Route 5, Barrett’s Ferry Bridge, over the Chickahominy River

Category
Bridge

Client
Virginia Department of Transportation

Location
Charles City, Virginia

Key Challenges & Project Details

• Project consisted of the emergency repair of a failing pier supporting a portion of the Barrett’s Ferry Bridge
• 2,025′ long, 24′ wide, two lane, 29-span swing span bridge connecting James City and Charles City counties along Route 5
• During many years of use, one of the rest piers began to settle, causing problems with the operation of the swing span
• The swing span, one of only a few in Virginia, moves sideways to allow marine traffic to pass through
• Due to a lack of structural integrity, the bridge closed to traffic, which required drivers to make a 60-mile detour to get across the Chickahominy River
• Required design of a temporary cantilevered support system to support the superstructure at the failing pier to enable removal of portions of the pier
• The pier movement had locked the swing span in the closed position, which only allowed small pleasure boats to navigate up or downstream under the bridge
• Corman and JMT redesigned the repair of the pier, fabricating two new steel bents and floating them by barges to both side of the failing rest pier
• Pipe piles (120′ x 36″) were then driven through 40′ deep water into the riverbed to support these new steel bents
• Steel bents were then pulled to grade and welded in place and the east approach span rested safely on new piers
• Challenges included the aggressive schedule and redesign and fabrication of the cantilevered, temporary, support system and new steel bents
• Williams Bridge successfully committed to fabricating and supplying the steel in the short time period required
• Additional challenge was moving the necessary crane, located in North Carolina, to the job over the July 4th weekend, which required special permission and police escort.
• Project completed on time, despite necessity of complete redesign and aggressive schedule

Design Partner
JMT