Reconstruction of the Ohio Turnpike
Bridge Over the Cuyahoga River Valley
by Robert Sobnosky, PE, Cuyahoga Valley Section
As part of the Ohio Turnpike Commission's ongoing Modernization
Program, the Ohio Turnpike Structure over the Cuyahoga River
Valley is being completely rebuilt.
The original bridge, built from 1952-1955, is a twin structure
steel truss system with multiple girders and 12 solid pier columns.
The existing pavement contains two 12' lanes and 10' and 8'
shoulders. The cost of the original structure was $6 million.
After careful review of the existing structure and the desired
configuration to widen the pavement to three lanes in each direction,
the Ohio Turnpike Commission decided to rebuild instead of rehabilitate
this structure for the following reasons:
- Lead Paint: The costs to remove and repaint the structural
steel was $10 million in 1990. These costs would be even greater
today given the stricter controls and containment systems
required for this process. Furthermore, containment of any
aging paint system would be a concern with respect to the
ecologically sensitive Cuyahoga Valley National Park beneath
the bridge.
- Concrete Spalling on the Underside of the Bridge Deck: Minor
spalling is a safety concern for pedestrian, auto, and railroad
traffic crossing beneath the structure.
- Concrete Pier Damage: The existing piers, last rehabilitated
in 1979, are showing signs of aging.
- Feasibility of Widening the Deck on the Existing Structure:
The existing substructure could not support the addition of
a third lane and a 10' shoulder and a 14' shoulder.
- Safety: Rehabilitative construction activity would require
either conducting construction activity and live traffic on
the same structure simultaneously or placing bidirectional
traffic on one of the twin structures while rehabilitating
the other. Given the length, height, and width of the existing
structures, neither of these traffic scenarios was acceptable.
- Cost: Rehabilitation costs were estimated to be about 75%
of the cost of building a new structure.
The new bridge, designed by HNTB, features a process new to
Ohio. The prestressed concrete girders were "dropped-in"
place and then post-tensioned. To build the long spans in the
center portion of the bridge, balanced cantilever beams were
placed on two adjacent piers. A drop-in beam then was used to
close the gap between the cantilevered beams. The drop-in beams
were held in place by crane until secured at both ends. Finally,
the entire 900' section of cantilevered and drop-in beams was
post-tensioned. This post-tensioned section is 900' in length
and 175' above the floor of the Cuyahoga Valley.
The use of the concrete girders over more traditional steel
girders resulted in a cost savings of about $1.4 million. The
new structures have the following features:
- $52 million cost
- 2,664' in length
- Maximum height of 175' above the valley floor
- 17 hollow piers for each structure
- Three 12' lanes and one 10' shoulder and one 14'-3"
shoulder
- 5,600 CY of concrete in the beams for each structure
- 5,027 CY of concrete in the deck of each structure
- 1.8 million pounds of reinforcing steel in the deck of each
structure
- 14,560 CY of concrete in the substructure of each pier
- 42.95 miles of post-tensioning strand for each structure
- Post-tension strands are loaded to 790,000 foot-pounds of
tension
As with any construction project, several obstacles had to
be overcome thus far. Highlights of the project to this point
are as follows:
- Wetland Mitigation: The structure, relocated 100' south
of its present location, disturbed 3.56 acres of wetlands.
To compensate for this, 8.46 acres of wetlands were enhanced
to a higher quality than the disturbed wetlands at another
location in the national park.
- Cuyahoga River Crossing: A portion of the project required
the contractor to access land bound by the Cuyahoga River
to the east and a steep slope to the west. The contractor
utilized a temporary low-flow river crossing approved by the
Army Corps of Engineers. The low-flow crossing consisted of
12 lengths of 48" x 60' steel conduit placed in the Cuyahoga
River parallel to the banks. The pipe was covered with 2'
of type C rock. This allowed for construction vehicles to
cross the river at low flow.
- The Tow Path: A section of temporary Tow Path was built
parallel to the existing Tow Path under the bridge. This ensured
that either the original or temporary Tow Path would be continuously
open for use.
- Right-of-Way Restrictions: The south side of the west approach
to the bridge was constrained by Right-of-Way. Geogrid engineering
fill was used so that the roadway embankment did not extend
beyond the limits of the Turnpike's property.
- Riverview Road Landslide Correction: The contract for this
project encompassed work for the Summit County Engineer. Riverview
Road, which runs under the structure, required correction
of a landslide threatening the embankment supporting the road
itself. The landslide was corrected with Tensar-Geogrid reinforcement.
To complete the Riverview Road correction, 550' of full-depth
roadway was reconstructed and grading and drainage improvements
were put in place.
- Demolition of Existing Structure: The concrete deck will
be saw cut and removed by hydraulic excavators. The demolition
of most of the steel truss will be accomplished using shape
charges. The first section of the steel truss was demolished
by this method on November 12, 2001. The remainder of the
steel truss was demolished on January 12, 2002.
Construction of the new bridge began in October 1999. The new
eastbound structure opened to traffic on October 12, 2001. The
westbound structure is scheduled to be open to traffic in October
2003. The final completion date will be in 2004.
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