This project involved a fast track rehabilitation of one-and-a-half miles of elevated bridge in Houston. The work included demolition of the superstructure on 1.6 miles of the northbound bridge (386,500 square feet) and removal of 58 concrete caps and 13 steel caps. The project included new precast concrete and steel caps, precast and steel beams, precast deck panels, and a 4-inch poured-in-place deck. Because the northbound and southbound bridges shared a common substructure, extensive temporary shoring was required to allow demolition of the northbound bridge while maintaining traffic on the adjacent southbound structure. After completion of the northbound bridge, traffic was routed onto it while the southbound structure was replaced.
The contract had two 95-day shutdown periods during which the northbound and southbound structures were required to be reconstructed. The contract provided a bonus payment of $53,000/day for early completion, and a penalty of $53,000/day for late completion. Traylor Bros., Inc. completed the reconstruction of the northbound bridge in 88 days and the southbound bridge in 72 days, allowing us to earn the maximum bonus of $1.59 million (the largest-ever early completion bonus offered by TXDOT).