Page 11 - Summer 2014 World of Welding

hiwt@welding.org HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY

JACKING UP CORNER OF MILTON-MADISON BRIDGE

WILL ALLOW FOR SLIDE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Workers plan to use jacks to lift the southeast
corner of the new Milton-Madison Bridge steel truss in order
to replace a steel bridge bearing that dislodged on Tuesday,
March 11. This will allow the planned slide of the new steel
truss to proceed. The Milton-Madison Bridge Project is a joint
effort between the Indiana Department of Transportation and
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The new steel truss bridge
is 2,428 feet long and 40 feet wide with two 12-foot lanes and
eight-foot shoulders – twice as wide as the old bridge.

INSPECTIONS

Structural experts with four engineering organizations have
inspected the bridge and determined that the bridge will be
safe to reopen to traffic after it is slid onto permanent piers. Bridge tine girder tie-down modification.
The four organizations are the Kentucky Transportation
Cabinet plus the engineering firms of Buckland & Taylor, Residents are also asked to stay clear of Ferry Street near the
Burgess & Niple, and Michael Baker Corporation. Milton boat ramp and the temporary Ferry Street landing in
Madison.
THE SLIDE
BEARING DISLODGED
Part of
the slide As work was taking place early Tuesday morning, March 11,
involves a a bearing dislodged from pier 2, which is a temporary land
nearly 100- pier on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. Because the
foot concrete bridge will be slid onto permanent piers, sliding harnesses are
bridge needed. The bearing assembly, which is a series of steel plates
section over up to 38-inches square, dislodged as part of the process of
the Milton, installing a sliding harness. All bridges use bearings, which
Ky., river allow a bridge to expand and contract due to weather and other
bank. This factors. The bridge dropped approximately one foot in this
is tentatively Making repairs on the bridge. location, which is the southeast corner of the steel truss.
scheduled to
be slid into place in early April, and will take much of one day CLOSURE
to complete. Preparations are continuing to slide the nearly
half-mile steel truss laterally 55 feet onto permanent piers. U.S. 421 will remain closed across the Ohio River between
The Coast Guard will close the river during the slide. Once Madison, Ind., and Milton until the slide is complete and
the slide is completed, the bridge will remain closed while all roadway connections have been made. The anticipated
crews connect the bridge to the permanent approaches, which opening date was April 17, weather permitting. All traffic
includes welding, pouring concrete, installing expansion joints had been detoured to the Markland Locks and Dam Bridge,
and pavement striping. connecting Kentucky Route 1039 and Indiana State Road 101,
26 miles upstream, or the I-65 Kennedy Bridge in Louisville,
THE FERRY 46 miles downstream.

The ferry has arrived on the scene and will provide UPDATES
transportation across the river for emergency vehicles, such as
an ambulance and one follow vehicle. The Milton boat ramp As updates become available, they will be posted on the
will be closed to allow access for emergency vehicles. project’s website, www.miltonmadisonbridge.com and via
Twitter at twitter.com/mmbridgeproject. The website contains
many photos and the project has been well-documented.

11