Bridge Repair Interstate 495 – Kelken Products News and Job Site Applications

KELKEN Products Used for Interstate Highway Bridge Repair
June 2014, The Interstate Highway 495 bridge over the Christina River in Wilmington Delaware was closed because supporting columns were visibly tilting. Delaware transportation officials said the bridge would probably be closed until at least Labor Day and could be shut down much longer if the tilting section needs to be completely replaced. The bridge typically carries about 90,000 vehicles a day on an eleven mile bypass around Wilmington DE. Traffic is being shifted onto already congested Interstate 95 through downtown.



Engineers suspect that a massive mound of dirt dumped next to the bridge caused the movement of underground soils, which resulted in the cracking of concrete footers supporting the columns and damage to the steel pilings driven into bedrock.
A repair plan was formulated which involved a temporary stabilization that would allow traffic to once again move across the bridge. The columns under the west roadway were the ones tilting and the contractor J.D. Eckman of Atglen, PA wanted to make sure the superstructure as well as the involved columns did not move any farther before and during the construction of new columns under the substructure. The plan was to take 3" diameter steel dywidag bars and attach them to the substructure from the east pier to the tilting west pier. These were placed on both sides of the columns and remained in place during new column construction and the jacking of the bridge. Kelken's Keligrout 101P high strength anchoring material was used to secure the dywidag bars in place during the emergency repair.

After temporary repairs were completed the bridge reopend to traffic after thorough testing. DOT workers used sensors to monitor roadway stability while six heavy Delaware DOT trucks loaded with wet sand were driven onto the repaired spans and then stopped mid-way. The repairs passed with flying colors and traffic once again flows on 495 over the bridge.

* KELIGROUT™ 101-P can be used for horizontal or vertical anchoring applications. It features easy-to-use large capacity cartridges and can be used at sub-freezing temperatures or in rainy weather. * Kelken products are used by over 40 DOT's, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Federal Highway Administration among others. Visit us online or call for all of your chemical anchoring needs.
Call KELKEN at 732-416-6730 for product information and ordering. www.KELKEN.com

KELKEN Construction Systems 550 Hartle Street, Suite C Sayreville, NJ 08872 Phone: 732-416-6730 Fax: 732-416-6733 Products: www.KELKEN.com

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KELKEN Products Used for Interstate Highway Bridge Repair