Glenn Highway bridge reroute extended after crews find deep concrete damage
The lane closures and detour onto the southbound bridge will now last into July.
What you need to know:
- Lane closures and a detour on the Glenn Highway at Peters Creek will remain in place until mid-July because crews must complete additional repairs on the decades-old bridge span.
- Crews discovered extensive deterioration in the northbound Peters Creek bridge deck while removing concrete last month. Officials abandoned plans to resurface the bridge and instead are replacing the entire deck.
- Northbound traffic will continue using narrow lanes on the southbound bridge during construction. More than 38,000 vehicles travel northbound through the area each day.
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Lane closures and a detour on a major Glenn Highway bridge construction project will be extended until mid-July as crews completely replace the deck after finding extensive concrete damage, state transportation officials said.
Restoration plans for the northbound span of the nearly 60-year-old Peters Creek bridge initially called for removing and replacing several inches of concrete, then applying a smooth overlay, said Jason Lamoreaux, an Alaska Department of Transportation construction manager overseeing the project. That process was expected to take 45 days.
But when crews began removing the concrete with high-pressure water, they found damage so extensive that the process created holes in the bridge deck, he said.
“It actually started punching holes through the deck in places,” he said. “We knew it was aged and worn in places and needed some help, but it was more extensive than what we had initially anticipated.”
Rather than making temporary repairs that could have extended the span’s life by five to 10 years, state officials decided to replace the entire bridge deck, adding about six weeks to the project timeline, he said.
“We're going to actually pour a new concrete deck in place,” he said. “Drivers will see plywood formwork, then rebar installed, and then concrete poured, just like you would pour a sidewalk or a driveway.”
The changes add about $1.5 million to the $20 million federally funded project, which also covered work on the Knik River bridges last year.
Unlike that project, which overhauled both the northbound and southbound spans, the Peters Creek bridge project covers only the northbound side. The southbound side, built in the early 1990s, does not need those repairs because it is much newer, he said.
Crews will continue diverting northbound drivers into narrow lanes on the southbound span for the duration of the project. Drivers should expect slowdowns as they navigate the construction zone.
More than 38,000 vehicles travel northbound through the area each day, according to state traffic data.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com