Federal officials and lawmakers have worked out a deal to fund and rebuild the deteriorating Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., using design-build to cut 18 months from the schedule and $35 million from an earlier cost estimate.
In announcing the agreement on what is now a $237 million plan, the U.S. Department of the Interior (U.S. DOI) awarded a $192-million contract to Kiewit Infrastructure Co. to construct the project. U.S. DOI’s National Park Service owns and maintains the 85-year-old bridge. The other $35 million of the price tag is for engineering, construction management, wetlands mitigation and contingency funds, which is to be handled through the Federal Highway Administration.
The Virginia and D.C. congressional delegations have been pushing for funds for the project for the last few years. That push led to a $90 million FASTLANE grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the project. The new piece of the puzzle is $107 million from the park service.
Minor repairs will begin in early 2018 on the 2,163-ft-long, 60-ft-wide bridge, which crosses the Potomac River. Major construction is expected to start that fall, and the project is to be completed in 2021.
The new work will include replacing the bascule span with variable-depth steel girders, rehabilitating concrete approach spans and replacing the concrete deck. The project team will use accelerated bridge construction methods, such as using prefabricated concrete deck panels.
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Source: Engineering News-Record
