Acrow Bridge, a leading international bridge engineering and supply company, announced today it has provided a temporary structure for use as a detour during construction to replace two bridges on Interstate 55 near Coldwater, Mississippi.
The decks of the existing structures, built in 1959, had deteriorated to a point where increasing maintenance costs recommended replacement of both the northbound and southbound structures. Because I-55 at this location carries heavy traffic averaging 34,000 vehicles per day, a temporary detour bridge was deemed crucial to avoid traffic interruptions and to provide a safer work zone.
The two-lane rental bridge, 105-feet-long by 32-feet-wide, was assembled in October and launched with a roller system; a bulldozer was employed to push it into place from one abutment to the other. The extremely confined work zone proved particularly challenging, which made Acrow’s modular bridge a good solution for the project.
The Acrow bridge was opened to northbound traffic in November. When construction on the permanent northbound span is completed, southbound traffic will be routed over the detour bridge while construction continues on the second permanent structure. The temporary span will be in place until the completion of the project, now anticipated to be August 2019.
The project was ordered by the Mississippi DOT. The contractor is Joe McGee Construction Company and the design engineer Rankin, LLC.
“In recent years, state DOTs have increasingly selected detour bridges over other re-routing methods during construction,” said Will Smith, Southeast Regional Manager at Acrow Bridge. “In addition to ensuring a safer site for workers and the traveling public, bypass bridging helps minimize traffic delay costs, which are of particular concern with projects on busy Interstate highways.”
“Using a rental structure allows for a fixed dollar-amount to be allocated to the detour bridge,” added Bill Killeen, Acrow CEO. “The rental market has gained a strong foothold in the highway construction industry for its obvious safety benefits and because it can help ensure the project stays on or ahead of schedule, important for both contractors and state DOTs.”
About Acrow Bridge
Acrow Bridge has been serving the transportation and construction industries for more than 60 years with a full line of modular steel bridging solutions for vehicle, rail, military and pedestrian use. Acrow’s extensive international presence includes its leadership in the development and implementation of bridge infrastructure projects in over 80 countries, covering Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.
For more information, visit www.acrow.com.
