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  September 30, 2004

For more information, contact
Ryan Puckett
847.972.9136
newsroom@cement.org
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Concrete Bridge Award Winners Announced
 


The Portland Cement Association has named the winners of the 2004 Ninth Biennial Bridge Awards Competition. The competition, which was instituted in 1988, recognizes excellence in design and construction of concrete bridges from Canada and the United States.

This year's nine winning projects:

Projects were open to a variety of structure types and construction methods utilizing concrete and were to be completed between November 2002 and May 2004. The winners will be recognized at the American Concrete Institute's Fall Convention in San Francisco.

Entries were judged on creativity, functionality, and economy. The distinguished judges for the award program were: Myint Lwin, director, Office of Bridge Technology, Federal Highway Administration; William Nickas, state structures design engineer, Florida Department of Transportation; Barney Martin, Jr., vice president, Modjeski and Masters, P.C.

The next installment of the bridge awards is scheduled for 2006 and will be co-sponsored by Roads & Bridges magazine.

More about the winners (click on image to download hi-res version)
 

Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park Bridge - Concrete’s natural appearance, minimal future maintenance, and reduced traffic noise, and the need for a slender, streamlined appearance with minimal environmental impact, resulted in the selection of twin 2675-ft-long, cast-in-place, concrete segmental box structures for the Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park Bridge.

The jointless twin bridges, separated by 4 inches, comprise nine spans varying in length from 185 ft 4 in to 469 ft 2 in utilizing variable depth boxes, giving an appearance of an aesthetically pleasing arch. To make maintenance and inspection tasks easy, the designers provided several unique features: a walkway between bridges, lighting in the boxes, strategically placed ladders and openings, and contingencies to replace the bearings in the future. These bridges are the first major concrete segmental box girder bridges constructed in Missouri.

Project Principals: Missouri Department of Transportation, owner; Jacobs Civil Inc., engineer; Walter Construction Corporation, contractor; and Breckenridge Materials Co. and Lafarge North America Inc., concrete suppliers.

Jury Comments: The graceful profile and thin narrow lines of the bridge complement the landscape in which it’s placed. Designers’ concern for the ease of inspection and maintenance displayed through special features and details is exemplary.
 

McKenzie River Bridge – This unique concrete suspension bridge across the McKenzie River in Eugene, Ore., is the right choice for meeting the demanding project criteria: minimizing environmental impact, clear spanning the river, and providing an economical and elegant design.

The 670-ft-long bridge features three spans: 120 ft, 430 ft, and 120 ft. The bridge utilized cast-in-place concrete for the towers and foundations, and segmental precast concrete deck panels for the suspended spans. All concrete components were cast onsite. The towers were cast in a laid-down position adjacent to the tower foundations and lifted into vertical position by a 350-ton crane. The full-length post-tensioning of the deck system after grouting deck panel joints resulted in an extremely durable and stiff bridge with an amazing deck depth to span ratio of 1:600.

Project Principals: Wildish Sand & Gravel, owner; OBEC Consulting Engineers, Engineer; Dr. Jiri Strasky, architect/consulting engineer; Wildish Standard Paving Company, contractor; Wildish Cascade Concrete, concrete supplier; and Wildish Standard Paving Company, precaster.

Jury Comments: To balance the unique needs of business and demands of the site, the designer created an innovative bridge system – a concrete suspension bridge. He combined the complementary attributes of steel and concrete to create an aesthetically pleasing structure.

 


Fifth Street Bridge over the Great Miami River – Fifth Street Bridge over the Great Miami River in Dayton, Ohio, had to resemble the other downtown river crossings built circa 1913 but had to be built using modern, cost-effective bridge construction materials and techniques. Concrete was selected as the primary construction element because of its ability to meet the aesthetic requirements and provide significant cost savings.

The superstructure of the bridge utilized conventional constant depth prestressed concrete interior girders and spliced variable depth exterior girders. The use of formed cast-in-place concrete for the bridge piers and the railings allowed the desired art deco appearance. Decorative finials were cleverly replicated at regular intervals in the bridge railing in order to achieve cohesion between the piers and the railings.

Project Principals: Ohio Department of Transportation, owner; Burgess & Niple, Inc., engineer; Kokosing Construction Company, Inc., contractor; Moraine Materials, concrete supplier; and Prestress Services, precaster.

Jury Comments: A wonderful fusion of aesthetics and structural systems. Concrete’s versatility is apparent in the intricate shapes and forms and the smooth flow of lines between the substructure and the superstructure.
 

Fort Lauderdale Airport Interchange – This interchange project involved many challenges including context sensitive aesthetics, uninterrupted access over railroad tracks to the international airport, complex bridge arrangement, tight radii of curvature, and deconstruction of existing segmental bridges. Balanced cantilever precast concrete segmental bridges were selected because of their pleasing aesthetics and functionality suitable for the urban setting.

A Value Engineering Change Proposal (VECP) redesign by the design-build team incorporated many improvements resulting in more efficient project layout, fewer bridges to construct and deconstruct, uniform segment widths, a unique twin-box single-pier arrangement for consistent aesthetics, and reduction of six months construction time and savings of $808,000 to the owner.

Project Principals: Florida Department of Transportation, owner; Beiswenger, Hoch and Associates, Inc., engineer; PCL Civil Constructors, Inc., contractor; Tarmac Florida, Inc., concrete supplier; and PCL Civil Constructors, Inc., precaster.

Jury Comments: The sweeping curves of this particular project are a fine example of how concrete can be used to enhance the aesthetic appeal of our highways and bridges. The perfect use of simple segmental bridge construction for a complex interchange.
 

Corte Bella by Del Webb – This innovative bridge provides a grand entrance and an architectural focal point for the entire Corte Bella country club development. Instead of using the traditional rectangular box culvert for the golf cart underpass, the designers utilized shotcrete to create a graceful and efficient reinforced concrete arch structure.

The bridge was constructed by applying 4000 psi (27.6 MPa) shotcrete over reinforcing steel which was placed atop custom fabricated shored steel forms. The bridge was treated with a special Tuscan style paint finish with highlighted columns and hand rail detail.

Project Principals: Del Webb/Pulte Homes, owner; Wright Engineers, engineer; Commercial Shotcrete, Inc., contractor; and RMI Readymix, concrete supplier.

Jury Comments: This bridge is a wonderful example of the use of new and different approaches to solve common problems. Shotcrete, a technique normally used for repairs was employed to build a bridge. The excellent moldability and high durability of the low slump shotcrete were exploited to turn a routine underpass into an architectural beauty.
 

Castlewood Canyon Historic Bridge – A complex rehabilitation project, this bridge involved a historic concrete arch constructed in 1948. The structure has 14 spans, 11 of which are supported on top of two parallel arches spanning 232 ft 6 in. Water leaking through the joints at the ends of each span was the main cause of the deterioration of the arches. Due to environmental limitations on accessing the canyon floor, most of the construction was accomplished with the help of hanging work platforms and a crane set on top of the structure. The arches were preserved by repairing them with carbon fiber wraps and shotcrete. The removal and reconstruction of the superstructure had to follow a certain sequence to avoid overloading the supporting arches.

The superstructure was replaced mostly with precast columns and pier caps, and precast, prestressed slab girders. Special “joggle bars” in the column pedestals were used as dowels to miss the existing reinforcing bars in the arches. The precast elements were tied together with NMB splice connections to reduce the required development length for the rebars.

Project Principals: Colorado Department of Transportation, owner; Colorado Department of Transportation - Staff Bridge Branch and Regional Office 1, engineers; Colorado Department of Transportation, architect; Kiewit Western Company, contractor; Lafarge North America and Owens Brothers Concrete, concrete suppliers; and Plum Creek Structures, precaster.

Jury Comments: This project is a fine example of the use of innovative approaches to repair aging concrete structures while maintaining their historical features.
 

Intermodal Transit Systems Guideway – The typical superstructure for this primary airport landmark consists of 7-ft-deep post-tensioned cast-in-place trapezoidal box girders constructed in two 155-ft-span units. This span-to-depth ratio of 22:1, along with the inherent stiffness of the cast-in-place concrete box, resulted in a very slender profile.

Architectural details, deflection limits, cost consideration, and the need for flexibility to accommodate numerous span lengths, curves, and width variations dictated the use of cast-in-place concrete box superstructure for the guideway. The typical constant depth oval-shaped piers were topped with a flared column capital incorporating three bands of rustication to echo the features of the guideway control tower. The interplay of light and shadows, and the “V” shaped parapets were cleverly used to emphasize the structure’s horizontal lines.

Project Principals: Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, owner; Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., engineer and architect; American Bridge Company, contractor; and Florida Rock Industries, Inc., concrete supplier.

Jury Comments: The designer’s attention to detail and the demands of the site make this a fine example of what can be done utilizing concrete as a primary material in bridge design and construction. The matching architectural details of the tower and the guideway superstructure have created a totally integrated solution.
 

Old 99 (Riverside) Bridge Replacement – Environmental constraints (migrating salmon, floods, and floating debris in the river during spring and winter) precluded the use of temporary supports in the riverbed and dictated the use of long one-piece precast girders spanning between permanent piers. The bridge is 850-ft long and consists of five continuous spans, 180-ft interior spans, and 150-ft end spans.

In the first stage of post-tensioning, two or three segments of WSDOT’s W95 supergirders were spliced at the construction site to form the single-span girders. Following the erection of the simple spans, they were integrated into one continuous composite girder by a second stage of post-tensioning. This construction method required installation of a temporary bridge capable of supporting 177-ft-long W95 supergirders weighing 122 tons each. To eliminate accidental torsional twist during transportation of the girders over uneven ground, one end of the girder supported on the front dolly was provided with a hinged connection whereas the other end on the rear dolly was held in a torsionally stiff connection.

Project Principals: City of Mount Vernon, owner; MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc., engineer; The Mays Associates, architect; Kiewit Pacific Contractors, contractor; Concrete Norwest, concrete supplier; and Concrete Technology Corporation, precaster.

Jury Comments: This bridge exemplifies the advances made in the use of concrete in long-span bridges. The spliced-girder technology in combination with post-tensioning system is stretching the applicability of concrete girders to the spans of 180 ft or more.
 



Breakwater Avenue Pedestrian Overcrossing – This simple pedestrian crossing turned into a major design and construction effort due to many challenges: protected wetlands, impact on indigenous plants and wildlife, adjacent highway, Americans with Disabilities Act requirement of a maximum of 5% ramp slope, complex structural design due to small radius (78.7 ft), need for additional right-of-way land acquisition, and the constricted work day due to adjacent highway reconstruction.

After careful evaluation of multiple structure types, the designers selected cast-in-place reinforced concrete superstructure – 4 ft 1 in deep box girder for the 711 ft 7 in main superstructure and solid slab for the 219 ft 10 in approach spans.

Project Principals: CALTRANS District 4, owner; CALTRANS Division of Engineering Services, Design Section 11, engineer; CALTRANS Division of Engineering Services, Bridge and Architecture Branch, architect; RGW Construction, contractor; and RMC Pacific Materials, concrete supplier.

Jury Comments: Pedestrian bridges present unique challenges. They need to meet all functional requirements without being imposing structures. The designer of this bridge has met this challenge in an amazingly beautiful way.
 


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Based in Skokie, Ill., the Portland Cement Association represents cement companies in the United States and Canada. It conducts market development, engineering, research, education, and public affairs programs.


 
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