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PBES Innovative Projects
IH70/Lake St. Louis Boulevard Bridge |
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| Location | IH70 over Lake St. Louis Bridge in St. Charles County |
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| State | MO |
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| Completion Date | 2003 |
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| Contact Person | Ghanshyam Gupta, P.E.,
Missouri Department of Transportation,
(573) 751-4676 |
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| Description | To reduce congestion on the IH70/Lake St. Louis Boulevard Bridge in St. Charles County, the Missouri Department of Transportation opted for widening it and then accepted a contractor's value-engineering proposal to rebuild the bridge using prefabrication, replacing the four-span bridge with two spans. Although costs increased, the proposal offered both short- and long-term benefits. Work on the new bridge completed in late 2003. The new bridge used precast deck and beam sections and puzzle wall abutments, which allowed a design with fewer spans. With the prefabrication redesign, MoDOT reduced construction time by several months. By reducing the number of spans, geometrics of the interchange improved, increasing its safety and efficiency. Fewer spans also result in lower maintenance costs. By eliminating the need for formwork, which would have reduced clearance on IH70 but was required for a widening in place of the old bridge, the value-engineering proposal using prefabrication greatly improved work zone safety by reducing the amount of time workers had to operate in low-clearance conditions. With prefabrication facilitating faster construction, bridge users were spared several months of inconvenience, and IH70 users were spared a period of reduced vertical clearance. Motorist safety increased because falsework towers were not needed in the outside shoulders. Additionally, the new structure is more aesthetically appealing. |
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| Prefabricated Elements | Decks |
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| Other Keywords | precast deck panels (lightweight) |
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| Advantages | Minimized traffic disruption, work-zone safety |
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Events
More Information
Contact
Reggie Holt
Office of Bridge Technology
202-366-4596
E-mail Reggie
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This page last modified on 05/12/08 | |
