With the recent completion of the I35W Bridge in Minneapolis, we have resumed a more civilized lifestyle. The demanding pace of this fast track project put enormous strain on all who participated. The payoff was completion of a $237M project in about 10 months resulting in a substantial early completion bonus for the contractor. For our part, the usual challenges of segmental bridge construction were compounded by a design-build environment in which the design seemed to be only minutes ahead of construction.

Data preparation for the project included pre-cast segment geometry, erection geometry, and cambered digital terrain models for the various phases of the cast-in-place spans. For the as-cast surveys, we developed a unique trilateration approach and used statistical methods to achieve a high degree of precision in horizontal tracking. This method had the added advantage of not requiring a clear line of sight down the length of the casting beds, something that would have been difficult in the harsh Minnesota winter.

In spite of the long hours and a renewed addiction to caffeine, it was a pleasure working with the Flatiron/Manson construction team and Figg Engineering on this high-profile project.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 8:11 pm and is filed under December 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.