Construction crews are completing the tricky process of placing large bridge beams over State Road 11 and the Louisville & Indiana railroad tracks that will form the base of a railroad overpass on Columbus’ west side.
The $35 million project, which is jointly funded by the Indiana Department of Transportation, city of Columbus, Bartholomew County, Cummins Inc. and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX railroads, will allow motorists to avoid being stopped by railroad traffic at the intersection of State Road 46 and State Road 11.
In total, 12 beams, each measuring 133 feet in length, 5.5 feet in height and weighing 80 tons, were placed over the railroad tracks and State Road 11. Workers from Milestone Contractors used two cranes to position the beams over the existing roadway, said project Nathan Gaskill. From the existing roadway to the top of the beams is roughly 35 feet in height.
On Monday and Tuesday, six beams were set over the railroad track along State Road 11, and the other six were placed over State Road 11 on Wednesday and Thursday, which resulted in temporary road closures.
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“I’m not classifying it as a pun, but it is a ‘milestone,’ to get the bridge beams set,” Gaskill said. “So now you’re not working on substructure, you’re working on superstructure.”
Next, workers will start working on the structure of the bridge and expect to have the bridge substantially completed in the next four to five weeks, Gaskill said.
Additionally, INDOT expects to start bridge maintenance work on the Third Street Bridge over the East Fork White River in Columbus on Monday, according to city officials.
The deck overlay on the Third Street Bridge should take around one month to complete, and one lane of traffic will be closed at a time while work is in progress. The work requires warmer temperatures and the project timing could be adjusted if the weather is unseasonably cool.
Currently, the overpass project is in the first of three phases. The first phase should be complete by the end of spring this year, according to INDOT. Traffic interruptions are expected to be “minimal” during this phase, said Natalie Garrett, INDOT spokeswoman, in a previous interview.
The second phase, which is expected to start in early summer and be completed by late fall, will result in temporary road and lane closures on State Road 11 and State Road 46.
In early summer, construction crews are expected to work on water mains, drainage structures and pavement on State Road 11, which is tentatively scheduled to be closed to all traffic for 30 days in June, Garrett said. Traffic on State Road 11 will be rerouted on to I-65 during that time.
In the fall, eastbound State Road 46 will be reduced to one lane for around 50 days to “allow construction of various tie-in points between the existing roadway and new roadway,” Garrett said.
During the third phase of the project, which is projected to start in fall 2020, westbound State Road 46 will be reduced to one lane for about two months, according to INDOT.
The new alignment of State Road 46 is expected to be open to traffic by the end of the year, with some additional work, including seeding and sodding through spring and early summer 2021, Garrett said.
The contract completion date is June 2021.
The overpass project was developed in response to a projected increase in railroad traffic on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad tracks. INDOT has agreed to pick up half of the total cost, while the city, along with other partners, pick up the half of the tab.
The railroad has leased its tracks running through Columbus to CSX, which is expected to result in an increase in train traffic, train speed and delays at intersections involving rail crossings through the city, with the State Road 46/State Road 11 intersection expected to have the most delayed local traffic.
The city has partnered with Cummins, Bartholomew County and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX Railroads to defray around half of the local funding requirements in the interlocal agreement, city officials said.
Currently, 40,000 motorists cross the railroad tracks at this intersection daily. To put it in perspective, an estimated 45,000 people live in Columbus, and 80,000 individuals live in Bartholomew County.
Gaskill urged motorists to exercise caution when traveling through the construction site and obey reduced speed limits.
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Visit columbusrailroadproject.org for more information about the railroad overpass project.
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For more images of the railroad overpass beams being placed, visit therepublic.com.
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