Wilson Creek Bridge
Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Use American English Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The Wilson Creek Bridge (also known as the Smart Road Bridge) is a cast-in-place cantilever box girder bridge located in Montgomery County, Virginia, built as part of the Virginia Smart Road project. It extends for Script error: No such module "convert". with three spans of Script error: No such module "convert". and two spans of Script error: No such module "convert".. At Script error: No such module "convert". tall, it is the second tallest bridge in Virginia, with the tallest being the Grassy Creek Bridge in Buchanan County at Script error: No such module "convert". tall.[1]
Construction
Construction began in August 1998. The bridge was designed by Florida-based Figg Engineering Group and built by PCL Civil Constructors Inc., a subsidiary of PCL Constructors Inc. at a cost of US$17.4 million. The bridge design is the same genre as the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge. The bridge is composed of four double-tapered piers with stone inlay, two conventional abutments, and 100 cast-in-place segments. After review of the bridge design by the construction firm, the segments were changed from 4.5 m to 5 m segments, deleting 35 segments from the critical path of construction. The bridge was completed on May 30, 2001.
The cast-in-place structure consists of Script error: No such module "convert". of concrete, Script error: No such module "convert". of reinforcing steel, and Script error: No such module "convert". of steel cables.
Awards
In 2002, the bridge received an honorable mention in the Federal Highway Administration's Excellence in Highway Design Awards, Category 3A: Major Highway Structures Over $10 Million. The bridge also received an award that year from the Concrete Reinforced Steel Institute, the only 2002 award-winner east of the Mississippi River.
Unique Features
The cast-in-place cantilever box girder bridge design is the only one of its kind in Virginia.
The bridge is hollow. Beneath the riding surface, the box girders are open with a width of Script error: No such module "convert". and a height which varies from Script error: No such module "convert". to Script error: No such module "convert".. Power and communication lines are carried in the hollow concrete box and run the length of the bridge. Manholes in the bridge deck allow researchers to enter the box to monitor testing equipment.
The support structure of the bridge is inlaid with Hokie Stone to blend in with the environment and meld with the architectural stylings of Virginia Tech.
Bridge Pictures
- Early construction
- During construction
- During construction
- Below main spans during construction
- Construction nearing completion
- Looking south
- Aerial looking southeast
- Looking east across Ellett Valley and Wilson Creek
- Looking northeast
- Looking northwest
References
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- Brian Fortner, "High-Tech Highway", Civil Engineering, October, 1999
- Gunnar Lucko, "Means and Methods Analysis of a Cast-In-Place Balanced Cantilever Segmental Bridge: The Wilson Creek Bridge Case Study", Master's Thesis: Virginia Tech Department of Civil Engineering, November 30, 1999, accessed April 1, 2007
- "'Smart' Road Getting New Name: Willis", Roanoke Times, May 12, 2001
- Keith Harrison, "Wilson Creek Bridge Complete; Research Just Beginning", Marshall Concrete Products The Star, Fall/Winter 2001, Volume 2, Issue 2, accessed December 29, 2008
- American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI), "Smart Road Bridge, Near Blacksburg, VA, Receives CRSI Award", May 17, 2002, accessed April 1, 2007
- "Smart Road Bridge Wins Kudos", Roanoke Times, May 17, 2002
- "FHWA Gives Awards to Top Highway Designs", Federal Highway Administration, October 13, 2002
- "Design and Construction of Smart Road Over Wilson Creek: Montgomery County, Virginia", Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, 2002, accessed May 16, 2007
- Gunnar Lucko and Jesús M. de la Garza, "Constructability Considerations for Balanced Cantilever Construction", Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction, Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 47–56, February, 2003, accessed July 20, 2007
- Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), "2003 success stories", accessed April 1, 2007
- American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials - Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures, "Our Nation's Bridges: Virginia", June 2, 2005, accessed April 1, 2007
- VDOT - The Smart Road Bridge Over Wilson Creek, October 29, 2006, accessed April 1, 2007
- Greg Esposito, "Smart Road does bring benefits to valley", Roanoke Times, April 1, 2007
- Figg Engineering Group, accessed August 13, 2008
- PCL - construction details, accessed August 13, 2008
- AVAR - construction details on post-tensioning and form-travelers, accessed August 13, 2008
- Marshall Concrete Products - construction details on concrete for piers, superstructure, and bridge decks, accessed December 29, 2008
- NXL - inspection and engineering services, accessed August 13, 2008