CIVL 3121 - Interesting Information about
Structures
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Bridge
Replacement
You’ve probably heard the joke about how various
northern states have two seasons: winter and highway construction season. That’s
because big road repair projects often take months and severely disrupt
residents’ mobility. Recently, however, the Virginia Department of
Transportation swapped a worn out 61-year-old bridge for brand new one in just a
weekend in an amazing time-lapse video depicting the process.
In this case, the bridge was one of several in the complicated Seven Corners
intersection in Falls Church, Va. The overpass crosses U.S. Route 50, a very
busy commuter route in suburban Washington D.C., and the usual months-long
process of demolishing the old bridge and putting up a new one would have
created a traffic headache in an area that already has enough of them.
So VDOT’s Northern Virginia office got the idea to do the NASCAR pit stop
version of bridge replacement instead. Replacing an 87-foot span of concrete and
steel in just 54 hours was an amazing accomplishment that was based on exactly
the same kind of planning and preparation.