An Ohio bridge replacement project on County Road 201 is being called the biggest bridge project Sandusky County has seen in 40 years.
The multi-span bridge closed on July 1 when the Ballville Township section of CR 201 was shut down. The section is planned to reopen at the end of October.
Great Lakes Demolition Co. is working on the approximately $1.7 million project. They set up environmental containment barriers in the water, built a temporary road into the middle of the river and tore the deck off in under two weeks.
There are six river bridges the county manages.
“It will be a composite deck. Before it was a non-composite. This will be very similar to what you see on state routes,” said Carlos Baez Sr., Sandusky County engineer. “Being that it is only 40-years-old, the foundation is in really good shape. The piers are in really good shape."
Crews don’t plan to remove everything. The pre-stress box beams have worn out, but the box beams will be re-used. However, this time they will be used with a concrete deck, tying it together into a single unit and making a composite design.
The east side of the bridge is higher than the west side of the river.
“You have about a 2.5% incline. Five percent is when you start getting warnings,” Baez said. “That’s as much of a hill as you will really see around here, but that’s just the geography of the river.”
The bridge sees approximately 3,000 vehicles per day with 25% being commercial trucks.
The state is funding 95% of the project cost.
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Source: The News Messenger, MSN
