I-75 Emergency Bridge Repair

Client: Florida Department of Transportation

Location: North Port, Florida

Services: Transportation engineering, construction management and inspection, structural design and inspection

Minutes before daybreak on February 2, 2004, a tanker truck carrying 7,400 gallons of gas and diesel fuel through a foggy section of I-75 near North Port, Florida, struck a guard rail, flipped, and exploded, killing the driver. Heat and flames enveloped the Big Slough Canal Bridge, devastating the 540-foot structure and blackening 100 yards of highway. Within hours of the tragedy, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), District One, opened the highway to northbound traffic, detoured southbound traffic west to US 41, and closed the southbound lanes for emergency repairs.

As the firm providing oversight construction engineering and inspection (CEI) services for FDOT on the I-75 widening project, KCI Technologies responded quickly. By 8:00 p.m., KCI’s project administrator e-mailed the first of what would be daily progress reports to FDOT leaders and the emergency repair team, noting that APAC Southeast, Inc., had begun clearing and grubbing for a temporary detour through the north- and southbound median. Throughout the night, Zep Construction prepared the damaged structural members for demolition.

During the next two days, Southern Waste Services began excavating contaminated soils from the site and Zep Construction removed the bridge decking and beams, while cutting and slicing the piles. APAC delivered the first of 500 truckloads of fill material—nearly 5,700 cubic yards—to build the temporary crossover through the median. The team also added 3,867 square yards of a geofabric liner to stabilize the area. Traffic Control Products, meanwhile, installed signage for the new maintenance of traffic (MOT) plans and began restriping and placing barrier walls for the detours, based on MOT drawings by the design engineer, EC Driver & Associates.

With motorists flooding onto the 20-mile US 41 detour and traffic delays through local business districts approaching five hours, FDOT was intent on getting travelers back on the Interstate. Nearly one-third of the entire bridge needed to be demolished and rebuilt, including three piles, 15 beams supporting the deck, three bridge deck panels, and new barrier walls. Simultaneously, crews scrambled to finish the crossover detour, reducing northbound traffic from two lanes to one to accommodate the new traffic pattern. With the help of an early morning rain that cooled the fresh asphalt, a southbound lane opened to motorists at 7:50 a.m. on February 6th.

The emergency repair team worked around the clock during the weekend of February 7-8, setting beams and placing steel and concreteforms for the bridge deck. In monitoring the CEI services performed by the design-build contractor, KCI inspectors served as FDOT’s eyes and ears, keeping excellent records that provided minute by minute accounts of who was on site, what was happening, and the quantities of materials used. Nobody left the site till the job was done, and everyone—FDOT, contractors, designers, inspectors—pulled together, with daily, 9:00 a.m. meetings keeping everyone abreast of task assignments.

On Monday, February 9th shortly before 11:00 a.m., crews began placing concrete for the bridge deck, finishing at 2:45 p.m. The next day, workers set barrier walls, placed and tied reinforcing steel for the bridge rail, spread embankment material in excavated areas, and added striping for the southbound traffic realignment.

FDOT reopened one lane of southbound I-75 on Wednesday, February 11th, at 8:50 p.m. and a second lane on Thursday at 5:00 a.m. Hours later at 12:10 p.m., crews completed the final MOT patterns for reopening the northbound lane, which had been accommodating southbound traffic. After setting 15 bridge beams, laying 1,530 tons of asphalt, and moving almost 15,500 linear feet of barrier wall, the bridge was operational. Workers had expended 6,350 hours in a record 11 days to restore the structure. In comparison, it took 18 days to reopen nearby Salt Creek Bridge when it was similarly damaged in 1996.

On February 13th, FDOT District One Secretary Ricky A. Langley, PE, e-mailed KCI Project Administrator Kiko Villarreal, thanking KCI for its efforts. “I wanted to let you know what a great job you did in preparing the updates…(which) were brief but full of information, just as they should be. A few were actually forwarded to Governor Bush.” Langley added, “I also want to thank everyone else for their dedication and efforts during this crisis. What an incredible accomplishment!”

The following week, KCI met with representatives from FDOT District Seven to share lessons learned from the project. Then on April 14th, Secretary Langley presented KCI with a certificate of appreciation at the District One Quarterly Contractor’s Meeting. The certificate recognized the inspectors’ “extraordinary efforts and dedication to the expeditious repair of the I-75 Big Slough Bridge. Their outstanding commitment and prompt action contributed to the phenomenal 11 day success of this project.”

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