United Consulting brought home an Outstanding Concrete Achievement Award in the category of Infrastructure; Bridges over 10,000 CYS from the 2015 Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s Awards Banquet, hosted on January 27th.
The award winning bridge, US 31 over Kern Road, was an INDOT project designed by United Consulting and constructed by Rieth-Riley. The concrete was supplied by Ozinga Ready Mix and the Thermal Control Plan was provided by CTL Group.
The project was designed and constructed as part of the US 31 Major Moves project which upgraded US 31 to interstate standards between Plymouth and South Bend. The US 31 and Kern Road Interchange was designed as a single-point interchange to improve traffic flow by routing the ramp usage through a single signal location to minimize disruption to the traffic flow on Kern Road.
As part of a the larger realignment of US 31 from Plymouth to South Bend, the US 31 over Kern Road bridge site required a unique solution to accommodate the skewed interchange and tight grade restraints. Geometric limitations, ramp alignments, and restrictive grades on US 31 and Kern Road prohibited the use of a more traditional bridge design. A post-tension straddle bent was necessary to support the superstructure over the ramp configuration below the bridge. The superstructure was designed and constructed with the beams integral with the pier cap. Post-tensioning tendons were run through the pier cap and steel beams to provide the capacity necessary to carry the traffic on the US 31 bridge.