The swift demolition and rebuilding of the Broadway bridge is garnering national notice for the $98.6 million project.
The Arkansas River crossing between downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock is one of a dozen finalists for the 2017 America's Transportation Awards, a competition sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AAA, the North American travel club.
The projects are competing for the national grand prize and the People's Choice Award. The winner of the latter is determined by online voting that began Monday and continues until midnight Sept. 21. Both awards come with a $10,000 check for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of the winners' choosing.
The 12 projects were among the three highest-scoring in four regional contests held across the United States.
[THEN AND NOW: Compare the new and old Broadway bridge]
"We're honored to be a part of this competition," said Scott Bennett, director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation. "In addition to being a memorial to our military veterans, the new Broadway bridge is an iconic part of the downtown areas of Little Rock and North Little Rock."
The state Department of Transportation entered the Broadway bridge under the category "best use of technology and innovation." Agency officials believe that it is the first such project in Arkansas to be named a finalist.
Agency officials decided to replace the span after the bridge was found to be "structurally deficient" and the cost to renovate it was too high. The department said that with 24,000 vehicles using the bridge daily, it was "imperative to minimize the closure period."
Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City was awarded the contract to replace the bridge. The firm said the span would be closed no longer than 180 days, and its contract contained incentives and disincentives for meeting that 180-day goal.
Massman used special equipment to install drilled shaft foundations for the new bridge under the existing one, keeping the old bridge open to traffic for as long as possible.
It also accelerated construction by pre-assembling the new span's arches off-site, then floating them into place on barges, according to the department.
Included in the project was implosion of the old bridge and removal of the resulting debris from the river bottom.
The result was the new bridge opening to traffic 28 days ahead of schedule, the department said. The new span features four lanes, a bicycle/pedestrian path and two basket-handle arches.
"The combination of innovative methods and techniques allowed the bridge to be opened ahead of an already ambitious schedule resulting in a final product that exceeded the expectations of the traveling public," the department said in submitting the bridge for award consideration.
Bennett said he was proud of the teamwork involved in the design and construction of the new bridge. "They got the job done on time and only closed the bridge to traffic for 152 days. That's quite an accomplishment."
The department initially estimated that the bridge would be closed to traffic for as long as 18 months. The fact that it wasn't was a testament to the design and construction, and a relief to commuters and to city traffic managers on both sides of the river.
"This ability to plan around a known time frame of closure greatly diminished confusion for the traveling public, and as a result minimized potential traffic congestion in the city's downtown area," said Jon Honeywell, the Little Rock public works director.
Also in the competition are projects from Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana and Virginia.
The District of Columbia and 38 states submitted a record 92 projects for nomination, according to Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
The competition's grand prize will be determined by an independent panel of transportation industry experts.
The People's Choice Award winner will be determined through online voting by the general public. Online votes will be weighted to take into account each state's population, allowing for a more even competition among the states.
The winners will be announced at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual meeting Sept. 27 in Phoenix.
The public can vote at http://AmericasTransportationAwards.org. Individuals can vote once a day.
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Photos by Brandon Riddle
Photos by Brandon Riddle
Metro on 08/23/2017