Elmore bridge project off to good start
Incidents of high water have not delayed the project
The following is a progress update regarding the state Route 51 (Toledo Street) bridge replacement project in the village of Elmore, Ottawa County. The $5.4 million project will completely replace the bridge that carries state Route 51 over the Portage River. The bridge closed March 16, 2020 for approximately 150 days and is expected to reopen in August of 2020.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (April 17, 2020) - All that remains of the original three-span bridge on state Route 51 (Toledo Street) in the village of Elmore. Its replacement, also a three-span bridge, is off to a good start.
The bridge was closed to traffic on March 16 with demolition beginning shortly after. Crews made quick work of that.
The bridge abutments, which are at each end of the bridge and will support the new beams, are complete.
Roadway work on the north side of the bridge (Harris Township side) is progressing well and the majority of the drainage work on the north side is complete. Crews have also begun with the earthwork to widen the roadway approaching the bridge.
One pier footer is complete and the concrete for a second pier footer was poured on Tuesday. With the pier footers in place, forming for the pier columns can begin, so soon you'll see some structure rising up from the river.
- Here is a photo of the Pier 2 footer (closest to the township side) with the reinforcing steel jutting up. This is the footer that was poured Tuesday. To its left, the existing pier of the former bridge with the rebar bent back is being used as part of the cofferdam to keep the work area dry.
- Those living near the project will continue to hear a generator off and on. The generator is needed to pump water out of the excavation areas during construction of the pier columns. We should only need the generator for a few more weeks until work is out of the river.
|
 |
|
- An ashlar stone pattern, which was chosen by the citizens of Elmore, will be featured on the bridge. This detail will be visible next week on the piers and can be seen here in this photo of the forward abutment (on the Harrison Township side). Also pictured here is a drainage tile which runs to the river. It features a backflow preventer so the river water won’t back up into the pipe during high water.
|
- This rather primitive looking box is an important part of the concrete testing process on the project. Samples of the concrete being used to construct the bridge are taken and kept warm in this box to allow them to cure. Once they're ready, crews break the samples to see if it meets our strength specifications.
|
|
 |
The next big event on the project will occur in mid-May when we anticipate the first beams will be set. Stay tuned.
 |
|
On Deck . . .
questions of curiosity from observers of the project
|
Q. It appears part of the stone causeway within the river has washed away. Will that material be retrieved and will this delay the project?
A. The stone causeway was the first thing constructed on the project. It creates an access from within the river for crews and equipment. The metal pipe visible in the foreground in this picture is part of the causeway. This picture is looking south into town. Here, crews are back filling along the front of the new abutment.
Despite losing part of the causeway to high water, we've been able to replace the stone and continue to work. We do not anticipate this will cause a delay to the overall project.
Regarding the retrieval of the stone, we are required to adhere to the restrictions of a waterway permit. The permit prohibits us from retrieving the stone now as no instream work is allowed between March 15 and June 30 due to fish spawning. After June 30, we will retrieve as much material as possible while leaving the river bottom. Losing stone to high water is a common occurrence on bridge projects, such as this.
|
Visit the project website and see a live view from our camera. A new photo is taken every 15 minutes Monday-Saturday, between 7 a.m.-5 p.m.:
Elmore bridge website
Like us on Facebook:
ODOT District 2 Facebook
Information regarding the project will be prefaced with #ElmoreBridge
Follow us on Twitter:
ODOT District 2 Twitter
Information regarding the project will be prefaced with #ElmoreBridge
Contact: ODOT District 2's public information office
(419) 373-4428; D02.PIO@dot.ohio.gov
Know Before You Go!
For more detailed traffic information, and to get personalized traffic alerts for your commute, download the OHGO app or visit OHGO.com.
|
|
