Replacing the East Providence Overpasses

Replacing the East Providence Overpasses
By: Jacqueline Ray

Recently, the Department of Transportation (DOT) replaced two obsolete overpasses in East Providence: East Shore Expressway and McCormick Quarry Bridge .  While the replacement of the overpasses only detoured traffic for a few days, a lot of careful preparation by engineers within the DOT went into this $16.7 million project.

The replacement of the overpasses is part of the "RIDOT's accelerated bridge reconstruction project."    According to a press release by the Department of Transportation, they will: "reconstruct the bridges by using precast foundation elements and by constructing the new bridge decks on large supports adjacent to the current bridges."  Upon the completion of this process, the:"RIDOT will temporarily close the first structure."  In short,  they will build the bridge on the side, demolish the current overpass, and move the new bridge in to place.  By using this method, the overall construction was completed a whole year earlier than it would have been using conventional construction methods.  Additionally, the overall project only obstructed traffic for less than a week.

The DOT is using new and innovative approaches to preserve the structural integrity of the new overpasses.  They made: "geosynthetic reinforced soil walls for the bridges's abutments, which utilize layers of crushed stone and reinforcing fabric to quickly assemble the foundation elements."  Therefore, the abutments and the structural integrity of the new bridges should be better than its  predecessors.

The decks for the bridges were built over the summer with large steel beams.  These decks were: "installed using self-propelled modular transporters- multi-wheel dollies capable of lifting bridge decks off their temporary supports, driving them toward the bridge's foundation and setting them into place."  Once these enormous decks were moved into place, the bridges were paved and reopened to the traffic.

The completion of the new overpasses in East Providence should be attributed to the hard work of many Engineers that took part in the design of the bridge, including: Civil, Chemical, and Mechanical. The reconstruction of these bridges was done in an efficient and revolutionary manor that may be replicated by other states in the future.

Click here to view and time-lapsed video of the construction of the overpasses!