Contractors Complete Key Phase of 17th Street Bridge

Mon June 30, 2003
G.W. Hall

Contractors involved in building Atlanta’s new 17th Street Bridge reached a major milestone recently when they set the last of the structure’s 48 steel beams in place.

“The beam setting operations have been as smooth as we could have imagined,” said Mickey McGee, metro district construction engineer of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). “We owe a big ’thank you’ to our contractors, to Mother Nature, and to Atlanta’s drivers, who heard the construction messages and avoided the area during work times.”

The contractors working on the bridge include crews from C.W. Matthews Contracting Company Inc., Marietta, GA, and APAC-Georgia of Smyrna, GA. C.W. Matthews leased the crane it used during the beam-setting portion of the project from ALL Crane Rental of Georgia Inc., located in Austell, GA.

“We provided a 300-ton Manitowoc 2250 Series crawler crane with a 150-foot main boom,” said Larry Freckmann, general manager of the ALL Crane branch in Atlanta. “C.W. Matthews also utilized some of its own special lifting attachments in the girder-setting process.”

“The steel erection was a joint venture between C.W. Matthews and V&M Erectors of Pembroke Pines, FL,” said Peter Feininger, vice president of C.W. Matthews. “Vern Nix, president of V&M Erectors, personally directed the lifts.”

Placement of the final 260,000-lb. girder represented the last step in a crucial 10-week phase of the $130-million project, which began in January 2002.

The initial phase of the project involved grading, erecting barrier and retaining walls, blasting rock that workers found in unexpected places and substructure construction. During this phase, crews from C.W. Matthews and APAC-Georgia moved more than 350,000 cu. yds. (267,600 cu m) of earth, 50,000 cu. yds. (38,200 cu m) of which was rock.

To handle the heavy lifting associated with the retaining wall and bridge substructure work, C.W. Matthews used two 110-ton (99.8 t) Link-Belt LS 218 cranes and an American 5300 crane. The company purchased its Link- Belt machinery from Atlantic & Southern Equipment (previously known as Owsley Equipment Company) and its American crane from Moody Equipment (formerly R.S. Armstrong).

APAC also committed an impressive array of machinery to the earth-moving chores associated with the 17th Street Bridge. This equipment included a Caterpillar 345 excavator, a Hitachi 550LC excavator, two Komatsu 300 excavators, a Komatsu 400 excavator, a Caterpillar 330 excavator, a Caterpillar 12 G motorgrader, a Caterpillar 140H motorgrader, two Caterpillar IT28B loaders, two Caterpillar D350 articulated rear dump trucks, and six Volvo A25C articulated rear dump trucks. Other equipment included four rollers and two water trucks.

APAC acquired its Caterpillar machinery from Yancey Brothers, obtained its Komatsu excavators from Tractor & Equipment Company-Stith Division, and purchased its Volvo and Hitachi equipment from Metrac. Each of these equipment dealers has multiple sales and service operations in the Metro Atlanta area.

In addition to site preparation work on both sides of the I-75/I-85 downtown connector, APAC-Georgia’s initial work also involved excavating and putting in shoring to enable Sunbelt Structures, another subcontractor for the joint venture partners, to extend the Orme Street sewer 750 ft. (227 m) beneath the construction zone. The city of Atlanta required construction of a 10-ft. by 10-ft. (3 by 3 m) box culvert as a condition for allowing GDOT to have access to the right of way.

Sunbelt Structures began working on the sewer line extension during the first week of March 2002, and completed its portion of the project in May of that year. In order to complete the work as rapidly as possible, Sunbelt crews worked on both ends of the line simultaneously.

Because it could not shut down or detour the existing line, Sunbelt’s crew had to stage its work and use bypass pumping to detour the flow as it completed each segment. The new sewer line required approximately 1,500 yds. (1371.6 m) of concrete, which was supplied by Thomas Concrete

Sunbelt Structures brought in two Link-Belt 108H cranes, two Caterpillar 325 excavators, and a Caterpillar D5 bulldozer to assist in its efforts. Like the prime contractors on the job, Sunbelt obtained its Link-Belt cranes from Atlantic & Southern Equipment and its Caterpillar equipment from Yancey Brothers.

Another key phase of the project involved erecting pilings and pouring the caps that would support the bridge’s immense girders. Workers from C.W. Matthews and APAC-Georgia had to work in close proximity to existing on- and off-ramps as it built the immense end bents for the bridge.

The contractors also had to erect several hundred yards of safety barriers to cordon off a work area between the northbound and southbound lanes of Atlanta’s busiest stretch of roadway. Crews then had to maneuver equipment into these areas.

Yet, the beam-setting process represented the greatest challenge in terms of traffic control. In February 2003, GDOT announced an aggressive construction schedule that called for the girders to be placed over the connector on weekend nights.

With lane closings scheduled over 10 weeks, department officials committed to keeping the public informed by displaying messages on overhead signs, staying in contact with the Atlanta media, updating information on the department’s Web site and toll-free phone line, and disseminating construction alerts to area community and business organizations.

These efforts resulted in a dramatic decrease in traffic during construction times. In fact, traffic on some nights decreased as much as 55-percent compared with normal non-construction evenings.

“We asked motorists to avoid the construction area by using alternative routes or delaying their trips to a nonconstruction time,” said Vicki Gavalas, GDOT director of communications. “As a result, most nights saw only minor delays, if there were any at all. Our message was heard and obviously people paid attention.”

At one point during the work, contractors also had to construct a raised pad in the middle of the I-75 southbound HOV lane to support the crane. The pad was necessary because of a steep slope in that area.

The upcoming phase of construction will involve touch-up painting of the girders, after which contractors will begin pouring the bridge deck. GDOT currently has no lane closures scheduled for this portion, but cautions that additional closures may become necessary during future phases of construction.

In the end, however, officials from GDOT, C.W. Matthews, APAC-Georgia, and other contractors involved in the project believe the effort and inconvenience will be well worth the trouble. When completed, the 17th Street Bridge will be one of the city’s most unique spans.

“This design has a modern look that blends in with the adjacent existing and anticipated development,” said GDOT Urban Design Engineer Joe Palladi. “This bridge will handle the anticipated traffic from Midtown to the Home Park area and the Atlantic Station development.”

From end to end, the completed structure will measure 829 ft. (252.7 m) and have a width of 113 ft. (34.4 m). A canopy-covered, 22-ft. (6.7 m) wide sidewalk will run along the south side of the bridge, which also will feature a 24-ft. (7.3 m) lane for future rail transit, two 18-ft. (5.5 m) wide bus or bicycle lanes, and four 11-ft. (3.4 m) wide lanes for vehicular traffic. A 30-ft. (9.1 m) wide sidewalk will run along the north side of the bridge.

State-of-the-art intersection designs and streetscapes at the approaches on the east and west sides of the bridge will channel pedestrians onto the bridge structure. In addition, C.W. Matthews and APAC-Georgia will put in more than 5,600 ft. (1,706.9 m) of curb and gutter, and more than 4,700 ft. (1,432.6 m) of storm drain.

GDOT officials expect the bridge to be open to traffic by late 2003. The completed structure will contain more than 7.2 million lbs. (3.3 million kg) of structural steel, 3 million lbs. (1.4 million kg) of reinforcing steel, and 20,000 cu. yds. (15,300 cu m) of concrete.

The department currently expects work on the bridge to be completed by December 31, 2003.

This story also appears on Crane Equipment Guide.