Our Historic Bridge 620 Rehabilitation Project for Vanderburgh County received a State Finalist Award in ACEC Indiana's 2024 Engineering Excellence Awards!
Lochmueller provided the bridge rehabilitation design for Vanderburgh County Historic Bridge 620, which carries historic Franklin Street over Pigeon Creek in Evansville, Indiana. Due to the Select Historical status of Bridge 620, a Historic Bridge Alternatives Analysis was performed by Lochmueller, finding the feasible and prudent alternative to be rehabilitation to restore deteriorated elements.
The historic three-span, three-hinged, spandrel-braced, cantilevered steel deck truss bridge with a suspended span was built in 1932. The historic bridge is unique to Indiana and serves an important transportation role in the Evansville community by carrying four-lanes of traffic and dual sidewalks above while being admired from below by users of the Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage. Restoring this bridge while maintaining its historic integrity required the unique collaboration of professionals from Lochmueller’s bridge, environmental, and highway design teams.
Due to the cantilevered construction, the ends of the bridge are restrained from uplift with enormous concrete abutments acting as counterweights. Connecting the bridge to the concrete abutments are unique bearing assemblies, which were in significant disrepair and required replacement. The replacement bearing assemblies replicated the original intricate bearing assemblies as precisely as possible, being historically sensitive to the original appearance. Along with the bearing assemblies, various bridge truss elements were in disrepair and required replacement. Selective repairs, cleaning, and painting were utilized throughout to provide the necessary rehabilitation measures for the historic bridge while remaining economically conscious for Vanderburgh County.
The original 1932 bridge construction utilized rivets for steel connections, as was common practice during that time; however, during previous rehabilitations since the original construction, many rivets were removed and replaced with modern hexagonal-headed bolts. To allow modern construction techniques while remaining historically sensitive, round-headed bolts were used where possible in steel connections to provide a similar appearance as the original riveted construction.
To hear more about the collaboration that went into this project, visit our website.
