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BHAM I-59/20 to be closed for over a year.

jthomas666

jthomas666

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Aug 14, 2002
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Birmingham & Warner Robins
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[FONT=&quot]Interstate 59/20 through downtown Birmingham will close for an estimated 14 months beginning in mid- to late-January of 2019, according to the Alabama Department of Transportation, as contractors work to rebuild the aging interstate bridges running through the heart of the city.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]If the closures proceed on schedule, the interstate would reopen in March 2020, with the entire project expected to be completed by November 2020.[/FONT]
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Never thought I'd be in a position to look forward to ATL traffic...
 
Yeah, it's a span of less than a mile, and painful though it will be, the project is 100% necessary. The thing is literally about to collapse. There used to be parking under the span, but it was closed a few years ago due to chunks of concrete and steel falling.

It really should have been done long ago.

Mrs. Basket Case and I don't use it much, so it won't affect us directly. We will, however be greatly affected by all the detoured traffic, especially on I-459.
 
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They are basically shifting the through traffic over to Finley Blvd. This is going to be an absolute disaster. I sincerely hope they work 24/7 on this and at least try to open it back up in stages. Say get the eastbound lanes done and open and let it go then finish the westbound or vice versus. I know they won’t but a guy can hope. It’s bad enough when someone has an accident but add that to too much traffic funneled on to too little road and it’s a recipe for absolute disaster.
 
Well they can work faster then you think if there are incentives. When the bridge burned down in the early 2000's they redone that in record time. You can work 24/7 with lights they have now and get it done. Had to do Finley blvd in that period and it sucked then, can't see how it will improve now. Will not argue that it needs done.
 
The problem is the time they have to wait between concrete pours. I think it’s 21 days they have to let it cure before they crush the test cylinders. If it passes, they can continue. The deal with the burned bridge was that a special deal was cut by the concrete provider (USA Concrete I think) where they said if it didn’t pass the crush test then they’d eat the cost to tear it all out and reform/repour.
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crimson fan man said:
Well they can work faster then you think if there are incentives. When the bridge burned down in the early 2000's they redone that in record time. You can work 24/7 with lights they have now and get it done. Had to do Finley blvd in that period and it sucked then, can't see how it will improve now. Will not argue that it needs done.
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AlistarWills said:
The problem is the time they have to wait between concrete pours. I think it’s 21 days they have to let it cure before they crush the test cylinders. If it passes, they can continue. The deal with the burned bridge was that a special deal was cut by the concrete provider (USA Concrete I think) where they said if it didn’t pass the crush test then they’d eat the cost to tear it all out and reform/repour.
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The design strength of concrete is considered to be 28 days. You don't have to wait for the 28 day test to proceed with construction....generally. Bridge construction may have different requirements though.

The 7 day break pretty much tells you where the concrete will be at 28 days.
 
AlistarWills said:
The problem is the time they have to wait between concrete pours. I think it’s 21 days they have to let it cure before they crush the test cylinders. If it passes, they can continue. The deal with the burned bridge was that a special deal was cut by the concrete provider (USA Concrete I think) where they said if it didn’t pass the crush test then they’d eat the cost to tear it all out and reform/repour.
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The special deal was with Brasfield and Gorrie. They negotiated a huge bonus for each day they were early and a huge penalty for each day that they were late.

If the concrete cylinders fail, the batch plant generally has to pay to replace what was done. That's not a special deal for the bridge, that's how it generally works in all of the construction that I've dealt with. In 25 years as a structural engineer, I can think of maybe 2-4x that concrete has ever had to be removed and replaced on a project that I've been involved with. Concrete coming up far enough below strength that it has to be removed is extremely rare.
 
2000 years old and still standing. Do as the Romans. You just can't beat an arch.

400.jpg
 
dayhiker said:
The special deal was with Brasfield and Gorrie. They negotiated a huge bonus for each day they were early and a huge penalty for each day that they were late.

If the concrete cylinders fail, the batch plant generally has to pay to replace what was done. That's not a special deal for the bridge, that's how it generally works in all of the construction that I've dealt with. In 25 years as a structural engineer, I can think of maybe 2-4x that concrete has ever had to be removed and replaced on a project that I've been involved with. Concrete coming up far enough below strength that it has to be removed is extremely rare.
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I have a one car garage set on a slab which we laid when it was over 100F. On top of it, the driver got lost and ended up out north of Huntsville in Cherokee Hills instead of Cherokee Dr. He had to add water. The only finishers were me, my wife and a friend. Fortunately, an architect friend lives around the corner and he and his wife were listening for the concrete truck to come by. They arrived shortly in his pickup with bull floats, Darbies, the works. So our crew jumped to five. I had no high hopes for the strength of that concrete at all, given the circumstances, having to add water, etc. However, later, when I went back to try to set some flashing in the edge of the lower side, I couldn't get anything in with the strongest .22 loads. It is some of the hardest concrete I've ever seen...
 
dayhiker said:
The special deal was with Brasfield and Gorrie. They negotiated a huge bonus for each day they were early and a huge penalty for each day that they were late.
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I read somewhere that the same applies to this job, $250,000 per day done early and the same is owed if late.

EDIT: It was in the story, duh!
 
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This is going to be a nightmare! Wishing everyone that has to travel the detour patience.

I live in Ohio and the Southern Ohio Veteran's Highway aka the Portsmouth Bypass opened last Friday for traffic. We have a 16.7 mile route with over 20 bridges that was built in 3 years and 16 days.
 
Mobile message boards have been put up and some covered detour signs are in place.
I’m having trouble figuring out where the Eastbound traffic is supposed to get back on the interstate at 31/Red Mtn. Right now everything is blocked off there and I can’t tell where and entrance ramp is.
The demo of the existing bridge is going to be interesting. May have to be a “surgical” removal. They’ve been building the towers out under the existing bridges for months now. Can’t just come in and pull it down.
 
I have to go to the BJCC in January. I think I'll be taking Valley Avenue to 18th/Arrington over the mountain and then finding a way under 20/59. Gonna be a mess.
 
I don’t think you’ll be going under 59/20 anywhere near your destination. Might I suggest taking the 1st exit north of the junction and hanging a right. Will dump you out at the BJCC.
lowend said:
I have to go to the BJCC in January. I think I'll be taking Valley Avenue to 18th/Arrington over the mountain and then finding a way under 20/59. Gonna be a mess.
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I don’t get to Bham much so is this at malfunction junction where they are working? Wondering if I’ll have to do a detour to get on 20 to head towards Atlanta.
 
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