PRESTRESSED CONCRETE BRIDGE BUILT IN ONE WEEKEND

The article discusses the construction of a prestressed concrete bridge over a single weekend. The highway bridge, 40 feet long and about the same width, carries State Highway 86 over Mitchell Gulch southeast of Denver and is used by 12,000 motorists every day. When confronted with replacing this 49-year old bridge, the Colorado DOT was prepared for traffic delays of two to three months. When CDOT requested bids for replacing the structure, they received an offer to replace the bridge with only two days of downtime and an extraordinary saving in aggravation for motorists. The project took three months of careful planning and a precast design that ensured the completion of the bridge rapidly. Precast concrete was used not only for the bridge girders but for the substructure as well; the abutments and wing walls were designed as precast components, as were the eight deck girders that served both as support and the deck. Lawrence Construction has three other similar projects in the planning stage now and expects that they can complete these bridges in 24, rather than 48 hours.