Wildish Standard Paving Co. expects to break ground on the Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID) and North Unit Irrigation District Canal (NUID) bridge project during the week of Jan. 17.

Crews will work to fill the existing space between the current bridge and canal pipe with a control density fill (CDF) material, eliminating the need for a total bridge replacement. This bridge is located in Bend on Business 97 (3rd Street) near the junction of Butler Market Road and Mt. Washington Drive.

Crews anticipate working nights, Monday through Friday, 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. with some daytime and weekend work possible. During working hours, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Signs, barricades, cones and intermittent use of flaggers will direct motorists to the appropriate lanes. Access to businesses and on-and-off-ramps for the US 97 bypass will be fully accessible during working hours. This project is expected to be completed by April 1.

About the Project
Contractors will fill the space between the existing canal pipe and bridge using CDF. This alternative eliminates the need to replace the aging bridge and significantly reduces impact to motorists. The CDF method allows crews to work under reduced travel lanes during evening hours and to reopen the roadway to all lanes during daylight hours for a period of eight-to-ten weeks. The bridge replacement alternative would have required a full closure of the bridge for as many as four months.

Crews will create temporary holes in the highway for use during night work. During daylight hours, crews will cover these holes with steel plates. Motorists should be aware of the plates and slow down for signs indicating bumps in the road.

This project which will increase traffic flow and safety is part of the $30.5 million contract awarded to Wildish to replace 11 bridges on U.S. 26, U.S. 97 and Oregon 224. This work is part of the Oregon Transportation Investment Act (OTIA) http://www.odot.state.or.us/otia/otia3index.htm funded program that was created to repair and replace Oregon’s cracked and aging bridges.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 7th, 2005 at 5:05 pm and is filed under Oregon Press Releases, Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.