January 2013
Walsh Bridge Projects Recognized
In its annual Top Bridges List, Roads & Bridges magazine has included three Walsh Group projects in the Top 10 – and the Cleveland Innerbelt was featured on the cover. Since 2000, Roads & Bridges' annual Top 10 Bridge awards recognize the top projects in North America. Congratulations to the project teams!
The Walsh Group is currently ranked as the second largest bridge builder in the U.S. according to Engineering News-Record.
#2 Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge
New Haven, Connecticut
Replacement of the "Q" Bridge, as it is known by New Haven, Conn., residents-so named for crossing the Quinnipiac River-is the sixth of seven parts to the I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing (NHHC) Corridor Improvement Program, one of the largest multimodal transportation improvement initiatives in Connecticut history. The project team is adding its own bit of history to the proceedings by making the new bridge the first extradosed bridge completed in the U.S., and the third in North America.
#7 Cleveland's I-90 Innerbelt Bridge
Cleveland, Ohio
One thing was clear, crews needed to build support for this bridge, which required deep foundations- more than 160 ft deep in most locations. The final design used the largest pile in the U.S. to date. Drilled shafts were required for the piers on the relatively soft slope of the western bluff. The contractor removed more than 300,000 cu yd of soil to prevent the slope failures that had contributed to previous structural damage on the existing bridge.
#8 Amelia Earhart Bridge
Atchison, Kansas
Amelia Earhart herself would appreciate how this bridge project took flight. The job consists of constructing four units of pre-stressed concrete girder spans and a 527-ft continuous tied-arch span, and features a unique flooring system and deck. HNTB designed each tie girder to bolt together rather than welding them. The move will make the span more redundant. The stringers also have slotted connections on every other floor beam. A ternary concrete mix was used on the bridge deck.