timmins, concrete supplier; and Pre-Con, Inc., precaster.

Perry Street Bridge, Napoleon, OH-The challenge with this project was to replace the existing 700 ft (213 m) long seven-span filled-arch concrete bridge in 1 year at the same location and without disturbing the bottom of the river. The solution was to use as much precast concrete as possible. The designers used variable depth precast modules, spliced-girder technology, pretopped deck girders, and biaxial post-tensioning, and drilled new 60 in. (1524 mm) diameter shafts through existing piers.

Project credits: Ohio Department of Transportation, owner; HNTB Corp., engineer; Fru-Con Construction, contractor and precaster; and Dielman Concrete Co., concrete supplier.

Brady Street Bridge, Milwaukee, WI-This cast-inplace post-tensioned concrete box section bridge has a varying superstructure thickness with a minimum of 21 in. (533 mm) at the middle of the center span, producing a span-to-depth ratio of 71. To reduce bulk, triangular spandrel openings were provided on either side of the center pier. The owner's desire for minimum maintenance was addressed by using high-performance concrete and eliminating deck joints through the use of integral abutments. The integral abutments were also effectively used to address the uplift caused by a high center-spanto- end-span ratio.

Project credits: Milwaukee County, WI, owner; Bloom Consultants, LLC, engineer and architect; Lunda Construction, contractor; and Zignego Ready Mix, concrete supplier.