Cranes of all different sizes are helping complete a $6.8- million project in the Clinton, MS-area that will mean six new bridges along the historic Natchez Trace Parkway. The project, awarded to T.L. Wallace Construction of Columbia, MS, includes three different designs for the bridges. Two are conventional precast, prestressed concrete girder bridges over the Bogue Chitto Stream and KC Southern Railroad. Two over County Road G and Arrow Drive are voided flat deck bridges. The final two bridges over Pinehaven Drive and West Northside Drive are cast in place, parabolic arch, post- tensioned box girder bridges. Cranes include an American 7260 with a 100-ton (91 t) capacity; an American 7250 with a 60-ton (54 t) capacity and two American 5299 with 50-ton (45 t)) capacities. Other heavy equipment includes a Komatsu Excavator 220. Work began March 2002. Heavy rains in the area pushed the completion date from September 2003 to January, 2004. Approximately 23 people are working on the six bridges Monday through Friday. “It [the rain] has set us back a good bit. But it’s not just the rain, but mud at the site,” said Project Superintendent Johnny Winters. Bob Felker, a landscape architect working as a liaison on the construction, said only the southern terminus of the Trace near Natchez remains to be completed. Many factors go into determining bridge types on the Trace, according to Felker. He said choices are determined by conditions, aesthetics, visibility, wetlands preservation, mandatory vertical and horizontal clearances and other factors. “While bridge types vary substantially from site to site, certain elements of the bridges are the same. Parkway bridge rail designs have evolved over the years and are a ’signature’ element on almost all parkway bridges,” said Felker. “Since these are the bridge elements seen by parkway visitors, many think all our bridges are the same,” said Felker. “Obviously, they are not. Bridges which cross the Natchez Trace Parkway are generally arched in appearance for aesthetic reasons, since the ’arch’ frames the view down the parkway. Even these bridges, which are local or state highways over the parkway, have the Natchez Trace Parkway rail for consistency of design elements. So by careful use of key design elements we maintain the ’parkway’ look to our structures, regardless of the actual bridge type.” Two bridges in the Clinton area that span city streets, including the one on Pinehaven Road will have “Natchez Trace Parkway” on both sides. As for the railroad bridge, Felker noted the options were to raise the height of the structure and approach fills several more feet, or eliminate the need for falsework by using precast beams. The latter alternative was selected. “On the last bridge, AASHTO beams were used to eliminate falsework, because the bridge passes over a wetland area we hoped to preserve. The precast beams preclude the need for falsework installation and removal, minimizing impacts to this wetland area,” he said. Mike Walpert, vice president at T.L. Wallace, is overseeing the construction. He said the grading for the Clinton-area project was done on a previous contract. “The grading contract with a value of $10.6 million was a totally separate contract that included all the earthwork, drainage and aggregate base for the entire section where we are now constructing the bridges. The grading contract was completed and accepted prior to the award of our current bridge contract,” said Walpert. He explained it primarily consisted of 765,106 cu. yds. (585,000 cu. m) of embankment construction and 180,188 sq. yds. (150,660 sq. m) of aggregate base. This isn’t the company’s largest bridge project. “Currently we have 16 projects in progress and an additional eight projects that are substantially complete. Our largest ongoing bridge project is in Harrison County, MS,” Walpert said. The Harrison County project involves two separate contracts with the Mississippi Department of Transportation. “These projects adjoin one another and we are working on them as one project,” said Walpert. He said the two projects begin in the southern part of Harrison County along I-10 and Lorain Road and end in the northern part of Harrison County at U.S. 49 near the Harrison/Stone county line. The total current contract amount is $39.8 million. The projects are slated for completion in the fall of 2004. Specialties of T.L. Wallace include earthwork, sitework, bridges and DBST pavement. In addition to Mississippi, the company is licensed to perform work in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. The company also is working on two other Trace projects, both in nearby Madison County. Walpert said one Madison County project involves reconstruction of roadway and approximately 20 mi. (32 km) of overlay with a cost of $4.6 million. The cost of the second Madison County project is $6.8 million. It is a design/build project in Madison beginning at Highland Colony Road near existing Old Agency Road and proceeding westward for 1.3 mi. (2.1 km). Walpert said the project consists of design of construction of the new Parkway including grading, drainage, base, one parking area and other work. It also includes approximately 1.4 mi. (2.3 km) of design and construction of new relocated Old Agency Road. The design and construction of a new county road bridge over the Parkway also is part of the contract. “Neel-Schaffer Inc. [a Jackson, MS, engineering firm] and T.L. Wallace are working together on this project. Neel-Schaffer is responsible for the design and engineering and Wallace the construction. The design started in June 2002 and estimated construction completion is July 2004. The total number of employers will vary depending on the stage of construction — from five to 30,” said Walpert.
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