East Chilhowie Street Bridge

Originally built in 1885, the historic East Chilhowie Street Bridge had been in continuous use for vehicular traffic from 1885 until 2003. Reportedly the oldest two-lane iron bridge still in use in the Commonwealth of Virginia, it is representative of a bridge building system that was prominent at the time of construction for utilizing shop fabrication and shipping of preassembled parts to the site for erection.

The bridge is a wrought iron Pratt through-truss design with a span of 80 feet 6 inches and 18-foot clear width for traffic. Two five-foot wide sidewalks are cantilevered to the outside of the truss. The relatively porous asphalt deck allowed water and salt to seep through the deck and severely corrode the stringers and vertical truss web member connections, and many layers of lead based paint covered the entire structure.

The Town could have demolished it and replaced it with a standard modern bridge, but pride over the unique structure influenced the decision to renovate, which included the following:

• A platform was built beneath the bridge, suspended from anchor beams placed on the bridge approaches allowing construction crews to do all of their work without entering the river (the use of a platform eliminated the need for environmental permitting related to in-stream work);
• The bridge was encapsulated for removal of the lead based paint; steel plate was added to reinforce the floor beams, while stringers were completely replaced; and
• A 7-inch thick reinforced concrete deck was poured in place.

The total construction time was six months and the total cost for renovation was $492,208.

The bridge serves as a connector link for Marion’s History Walk, River Walk (Middle Fork Holston River), and Park Boulevard Trails and is used by motor vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic. It is a valuable economic development tool that is helping to promote trail-related tourism and Marion’s strong historical heritage and natural recreation assets.

The project received the ACEC/Virginia Honor Award for Engineering Excellence.

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Dickenson County Route 637 Access Road

T&L provided surveying, roadway engineering design, geotechnical investigations and permitting for 1.07 miles of mountainous terrain rural local roadway improvements on Route 637 (Rose Ridge) in Dickenson County, Virginia.

The purpose of the project was to improve safety on Route 637 to accommodate increased traffic from the intersection at Route 83 to the new consolidated Ridgeview High/Middle School entrance.

Design tasks included:

• Horizontal and vertical alignment;
• Taper and turn lanes on Route 83;
• A ’roundabout’ with landscaping and lighting at the school entrance;
• Pavement marking/sign plans;
• Phased E&S Control Plans to be commensurate with the Maintenance of Traffic Plans;and
• Development of the SWPPP with associated VSMP permit forms and permitting through the locality and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

The scope of work also included coordinating and holding a public hearing, construction contract bidding, and construction contract administration services. The roundabout is the first ever constructed in VDOT’s Bristol District.

The Owner’s construction budget was $3.25 Million, which included contingency. The project was a financial success as noted by the following costs during various stages of the project.

The project was completed in 2016.

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West Virginia Highway Experience

Client:             West Virginia Division of Highways

Location:        Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia

Project:           Design and preparation of contract plans for widening U.S. Route 219 North from I-64 to city limits to provide center turn lane.  Total project length 1.4 miles.  1999 DoH Engineering Achievement Award Finalist.

Est. Cost:        $1,200,000           Design Completed 1999                      Construction Completed 2000

Location:        Hinton, Summers County, West Virginia

Project:           Design and preparation of contract plans for widening State Route 107 (Bellepoint Road) to provide center turn lane.  Total project length 1,300 feet.

Est. Cost:        $817,000              Design Completed 1999                      Construction Completed 2000

Location:        Hinton, Summers County, West Virginia

Project:           Design and preparation of contract plans for improvements to both Route 20 – Route 3 intersections, changing them to channelized “T” types.

Est. Cost:        $215,000              Design Completed 1999                      Construction Completed 2000

Location:        Summersville, Nicholas County, West Virginia

Project:           Design and preparation of contract plans for widening 1000 feet of Route 41 (Webster Road) to provide a turn lane onto Route 19/11 (West Webster Road).  Work also included providing a turn lane from West Webster Road onto Webster Road.

Est. Cost:        $210,000              Design Completed 1999                      Construction Completed 2000

Location:        Craigsville, Nicholas County, West Virginia

Project:           Design and preparation of contract plans for widening and intersection improvement at Route 20/Route 55 to provide a turn lanes.  Total project length 1,150 feet.

Est. Cost:        $323,000              Design Completed 1999                      Construction Completed 2000

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