Now that the roadway is higher and the waterline
installed, they then could put the stormwater
drainage system over it. Maintaining traffic with
this work is very difficult and we hear of big delays.
We have no choice but to run one way traffic through
the project for part of the day.

We Placed a small part of the concrete sidewalk.

Tying epoxy coated reinforcing steel for the
concrete sidewalk with granite curb.

With the roadway grade now up closer to finish grade

we then could make the final connection of the 12" waterline.

Today we poured the concrete for approach slab 2 and made

the final connection for the fiber optic conduits. But the biggest
part of the day was to remove the old pavement and build the roadway
up higher with crushed stone. The amount of traffic in
Randolph in the middle of a Monday is incredible. Traffic must be stopped
in one lane while we work on the other, and this backs traffic up big time.
We hope to have it all ready for paving by next Monday.

Concrete being placed for abutment 1 approach slab.
This is the transition area from the roadway to the bridge.
Without one a bump usually develops over time.

Installing drop inlets, drain pipes and fiber optic conduit lines.

Setting the granite curb along the sidewalks on the bridge.

Concrete encased ducts for fiber optic phone lines and
storm water drains installed on the North end of the bridge.

Working on the 12" waterline.

The concrete must wet cure for 10 days. The brown is
burlap cloth and there are sprinkler hoses on top.

Concrete pumped onto the deck, and then screeded.

Wet Burlap added very close behind the operation.

click the > to play a short video of the placement

Deck reinforcing steel is nearly complete. The Yellow machine in the middle of the bridge is called a screed machine. The concrete will be pumped onto the deck, and the screed machine will smooth the concrete out to a uniform 9" thick layer. We will start Monday morning and the 250 cy will be placed in about 5 hours.

Epoxy Coated Reinforcing steel being placed on the deck.

Some of the crew are working on the waterline adding insulation and heat tape. The above picture is where the waterline comes through the backwall on the abutment.

Welding shear connectors (studs) onto the tops of the girders. They look like big nails welded to the steel. This is what connects the concrete to the structural steel. They guy doing the welding is Ralph Darrah. He grew up in nearby Rochester.

The Stay-in-Place forms are now complete.

Forming the outside portion of the deck with wood forms that will be removed after the deck is cured.
On a side note, I have had a lot of comments about the steel girders being rusty. The weathering process (rust) that occurs after installation eventually decreases and from that point on the finish acts as a protective coating for the base metal. This steel never completely stops rusting. It develops an oxide on its surface that essentially stops corrosion.
Funny....rust that stops rust.

We continue to add SIP forms for the concrete deck. Shear Studs Saturday, Reinforcing and fascia forms thoughout the week. Possible deck pour on Monday the 17th

Installing Stay-in-Place forms for the concrete deck

Double click on the photo, and it will open full size.

I just went on a really cool ride and thought I'd share the pictures

Working on the 12" waterline in the South end of the bridge.

This is the special connection for the 12" waterline from the roadway to the bridge.

They are nearly finished with installing the waterline on the bridge.

Now that the concrete for abutment two is complete up to almost the roadway level, we will be able to backfill the area with gravel and finish much of the stone fill around the abutment. The bridge decking will begin soon. Possibly poured on Sept. 17th. They will start putting down the Stay in Place decking on Friday.

Forming Wingwall 3. We will pour the concrete on Wednesday and Thursday for the backwall and both wingwalls this week.

Installing 12" waterline through a 24" sleeve that passes through the backwall and under the approach slab.

Conduit for Verizon fiber optic lines.

Thursday was a long day adding the new 12" water line to the existing town system. Businesses on Prince street were without water for the entire day while the two connections were made.

Another part of the crew spent most of the day working on replacing the old clay pipe sewer line and old brick sewer manhole very close to abutment 2.

Winterset continues to work on forming Abutment 2 backwall and wingwalls.

All Girders are now set. Winterset spent the day finishing installing the cross braces, torqueing bolts and forming abutment two backwall.

Installing Conduit for Verizon phone lines and drainage on the south end of the bridge. Note the Manhole on the right. Sewer crosses under the conduit and drainage here. Also, an 8" water line crosses under both just a few feet south of the sewer line. It connects to a 12" water line on the other side of the road in this area.

The 75' long pieces are being put in place today.

We struggled putting in the diaphragms (the braces in between the beams), so we only got four of the five set in place today. We will put the 5th girder in tomorrow. The curved plate girders are 125’ long and weigh about 35,000 lbs each. The bigger cranes placing the beams are 100 ton cranes. The smaller crane (hydraulic) is a 60 ton crane.

The Beams have arrived.
Two arrived in town last night so we were able to start first thing.

Update on Bridge beams. The beams will arrive today and will be parked on route 66 across from the golf course for the night. We will start setting the beams first thing Wednesday morning.

We are still on for setting steel beams for wednesday. We had thought that we needed to move the schedule up to Monday, but that is no longer true.

Abutment 2 is now complete up to bridge seat elevations. Steel girders are scheduled to arrive on August 15th and 16th. We will be running one way traffic both days, so expect delays. Seek alternate routes.



Pulling cofferdam sheets from abutment two.

Adding stone fill to the front side of Abutment two.

The first concrete pour went up only about 15 feet. This is a picture of forming the next 8 feet up. This is where steel girders will sit.

Backfilling Abutment 2 with two cranes swinging in small pans.