Bellemont I-40 Bridge

On March 18, 2019, Fisher was awarded the Bellemont traffic interchange project on Interstate 40. Located approximately 11 miles west of Flagstaff, Arizona, the original contract required demolition and replacement of the superstructure and approach slabs of the two bridges spanning over East Bound and West Bound Interstate 40. Each bridge deck would be constructed in nine precast sections, and each approach slab would be constructed in three precast sections. These new “Frankenstein” bridge decks would be constructed within ten days during which, I-40 (a major roadway) would be closed with traffic redirected to the on and off-ramps.

Fisher’s proposed alternative was to construct a one-piece bridge deck on engineered false-work directly adjacent to the existing structures and perform a hydraulic jack and slide operation to move the newly constructed bridge decks into place and replace the demoed bridge decks. We proposed to accelerate the construction process and limit the impacts to the local businesses and rural community of Bellemont by completing the bridge demolition and replacement operations over a single weekend. 

From mid-July through September, the project team prepared for our big closure weekend by performing the demolition of the existing dados and wing walls, false-work grading and erection, and bridge deck construction including a new barrier. On Friday, October 4th, at 6:00 p.m., Fisher closed I-40 and placed all traffic on the existing on and off-ramps. We simultaneously commenced with the demolition of both East and West Bound bridge structures using four excavators equipped with multi-processing tools to crush the concrete and cut the reinforcement and two excavators equipped with hammers.

In addition, the concrete workforce began stripping the false work from the newly placed bridge decks and removing the rubble from under the bridges. The existing concrete bridge decks  and steel girders were removed. The team prepared the girder seats, installed bearing pads and began the hydraulic jacking and slide operations. By Monday at 6:00 a.m. the new bridge decks were in their proper resting place, all rubble was removed from I-40, and both East and West Bound lanes were opened to traffic. The project team continued to work on installing the new precast approach slabs with ultra-high-performance joints. By Tuesday evening, construction of both bridges over I-40 was complete.

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