Prep work is underway for the next phase of the I-471 bridge project. The approach to the bridge was damaged beyond repair by a fire Nov. 1.
Replacement steel beams were installed starting in mid-January, and rebar has been put in place. Project Manager Tom Hackett says crews have been building enclosures to warm the bridge up for the first of two concrete pours. A smaller pour after the first will act as a connector to existing concrete.
“We don’t want to pour warm concrete against a cold girder,” he says. “We’ve been monitoring the temperature in our heated enclosure for the past couple of days. After we pour the concrete, we’ll cover it with more blankets to encapsulate the enclosure and then we’ll be able to monitor that during the cure period as well.”
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Concrete has to cure between 50 and 100 degrees. Hackett says it will take about a week for that to happen.
Hackett says typically a deck pour is done in warmer weather.
“It’s not something we’re not used to or haven’t done before," he says. "Ideally it’s not at this time of year.”
Hackett says the actual pour should only take six hours. It hasn't been scheduled yet. He expects the deck to require 260 cubic yards of concrete.
ODOT says the bridge should be reopened in March.
