Summer recap: Large jaws make quick work of old bridge

By Tom Hein 
Wichita Public Affairs Manager

Have you ever wondered what goes into demolishing a bridge?

Using machinery that resembles Jurassic Period predators, a deconstruction crew removed a 1960s era bridge over I-235 in north Wichita earlier this summer, which required a weekend shut down of a 3-mile section. 

The removal of the bridge makes way for continuous auxiliary lanes between North Meridian Avenue and Broadway. 

The section of I-235 under construction is also part of K-96

A 1960s era bridge was demolished over I-235 in north Wichita earlier this summer. 

To protect I-235 from the heavy equipment used for the demolition, a dirt cushion was placed over the concrete lanes. After the bridge was down, removing the debris took several hours as concrete and steel were separated and hauled away.

To protect the road surface from the heavy equipment a dirt cushion was placed over the concrete lanes.

Dirt was also removed from the bridge abutments and will be used to construct the new ramps at the I-235 and Broadway interchange.

In order to construct new ramps at the I-235 and Broadway interchange, dirt had to be removed. 

The average daily traffic for this area is between 45,000 and 52,000 vehicles per day.

The Green Project is the first phase of the Wichita North Junction reconstruction.

To find out more about the project, see the Green Project fact sheet here  .

 A fact sheet for the North Junction phases can be found here 

Interchange project uses smart work zone to help drivers

It’s not often that a multi-year highway project finishes a full six months before its deadline. But that’s what drivers in Wichita have experienced with the first phase of the I-235/U.S. 54 Interchange improvements in west Wichita.

The I-235/U.S. 54 Interchange Project opened to traffic a full six months ahead of schedule. 

While the three-year project still has some work that is waiting for spring weather, drivers have been enjoying the benefits of the lane and ramps improvements since December. The remaining work items should not affect traffic and the project will wrap up before the planned date in June.

The project eliminated dangerous merge points and added dedicated directional ramps to make the interchange easier to travel. 

The project eliminated dicey merge points. Dedicated directional ramps make the busy interchange much easier to maneuver. 

A traffic camera helps monitor the construction area.

During the three years of construction, a Smart Work Zone was used to alert drivers of traffic incidents and other problems leading to congestion in the work zone. From K-42 to Central Avenue on I-235 and from Maize Road to downtown Wichita on U.S. 54, multiple monitoring devices positioned throughout the project area communicated real-time travel conditions then automatically posted travel times to common destinations in the city. 

Portable message signs were placed to help direct traffic and give drivers more information about their route.

Fifteen portable message signs placed on arterial streets were used to complement the large roadside WICHway message boards. Messages with estimated drive times through the construction zone allowed drivers to make informed decisions about their route. 

According to data collected during construction, as much as 50 percent of the traffic was diverted once delays of seven minutes or more were reported on the message signs.

“The design of the Smart Work Zone kept traffic moving safely, both through the construction site and along the alternative routes,” said Garry Olson, KDOT Smart Work Zone Coordinator. “We are encouraged by the results and look forward to maximizing this technology in future projects.”

And future projects keep coming. In the last week, a new three-year project on I-235 in north Wichita began that will replace six bridges, upgrade and expand travel lanes and reconfigure the I-235 and North Broadway interchange. 

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.

Watch 10 hours of bridge construction --- in less than three minutes!

Sometimes when you drive past a construction project, it's hard tell if any progress has been made since yesterday's drive.  That wasn't the case if you were driving by Wichita's 13th Street Bridge on January 14.

On that day,  a large concrete pour for a bridge deck was completed at the I-235 and 13th Street project in west Wichita. Starting at 7 a.m., over ten hour of continuous pours from 94 concrete trucks resulted in 896 cubic yards of concrete being installed. A camera was set up at the site and captured this amazing video.