| OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program |
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| Web Brief (Dec 06) |
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ODOT completes first stage of statewide bridge program
The Oregon Department of Transportation has successfully completed 22 bridge repairs and replacements on U.S. 97, U.S. 26 and U.S. 20. Along the way, ODOT upheld its commitments to the Oregon Legislature by maintaining traffic mobility, stimulating Oregon’s economy and protecting natural resources.
This work, which was officially complete in October, was part of Stage 1 of the OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program, the first of five overlapping stages in the $1.3 billion program. The bridge program, which is funded by the 2003 Oregon Transportation Investment Act, is repairing or replacing hundreds of aging bridges across the state.
The approximately $70 million of work in Stage 1 involved the replacement of 20 bridges and the repair of two, from Mount Hood in the north to Klamath Falls in the south, and east to Burns.
ODOT designed the bridge program to maintain mobility and keep traffic moving while repairing or replacing nearly 300 highway bridges statewide. Breaking construction into stages keeps passenger and freight traffic moving on alternate routes while work takes place on the interstates.
Bridge program uses innovative contracting and design to speed construction
The Mount Hood to Chemult project replaced 10 bridges along a 200-mile stretch of state highways on Oregon 224, U.S. 26 and U.S. 97. By using the innovative design-build contracting process, ODOT completed this $35 million project in just two and a half years. Under a design-build contract, a team of designers and builders work together from the design phase through the completion of construction to ensure successful delivery. Mount Hood to Chemult was the largest design-build project in ODOT history to date.
The same project broke records when ODOT installed the biggest precast, prestressed concrete beams ever used on an Oregon highway bridge on two of the bridges. Seven single-span beams measuring 162.5 feet long and weighing 135,000 pounds were installed at the Alder Creek Bridge on U.S. 26 in November 2004, and seven beams measuring nearly 184 feet long and weighing 179,000 pounds were installed at the UPRR Chemult Bridge on U.S. 97 in July 2005. The huge beams offer many advantages: they streamline construction on site, reducing cost and disruption to traffic, and they are less disruptive to the environment because they require fewer footings.
Oregonbusinesses prosper through work on the bridge program
Most of Stage 1 took place in the first two years of the program. During that time, more than 95 percent of program funds were spent with Oregon firms, such as Morse Bros., the company that manufactured the record-setting beams.
Morse Bros. is an Oregon company based in Linn County. Due primarily to work on the bridge program, Morse Bros., which has divisions in Corvallis, Harrisburg and Lebanon, has increased the number of employees at its Harrisburg plant from 80 to 180.
“The bridge program is having an immediate impact around here,” said Loren Later, general manager of the Morse Bros. prestressed division.
In Klamath Falls, the bridge program sustained both direct and indirect jobs. After Hamilton Construction was hired as prime contractor, the company hired several local subcontractors and materials suppliers, including United Pipe, A1 Trucking, Harvest Ford and Papè Group Inc.
ODOT expects the economic boost to Klamath Falls to continue even now that construction is complete. While U.S. 97 serves as a prime alternate route for I-5, the city will see increased tourist and commuter traffic and a corresponding rise in spending at local gas stations, motels and hotels, and restaurants.
On the bridge program, environmental protection is a priority
The new Zigzag River Bridge is a longer, more environmentally friendly replacement of the 170-foot span built in 1953. The 250-foot-long bridge is one of the longest clear-span steel beam and girder bridges in Oregon. The length of the beams allows the supporting piers to be located out of the stream bed, which decreases impacts to wildlife.
In addition to minimizing the bridge program’s environmental footprint, ODOT recognizes the importance of reusing and recycling waste. ODOT’s commitment to recycling in Stage 1 saved time and money, and protected valuable resources. In Madras, more than 720 tons of concrete and steel from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Bridge north of town were recycled. After the demolition of the California Avenue and Green Springs Drive bridges in Klamath Falls, ODOT recycled more than 10,000 tons of concrete aggregate and rebar. Nearly 30,000 cubic yards of concrete rubble from the River Drive overpass demolition was saved and used as fill on the Oregon Avenue I-5 Overcrossing project.
The completion of Stage 1 marks more than the repair or replacement of 22 bridge projects, it marks a new standard in highway program delivery. ODOT not only delivered stronger, safer bridges; it also maintained passenger and freight mobility, boosted local economies and protected Oregon’s natural resources.
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