Jacking up an overpass. That's not a jack... (imagine the Crocodile Dundee line)

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Which overpass?
I'll be out your way Saturday, doing a few observatory jobs between Cat Spring and the club dark site West of Columbus.

Dude, there are some kick ass roads out by Cat Spring

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

The bridge:

That's a beautiful bridge. The DOT signs don't do it any favors, but still very nice.

[masraum]

Over the past 2 nights, they've installed 2 more of the big jacks, either side of the pedestal support in the median. So now all of the required jacks are (I think) in place. I guess tonight will be prep, and then tomorrow night will be the big event or at least, the beginning of it. I'm going to be watching when I drive under in on both sides on Fri!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

I had a project that lifted 6 bridges 3 feet higher.

I seriously think improving clearances for a mobile military was a motivating factor. on paper, it was called Sea level rise. but this was in Vallejo? way inland. haha..

the best part of these projects. it was an impossible task to keep the public out. they would walk on the bridge, jump up the 3 foot, freshly lifted bridge, walk across and jump down. it was like clockwork. they would go thru any fence. hahha...I quit caring.

Very cool! That's what I'm most curious about, how much they're going to lift this bridge.

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

This seems like a good time to put up a video of the 11' 8" bridge, (with a mellifluous Ozzy describing the phenomenon)

LMAO! 11'8" bridge is awesome, and the guy that installed the webcam should be given a medal or knighted or something.
The only way that could have been better was if it had been "Ozzyman". It would have been the ideal compilation for one of his "Destination FSCKed" videos.

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

^^^^^

There is a bridge on the George Washington Parkway on the way to Mount Vernon. It is old stone and arched and one of the reasons trucks AND busses are not permitted on the Parkway (not that such prohibition stops tourist busses).

In 2019 I was heading home and saw this guy in a brand new delivery truck had decided to not obey the signs. Dude was sitting in the truck knowing his job was toast.

The bridge:

Wow! Ouch!

Originally Posted by Tobra

Dude, there are some kick ass roads out by Cat Spring

yep. I love when we're going someplace that allows me to take some of the back roads around here.

[TimT]

When Robert Moses developed the Parkway system around NYC and Long Island in the 1930, they specifically built stone arch bridges to prevent buses from the inner city from being able to access Long Islands Parks and countryside (Robert Caro, The Power Broker) We still have many low clearance bridges on the parkways, which remain passenger vehicle only roadways.. occasionally an errant semi or truck access the parkways... the trucks always lose...Not only is the truck usually destroyed... The State Troopers show no mercy handing tickets to the drivers...

If you can find a contract number on those plan sheets you should be able to find the RFP for the scope of work.. I can't make out the numbers on the existing vs planned sections, but that alone can tell you a lot about the work...

Again... the actual jacking of the structure is yawn inducing.. Many people get overly excited So much prep work is done before Jacking pressure for each jack are calculated.. survey telltales placed... Each jack has a pressure gauge fed by a manifold with shut off valves for each jack..

One of the main concerns is not introducing unwanted stresses into the existing structure..I.E. if one jack is overpressure, and the surveyor shows the deck is not moving at one location... Did someone forget to cut a weld or release a keeper?

Avoiding making the deck look like a monkey saddle is important.

[herr_oberst]

^ There are just SO many occupations represented on PPOT.

The idea that Navin Johnson has invented eyeglass pushers, AND can do highway and bridge lifting calculations isn't lost on me.
Who knows what other kinds of jobs he might be telling us about someday?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by TimT

When Robert Moses developed the Parkway system around NYC and Long Island in the 1930, they specifically built stone arch bridges to prevent buses from the inner city from being able to access Long Islands Parks and countryside (Robert Caro, The Power Broker) We still have many low clearance bridges on the parkways, which remain passenger vehicle only roadways.. occasionally an errant semi or truck access the parkways... the trucks always lose...Not only is the truck usually destroyed... The State Troopers show no mercy handing tickets to the drivers...

If you can find a contract number on those plan sheets you should be able to find the RFP for the scope of work.. I can't make out the numbers on the existing vs planned sections, but that alone can tell you a lot about the work...

Again... the actual jacking of the structure is yawn inducing.. Many people get overly excited So much prep work is done before Jacking pressure for each jack are calculated.. survey telltales placed... Each jack has a pressure gauge fed by a manifold with shut off valves for each jack..

One of the main concerns is not introducing unwanted stresses into the existing structure..I.E. if one jack is overpressure, and the surveyor shows the deck is not moving at one location... Did someone forget to cut a weld or release a keeper?

Avoiding making the deck look like a monkey saddle is important.

Interesting stuff. The only trucks that I can understand hitting low bridges are trucks that have been rented and are driven by folks not used to driving something where you have to worry about the height.

But when you make a monkey saddle, that's when things get exciting! LOL

[TimT]

Its The "Optigrab"

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by TimT

Its The "Optigrab"

[masraum]

In case anyone is curious, I think the bridge ended up getting lifted at least 2-3'. As you drive under it, it looks like it was lifted 12-18", but I'm pretty sure that the bridge is quite thick and so it's like the signs on the interstate that don't look very big but are actually 4' x 5'.

WHat do we think this dimension is? Because I think the bridge was lifted 35-45% of that dimension. I'm assuming that dimension is probably several feet.

[TimT]

The barrier on top of the bridge is typically 32"

The portion below the barrier appears to be equally as thick.

It looks like the construction is precast/post-tensioned beams say 24"

then a reinforced deck (6-12")

Something is not adding up in my eye regarding the picture... its hard to tell if the barrier was pre-cast, or formed in place..

but OA Id say 5-6'

is the bridge still in service?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by TimT

The barrier on top of the bridge is typically 32"

The portion below the barrier appears to be equally as thick.

It looks like the construction is precast/post-tensioned beams say 24"

then a reinforced deck (6-12")

Something is not adding up in my eye regarding the picture... its hard to tell if the barrier was pre-cast, or formed in place..

but OA Id say 5-6'

is the bridge still in service?

OK, and thank you for the info. I'd say that the bridge was probably raised ~2' - 2.5' then (assuming 5-6' total thickness). I'll try to take a closer look when I come home tomorrow to see how much of the barrier is above the previous level.

No, the bridge is not in service. The announcement that I saw said that it would probably be out of service for several months (2 or 4, I think).

Both ends of the bridge are raised by quite a bit (2-2.5' I would guess) from the road bed on either end of the bridge.

[masraum]

When I drove past yesterday, it looks like the bridge is currently lifted the height of the side barriers (32"). And it looks like they are working on building up the two earthen bits at either end of the bridge.

This is the latest update.

Tomorrow night, we plan on dropping the FM 806 bridge crossing IH 10 on newly constructed pedestal caps. There will be a necessary slow roll mobile operation for traffic on IH 10 to assist with the safety and traffic control of the public.

The plan is to 1) drop the spans over the IH 10 eastbound mainlanes and then 2) move to the westbound mainlanes. The contractor would like to complete this work within Friday night (7/11/25) but may need to push the second unit drop to Saturday night (7/12/25). Both unit drops will require a slow roll on IH 10.