Bridge Description

Depot Street over the Rogue River in the city of Rogue River in Jackson County, southern Oregon

Tier 3 (within 2 weeks)

ABC: 5 days ; Conventional: 3 years

reduced traffic impacts; reduced onsite construction time; improved work-zone safety; improved site constructability; improved material quality and product durability; minimized environmental impacts

306-ft-long and 76-ft-wide main span concrete tied arch bridge and one 104-ft-long prestressed concrete girder side span; 6,000-ton horizontal skid of 306-ft-long main span

8700

Traffic management alternative, if constructed conventionally: extended use of 5-mile detour

The existing 5-span through-truss bridge was 433.83 ft long and 26 ft wide with concrete spread footing substructure. It had two 12-ft-wide traffic lanes and two 1-ft-wide shoulders. Built in 1956, the bridge was structurally deficient and functionally obsolete and required replacement.

The replacement bridge has three 12-ft-wide traffic lanes and two 5-ft-wide shoulders. It consists of the concrete tied arch main span, a precast prestressed concrete I-girder span, and a cast-in-place slab approach span. The cast-in-place concrete abutments and pier are supported on pile foundations. The tied arch design was selected because its shallow structural depth was higher than the typical flood levels at that location and also required less grade difference to connect with intersecting roadways.

The contractor built the tied arch span on temporary supports approximately 25 ft from the existing bridge and built the new abutments and pier under the existing bridge while maintaining traffic. The traffic was then temporarily re-routed onto the new bridge. The existing bridge was demolished and the substructure for the new bridge was finished. Traffic was then detoured and the new bridge was closed. Twelve hydraulic jacks on steel plates were placed under the bridge. The jacks were connected to one pressure system for even pressure in all jacks. The jacks lifted the bridge, the temporary blocking was removed, and a hydraulic skid system was installed. The skid system had a stainless steel bottom and sat on Teflon pads coated with a special lubricant. The jacks were released onto the skid system and the bridge was skidded laterally to its final location. No overlay was applied.The 3-year construction project required only one 5-day closure of the bridge.