Route 50 over Route 27

Technical Description:

• Span: 42 ft (2 spans)
• Rise: 10 ft (2 spans)
• Length: 98 ft - 4 in

The Virginia Department of Transportation needed to replace a 60 year-old bridge built by the War Department in 1944. The DOT wanted precast arches to keep the trademark shape of the old bridge while blending in with the existing structures in the corridor.

“Maintaining traffic flow and keeping the arch shape while rehabilitating the Route 50 bridge were goals that presented many new challenges to VDOT,” said Nick Roper, PE, VDOT’s chief bridge engineer for Northern Virginia. “The use of precast concrete arches and innovative construction methods helped assure these goals were accomplished.”

The DOT saved a considerable amount of time and money by reusing the existing foundations. A keyway was added at the top of the pier and abutments to accept the precast bridge units, and supplemental drilled shafts were installed to support the CON/SPAN^® reaction loads.

The traffic demands at this location required each of the four phases of this installation to occur after midnight in an effort to minimize closure of the heavily traveled Route 50 and Route 27. The use of precast arches allowed for each phase of construction to maintain the skewed roadway as well as the safety requirements for traffic crossing over Route 27. Six intermediate precast headwalls were designed to accommodate a New Jersey barrier wall along an eight degree skew. Because the intermediate headwalls were shallow enough, they were left in place and buried after bridge construction was completed.

Technical Description:

• Span: 42 ft (2 spans)
• Rise: 10 ft (2 spans)
• Length: 98 ft - 4 in