St. Clair County and Accelerated Innovative Deployment
The St. Clair County Road Commission needed a complete reconstruction solution for the Starville Road Bridge that would minimize road closure time. The Valmont Bridge System offered exactly what they were looking for – accelerated and innovative deployment. St. Clair County also utilized FHWA Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) grant funds for Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) joints on the Valmont Bridge System superstructure.
With limited time for the complete reconstruction, Valmont had to work fast. The plan to hit the target deadline included utilizing precast t-wall spread footing abutments, a prefabricate U-BEAM™ superstructure, and UHPC joint pours.
Prior to road closure, the U-BEAMs were precast and assembled. When it was time to close the road, Valmont was ready.
Project Timeline
- Oct. 10 – Road Closure and Site Work Begins
- Oct. 11, 2019 – Foundation Removal and Sheet Pile Cofferdam
- Oct. 21 – Deliver and Install 7 Units for South Abutment
- Oct. 22 – Deliver and Install 7 Units for North Abutment
- Oct. 30 – Road Closure and Site Work Begins
- Early Winter Storm Delayed UHPC joint pour and required heating joints and insulating blankets. Contractor awarded an additional 14 days due to inclement weather and additional work.
- Nov. 2 – UHPC Joint Pour for South Abutment
- Nov. 4 – UHPC Joint Pour for North Abutment
- Nov. 14 – Deliver and Install U-BEAMs
- Nov. 16 – Formwork for UHPC deck joint pour
- Nov. 18 – UHPC deck joint pour
- Nov. 20 – Cast wingwalls and barrier end walls
- Dec. 3 – Install bridge railing
Due to the late season start and closure of asphalt plants in Michigan, the project was successfully completed and opened to traffic in May 2020. Once opened, MDOT and the county were very pleased with the final product, and learned a valuable lesson about cold weather and UHPC.
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