U.S. 190 – Amite River Bridge Project
Livingston Parish
May 14, 2009
Brief description of work to be done:
The Amite River Bridge project is 1.2 miles in length along U.S. 190 (Florida Boulevard) beginning at La. 426 (Old Hammond Highway) and ending approximately a quarter of a mile west of La. 1032 (South River Road). Currently, this section of U.S. 190 serves nearly 26,000 vehicles per day. The project is being built to the north of the existing bridges and will consist of two continuous spans, 2,900 feet long and 40 feet wide. Each span will have two 12-foot lanes, a 10-foot outside shoulder and a 4-foot inside shoulder. The contractor will maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction throughout the duration of the project.
Current work:
The contractor continues to drive production piles. These are the piles that will support the new bridge. Thus far, 176 of the 270 production piles have been driven. A pile is a concrete post that is driven into the ground to act as a leg or support for the new bridge. They are driven into the ground using a pile-driver. The pile-driver is a machine that acts similar to a hammer hitting a nail and drives the pile into the ground.
The contractor continues to pour bridge caps. A cap is the part of the bridge that sits on top of a group of piles and will help disperse pressure to the piles below. Thus far, 44 of the 60 bent caps have been poured.
The contractor continues to install the bridge’s girders. Thus far, 252 of the 348 girders have been put into place. Girders are like the arms of the bridge. They extend from bent to bent and support the bridge decking. They also help disperse pressure to the bents.
The contractor continues pouring the bridge’s deck. The deck is the road surface of the bridge. It rests on the girders which are supported by bents. Bents are made up of caps and piles.
In addition, the contractor has begun building the new bridge’s approaches.
Brief description of completed work:
The contractor has completed building the haul road on the east side of the river. The haul road is used by the contractor to bring equipment and building material to and from the job site throughout the duration of the project.
All four of the test piles have been driven. Test piles help to gather information on the conditions at the job site such as installation methods for future piles and soil type. The information determines proper pile lengths and driving criteria for the production piles for the new bridge.
The contractor also finished laying asphalt for a temporary travel lane that allowed them to move traffic over so they can build the new bridge’s approaches.
For additional questions or comments contact DOTD’s Customer Service Center at 1-877-4LA-DOTD (1-877-452-3683) or e-mail customerservice@dotd.la.gov. The center is open 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also visit the project’s Web page by going to www.dotd.la.gov and clicking on "Projects" from the Programs & Projects section of the main menu on the left-hand side of the page and selecting the U.S. 190 Amite River Bridge Project link.
If you are a member of a homeowners association and would like a DOTD speaker to attend one of your meetings to share information about this project, please let me know.
Again, we thank you for your feedback and patience during this construction. Additionally, at your convenience, please let us know how we are doing by filling out our Customer Service Survey.
State Project No. 013-05-0044
Project Description: Amite River Bridge and Approaches
Parish: Livingston
Contractor: James Construction Group LLC
Contract Amount: $29.5 million
Project Engineer: Clay Hollowell
Project Start Date: Dec. 2007
Project End Date: Dec. 2010
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Thanks,
Dustin Annison
Public Information Officer
225-379-1702
dustinannison@dotd.la.gov