Lake County (Indiana) Bridge 241 rehabilitation and construction inspection

Project Summary

Lake County, Indiana, selected Hanson to conduct a study of Bridge 241, which carries Kennedy Avenue over the Grand Calumet River, and provide a design for the bridge’s rehabilitation. The study involved analyzing methods to best repair the structure’s 34 interior piles, and engineers provided standard rehabilitation procedures for the bridge's superstructure and roadway approaches. Hanson also was awarded construction inspection services for the project.

Bridge 241's repairs included:

  • new asphalt pavement alongside the bridge's approach slabs
  • replacing 3 feet of decking to construct the new bridge railing
  • new bridge railing and bridge rail transitions
  • new end treatment and curved terminal end treatments
  • new reinforced concrete bridge approaches
  • modifying existing end bents to an integral/semi-integral configuration
  • new surface seal approach slabs
  • full-depth or partial-depth patching to entire bridge decking
  • Surface milling of the existing deck in preparation for new overlay
  • new bridge deck overlay
  • filling scour hole in the channel with riprap
  • interior pile repair

Engineers conducted a field inspection of the bridge site, with the primary objective of visually inspecting the various structural elements. Hanson's scope of services included a topographic survey of the project corridor along Kennedy Avenue from 250 feet north of the existing bridge to 250 feet south of the current structure. Surveys included the location of all existing storm and sanitary structures within the project limits. Project team engineers also developed a maintenance-of-traffic plan and performed utility coordination, geotechnical evaluations and pile-integrity testing.

Environmental services included a site reconnaissance survey and wetland and waters delineation of the project area, as well as a Global Positioning System delineation of wetland boundaries.

Hanson engineers developed an innovative solution to repair the structure’s interior bents: a fiberglass reinforced plastic wrap pile jacket system, a proprietary item used for the first time on a project in the State of Indiana.