Wilson Creek Bridge

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 1,985 feet (605 m) with three spans of 472 feet (144 m) and two spans of 283 feet (86 m). At 175 feet (53 m) tall, it is the second tallest bridge in Virginia, with the tallest being the Grassy Creek Bridge in Buchanan County at 225 feet (69 m) tall. 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 9,647 cubic yards (7,376 m3) of concrete, 1,565,321 pounds (710,018 kg) of reinforcing steel, and 780,900 pounds (354,210 kg) 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 18 feet (5 m) and a height which varies from 12 feet (4 m) to 35 feet (11 m). 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[link removed] 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 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 See also List of bridges in the United States by height