Mercer County Gets It Done
Mercer County Bridge Department needed a solution for replacing the existing structurally deficient Henry Road Bridge. Consisting of heavily deteriorated steel beams and an open steel grating bridge deck, the bridge was in such poor condition that it had been closed to traffic. With only county funds available to them, Mercer County turned to the Valmont Bridge System to meet their needs.
In May of 2019, Valmont Structures was hired to provide an engineered solution to replace their deteriorated superstructure. By July, the design and shop drawings were approved and Valmont Structures began fabrication of the galvanized U-BEAM™ bridge girders. This solution also required a concrete driving surface. So Valmont teamed with Faddis Concrete Products, a PennDOT approved precast company in nearby New Castle, PA, to precast the eight full-depth, full-width precast concrete deck panels needed.
By November, the U-BEAMs were fabricated, the precast deck panels produced, and Jet Excavating began the removal of the existing superstructure. Once the existing superstructure was removed, the galvanized press-brake-formed steel tub girders were delivered to the construction site and Jet Excavating installed them on the existing concrete abutments. The following week, all 8 precast deck panels were delivered to the project site and installed on the new press-brake-formed steel tub girders in a single day.
Over the next week, the shear stud pockets in the precast concrete deck panels and the transverse deck joints between the precast concrete deck panels were filled with high strength polymer concrete, the concrete brush blocks supporting the steel guide rails were cast, and the steel guide rails were installed atop the concrete brush blocks.
By the early December, a bridge that had been closed for over 2 years was re-opened to traffic, within the counties budget and with a new 75 year maintenance-free Valmont Bridge System! In the summer of 2020 Mercer County Bridge Division placed an epoxy overlay on the new precast concrete bridge deck to seal the joints and further protect the new driving surface from chlorides.
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