Building bridges: I-235/U.S. 54 work continues

Construction crews closed I-235/U.S. 54 during the weekend of October 6 to install twelve 120-foot bridge beams over traffic lanes. The work took three days. 

Part of the challenge of building a two-lane flyover ramp at a major interchange in a metropolitan city is installing the bridge beams over multiple lanes of traffic without dropping them on cars.

To prevent that kind of catastrophic event, construction crews in Wichita closed U.S. 54 under I-235 and I-235 over U.S. 54 during the weekend of October 6. Twelve 120-foot steel bridge beams were installed over traffic lanes during the three days.

Construction crews closed I-235/U.S. 54 during the weekend of October 6 to install twelve 120-foot bridge beams over traffic lanes. The work took three days. 

The beams will support the southbound I-235 ramp to eastbound U.S. 54. Similar closures at the interchange are planned in 2018 as this ramp progresses and when more beams are installed in the area for the new northbound I-235 ramp to westbound U.S. 54.

Construction crews closed I-235/U.S. 54 during the weekend of October 6 to install twelve 120-foot bridge beams over traffic lanes. The work took three days. 

The first phase of the I-235/U.S. 54 interchange reconstruction includes the building of seven new bridges and the repair or widening of ten other bridges. Work on the interchange improvements began in November 2015 and is on-schedule for a summer 2019 completion.