Deep Creek Canyon Bridge Replacement Project Selected as Finalist in America's 2015 Transportation Awards Competition

BROADWATER COUNTY, Montana, February 2, 2016 (Newswire.com) -  One of Oldcastle Precast’s transportation projects, Montana Department of Transportation’s (MDT) Deep Creek Canyon Weekend Bridges Replacement, has received several statewide and regional awards, most recently a regional award in the 2015 America’s Transportation Awards competition in the “Best Use of Innovation, Small” category for the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO) region.

Oldcastle Precast supplied the precast concrete bridge superstructure components for the Deep Creek Canyon Bridge project selected by WASHTO for its Cost-Savings, Innovation, and Community Focus. MDT Director Mike Tooley accepted The America’s Transportation Award at the WASHTO meeting in Boise, Idaho, on July 22, 2015.

In addition, the MDT bridge project is one of the top 10 project finalists competing for America’s Transportation Awards National Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award. The America’s Transportation Awards – co-sponsored by AASHTO, AAA and the US Chamber of Commerce – annually recognizes the best of America’s transportation projects in four regional competitions.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

The $2.75 million, MDT Deep Creek Canyon Weekend Bridge Replacement project required reconstruction of three of eight deteriorating  timber bridges built-in the 1930s. The new Deep Creek bridges are located in Deep Creek Canyon between Townsend and White Sulphur Springs, Mont.

To replace the three bridges, MDT and Morrison-Maierle Engineers selected Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods to significantly accelerate the bridge reconstruction process.  ABC entails prefabricating as many bridge components as possible to minimize road closures and traffic disruptions, promote traffic and worker safety, and improve the overall quality and durability of the bridges.

Morrison-Maierle and its partners designed the bridge foundation and the superstructure system as a complete, modular concrete system. The ABC system, consisted of  precast concrete bridge superstructure elements, ensuring the bridges could be built during the weekend closures.

Built over three weekends, the new single-span, 54-foot-long, 31-foot 8-in. wide bridges were constructed in less than 60 hours per bridge.

Oldcastle Precast was contracted by Dick Anderson Construction to design, engineer and manufacture fifteen precast concrete tri-deck bridge girders, six precast concrete grade beam abutments, and twelve precast concrete wing walls, at their Spokane, Washington plant. Each bridge contained five prestressed concrete tri-deck beams, two precast concrete grade beams, four precast concrete wing walls, plant cast precast end diaphragms, and curbs.

Had the bridges been built with conventional construction, residents would have had a two-hour, 120-mile detour around the Big Belt and Bridger mountain ranges over an extended period of time.

In order to help ensure the contractor’s success, Oldcastle Precast was required to assemble all precast concrete components for each bridge at the precast plant. This allowed each precast component to be checked for precise fit prior to shipment.

As a result, the MDT bridge construction project came in under budget, opened ahead of schedule, and did not interrupt the public’s traffic patterns.

Additional Awards: The MDT Deep Creek Canyon Weekend Bridges Replacement Project was awarded the 2015 Project of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American Public Works Association, and the 2015 Engineering Excellence Award, Structural Systems Category, by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Montana.

Prime Contractor: Dick Anderson Construction, Great Falls, Mont.
Owner: Montana DOT
Bridge Design Engineer: Morrison – Maierle Engineers. Helena, Mont.
Precaster: Oldcastle Precast, Spokane, Wash.

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