Preparation for the girders began in April, with truckloads of dirt dug out and hauled away. The six girders per bridge are 206 ft. long, taking three Separate cranes to position them.
(WSDOT photo)
Construction crews from Kraemer North America are pressing forward on a project that is replacing aging culverts with new large bridge structures over Purdy Creek in Pierce County, Wash.
The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) recently provided an update on the project, which is now 50 percent complete thanks to diligent work from the general contractor.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $41.6 million, which includes repaving the spur, which will improve habitat and passage for fish in Purdy Creek under SR 302 and SR 16.
Purdy Creek attempts to flow under SR 16 inside 40 year-old culverts. This project removes and replaces the old culverts with large bridge structures to make it easier for fish to navigate through. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) estimates this work will create approximately 5.6 mi. of new habitat.
In October 2022, crews moved the westbound lanes into the median to construct the new westbound bridge. It opened on Aug. 15 of this year. Currently, crews are reconfiguring the median to shift the eastbound lanes there.
Under SR 16, the new bridge structure is 206-ft. long. Purdy Creek also runs under SR 302 through an old culvert before it enters the tidal flats of the Burley Lagoon. WSDOT also is removing and replacing this old culvert with a 77-ft.-long bridge.
Crews started the project in August and it is expected to take three years to complete, according to WSDOT. The bridge top won't be completed until the end of 2023.
The creek was dammed and pumped through pipes around the work area during a July 16-Aug. 31 in-water work window. It had hugged the base of the highway. It now takes a winding path that slows the flow to ease fish passage and prevent erosion.
The new stream bed lies on alternating layers of river rock and sand, which was washed into the rock to prevent water from infiltrating.
The stream now enters Burley Lagoon just north of the old box culvert that was installed in the 1960s. The 6-ft. by 6-ft. concrete tunnel was filled in and the ends capped with large rocks and woody material.
After the in-water work, crews spent two days in August setting girders. They trucked in the 75-ft.-long, precast concrete sections on flatbed trailers and craned them into place. The 10 abutting 4-ft.-wide sections form the bridge's backbone.
Preparation for the girders began in April, with truckloads of dirt dug out and hauled away. Twenty-seven concrete shafts, 3 ft. to 4 ft. in diameter, were poured 11 ft. to 35 ft. deep on each side and topped with cap shafts on which the girders rest. Wingwalls contain dirt along the approaches.
The six girders per bridge are 206 ft. long, which took three cranes to position them.
The culverts, buried 40 ft. under the surface, will continue to carry the creek until the fish window next summer. Then a valley will be carved out beneath the bridges. A new, pseudo-natural stream bed will flow through 9,000 new native plants.
The construction project is part of WSDOT's program to remove barriers to fish under state highways. Specifically, this project helps juvenile Chinook, Coho, Chum, adult and juvenile Steelhead, coastal cutthroat and sculpin.
WSDOT has removed fished barriers under state highways since 1991. A 2013 federal court injunction also requires WSDOT to correct culverts that are barriers to salmon and steelhead within the case area in western Washington. Purdy Creek is among those included in the federal injunction.
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