Tom Warne Report, 4 September 2013
Virginia is making progress on a bold four-year project that will complete the replacement of 11 bridges over a 7-mile stretch of I-95. State Department of Transportation officials opted to use a unique method and work on all of them at once, in order to get the work done as quickly as possible. All of the bridges were built in 1958.
“Considering the traffic volumes this corridor accommodates each day, it would be a bigger headache for drivers if we were to stretch out this work over 8 to 10 years,” said Dawn Eischen, VDOT communication manager. The department estimates that 160,000 cars cross the bridges daily.
VDOT is replacing or rehabilitating all 11 bridges under one contact, VDOT has simplified the project, with general contractor Archer Western Construction doing all of the work.
The project has recently wrapped up the foundation restoration to the piers and abutments, which took place between 2010 through this past spring. The main construction phase is ongoing, which will be completed in fall 2014. Eighty-percent of the project’s total $106.6 million budget came from federal funding, and the remaining 20 percent is coming from the state.
