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Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project |
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| Links: Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Home Page - To get the very latest on the project go to this great site! Washington Times Bridge Info Lots of great articles and more!
Tiny space is key for big bridge -June 16, 2003 A Pile Load Test Program has begun and is expected to last through June 2000. April 27, 2000 Environmental tests ruling overturned Dec. 17, 1999 News Updates: 12-14-01 Update Project Funding News
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PROJECT OVERVIEW: Quick
Summary
September
23, 2003 Maryland
More
details in Project Overview/Construction Summary on the
Project’s website. Also follow progress on the Project
Scrapbook/Present photo log Three
construction contracts are underway and nine environmental
mitigation contracts underway. The
Maryland soils contract has made good progress with one
section in final settlement phase. There are five areas, all
south of the existing Beltway, which are proceeding with the
Stage 2 or Stage 3 lifts. The north side of Rosalie Island is
owned by the National Park Service and is off limits for
construction outside of the MSHA right-of-way due to the habitat
of special animals and birds that are in the area. The I-295
bridge overpass contract is on target to complete its
northbound and southbound “S-curves” and associated ramps in
Spring 2004. The second
I-295 interchange contract south of the Beltway, building
the majority of the interchange, has begun many of the bridge
foundations and steel has begun to be placed.
There will be 11 bridges and 6 retaining walls
constructed. Four ramps will be completely built and portions of
four additional ramps will be built. A construction staging area
is adjacent to this site, on the privately owned National Harbor
property, for the in-river superstructure contract. Environmental
Mitigation contracts To
compensate for unavoidable impacts within work zones, a
multi-faceted package of mitigation efforts is being carried
out. Many of these
initiatives reach far beyond the Project area, providing
environmental benefits in wide swaths of Virginia, Maryland and
the District of Columbia. Valued
at approximately $50 million, the initiatives include: Habitat
preservation
Wetland
creation, enhancement or preservation
River
grass plantation
Reforestation
Steam
restoration
As part of
the environmental mitigation associated with the contract at the
Hunting Point on the Potomac apartment complex, a wetland has
been created. The wetland is adjacent to Hunting Creek, near
Hunting Cove off of S. Washington Street. The environment in the
area is excellent for birdwatching, today, and will be enhanced
with the new wetland. This photo shows the wetland with water.
The wetland is tidal-dependent which means that when the tide is
high there is water in the wetland, as shown. When the tide goes
down, or it is a drier period, this area will seem empty. The
wetland plants clean the water naturally. Bridge
Three
superstructure contracts are underway. The two approach
contracts are in the process of mobilizing and setting up
casting yards where the segments for the arches will be built
prior to the placement. The contract with the most work on
going, and the most visible, is the movable span contract. Building an Arch
The first
arch at the drawspan of the new bridge has taken shape. Since
the pedestals were finished, the drawspan contractor has been
building the falsework for
the southernmost support of the arch on the west side of the
drawspan. The falsework is the steel that looks like an
“erector set” that creates a frame for the formwork. The
formwork is the bed of wood on which the concrete will be
placed. Once the rebar has been placed creating the concrete
boxes that lie on the formwork, the concrete will be poured.
Once the concrete has cured, the formwork and falsework will be
stripped away so that you can see the concrete facing. At the
drawspan, there are three arches to support each roadway. For
the other foundations, there will be a pair of arch supports for
both the Inner Loop and the Outer Loop roadways. Virginia
There are
three construction contracts in Virginia and three environmental
mitigation contracts underway. The Virginia
soils contract, between US Route 1 and Telegraph Road, is
adding soil on top of the existing ground to load it for bearing
strength. The series of lifts is completed on the Outer Loop
and, in fact, some of the excess material, or surcharge is being
removed since the soil has reached its bearing strength. On the
Inner Loop, additional soil is necessary and some of the areas
will have to settle for a period of time to reach their bearing
strength. In addition, many of the overhead utilities are being
relocated. Currently, Virginia Dominion Power is relocating
transmission towers. The Virginia
Tie-In contract will join the Wilson Bridge to the US Route
1 interchange. In addition to the roadway work on the Beltway,
which will occur in the future, a lot of work is needed adjacent
to the Beltway. Already, a wetland mitigation site has been
created south of the apartment complex on the west side of S,
Washington Street (see Environmental Mitigation section, this
page). A Washington Street Urban Deck has had its construction
begin with demolition of a part of the S. Washington Street. A
retaining wall is under construction, which will be the southern
edge of the Beltway. Demolition is required and is partially
completed with two buildings down. One of the contracts for the Virginia side of the Project is called the US Route 1 Interchange Advanced Bridge Contract. The construction of the eleven bridges will be to the south of the existing Beltway, beyond the Ground Improvement Contract. The work is not very easy to see by the drivers on the Beltway. That can be a good thing. This contract will not noticeably affect the Beltway traffic, as all work will be outside of the roadway, similar to the Ground Improvement Contract. 11-22-02 Project Overview Update: - Project corridor is 7.5 miles. Includes
two side-by-side bridges Older information The Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project covers a 5-mile area and is moving forward with design activities for the bridge and four adjacent interchanges. The bridge, the only federally owned span on the interstate system, will be doubling is lanes to twelve from six. The bridge itself will be $600 million out of a total $1.9 billion dollars. The new bridge will be about 30 feet of the existing bridge and will consist of two 6,000 foot long mutliple-span bascule bridges. The total width is 257 feet which includes a fifteen foot gap between them. The bridge will sit on steel piles 150 feet below the bottom of the river. They will be supporting 18 v-shaped piers (57 on the existing). The new bridge will add fifteen more feet in clearance to 70 feet over the existing bridge. By increasing the clearance the number of draw-span opening will decrease from 220 to about 70. The original bascule bridge open in 1961 was designed to carry 75,000 vehicles per day, now it carries over 190,000. A study has shown that if the bridge is not replaced by 2004 it will need to be overhauled or a ban on trucks would be needed. DESIGN A unique Bridge Design Competition was completed in November 1998. Its purpose was to bring forth the finest possible design. Four firms, which submitted a total of seven concepts, were finalists in the competition. A jury comprised of individuals from a variety of disciplines, and chaired by former Maryland Governor Harry Hughes, selected a winning concept which was announced on November 18, 1998 during a press conference. The winning design is a graceful, seamless concept by Steinman and Deleuw. The box-girder bridge is characterized by V-shaped piers that offer the look of arches but enable a more open appearance with smaller foundations than would a true arched design. The fours team that competed were: Steinman and DeLeuw (Both part of Parson Corp) FUNDING Bridge: $600 Million Ramps and Design: $300 Million 4 large Interchanges in Maryland and Virginia (2 each): $1 billion As of December 19th, 1999 there is a total of 1.3 billion dedicated to this project. It breaks down as: Federal Government: $900 million Maryland and Virginia: $400 Million ($200 Million each) Congress is currently being pressured by Clinton and others to come up with the last $600 million needed to fund this project. Project UpdateDredging Contract Begins Because much of the river at the Wilson Bridge is only a few feet deep, removing soil from the river bottom is needed to create a channel for construction equipment to safely access locations where the future bridge's foundations will be built. The first dredging phase will begin this month and end in February 2001. Subsequent dredging will take place during the same calendar window in succeeding years. Approximately 300,000 cubic yards of river bottom soil will be removed this fall/winter. Overall, an estimated 550,000 cubic yards will be dredged during the course of the entire project. Dredged river soil will be barged to a reclamation site on the James River east of Richmond, Virginia. Extensive testing and consultation with environmental agencies have demonstrated the river-bottom soil to be safe. The first contract will involve dredging approximately 300,000 CY of material for an east-west construction channel through a submerged aquatic mitigation (SAV) bed in the middle of the river. Dredging in open water will only be allowed from October 15 to February 15 (year-round dredging is permissible from within a cofferdam). It is anticipated that the dredged material will be barged down the river to the Chesapeake Bay and then to an upland disposal site. The exact location of this disposal site remains to be determined. The second contract will involve the majority of foundations for the bridge as well as interim site improvements in Jones Point Park, and possibly bulkhead improvements in Jones Point Park and at the Maryland shore south of the bridge for construction staging areas. The foundations will likely include steel pipe piles ranging in diameter from 42" to 66" inches for the river piers and Pier V-2, the first pier on the Virginia shore. The other Virginia piers will likely include 24" square prestressed concrete piles. A concrete pile cap will also be included in this contract. The third contract will include the remainder of the construction for the Potomac River Bridge. This work includes prestressed concrete V-piers, steel box girders, concrete deck, operator's house, machinery, electrical controls, signing and roadway and aesthetic lighting. This contract will also include a few foundations that overlap the existing bridge which would not be accessible in the previous foundation contract.
Project Update
BID SUMMARY Maryland and Virginia will share ownership and upkeep of the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge in an agreement that should guide the region's largest public works project to completion on schedule, both states' governors said yesterday. 
Now Two Years Into Construction, Project Activity Continues to Step Up Marking the second anniversary of construction in October, Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project activity will further accelerate in the months ahead. Within the next year, seven large construction contracts are planned to be bid and awarded on the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest project, joining the five major contracts that are currently underway or completed More significantly, the contracts scheduled to be awarded by October 2003 together comprise more than $800 million in estimated value – more than three times the $240 million in contracts that are now in progress or already finished. "The Wilson Bridge Project is the World Series of transportation construction," commented Parker F. Williams, administrator of the Maryland State Highway Administration. "And we’re just rounding first base in terms of construction activity," added Ronaldo "Nick" Nicholson, project manager for the Virginia Department of Transportation. The state agencies, with the Federal Highway Administration and District of Columbia Department of Transportation, sponsor the $2.44 billion project. Ultimately, more than 30 separate contracts are planned for the 7.5-mile long Wilson Bridge Project, which connects Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia along I-95 on the Capital Beltway. Coordinating the massive project in a budget- and schedule-driven manner is essential because several contractors must work concurrently to meet simultaneous milestone completion dates. The agencies and their general engineering consultant (Potomac Crossing Consultants) are making every effort to enhance timely and responsive coordination with contractors individually and amongst all contractors collectively. Major construction work planned for award in the coming 12 months is detailed below. VDOT and SHA are seeking maximum competition for the work, which will be advertised in various trade publications. Major Construction Work To Be Awarded By October 2003 Bridge (Maryland State Highway Administration) The first of the twin bridges is planned for completion in late 2005/early 2006. After traffic is moved onto the first bridge, the old bridge will be torn down through demolition components in each of the above contracts. The second new bridge is slated for completion in late 2007/early 2008. These key milestones underscore the imperative of bridge and adjacent highway work being completed concurrently and on time. Virginia Landside (Virginia Department of Transportation)
Maryland Landside (Maryland State Highway Administration) Two Years of Progress Construction of the new Wilson Bridge started October 19, 2000 with the dredging of a construction channel. During the following four months, more than 12,000 scoops of river mud – totaling more than 330,000 cubic yards – were removed and disposed of in an environmentally beneficial manner. On July 2, 2001, the first of 1039 piles that will support the future bridges was driven. The $125 million contract for building bridge foundations is now 85 percent complete. Among other advancing construction elements:
Revised schedule as of March 1st, 2003
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