Myers & Sons Construction LLC is replacing the Klamath River Bridge in northern California with a $34 million project funded by Senate Bill 1. The new bridge, designed for a 100-year lifespan, will improve safety, accessibility, and sustainability in the area. The project, scheduled for completion ahead of schedule, involves significant road and bridge construction efforts to enhance the overall infrastructure.
Caltrans photo
A Cat 982M wheel loader and a Cat 390D excavator work together to clear space for a new bridge alignment.
Construction to replace the California Department of Transportation's Klamath River Bridge over Horse Creek on State Route 96 in northern California (Siskiyou County) began in the summer of 2024, and Myers & Sons Construction LLC expects to deliver the $34 million construction contract this fall.
The new 545-ft.-long, 44-ft.-wide, three-span post-tensioned concrete box girder-type bridge is being built on a new roadway alignment in a rural forested area. The new structure is approximately 30 mi. west of the junction with Interstate 5.
This project's funding comes from Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
"Senate Bill 1 funding continues to serve as a catalyst for rebuilding California's infrastructure and improving experiences for people who walk and bike," said Tony Tavares, Caltrans director.
In addition to replacing a bridge constructed in 1953, various intersections and driveways within the project area are being realigned. The project area is approximately 1 mi. east of the Horse Creek community.
"The purpose of the project is to provide a safe, sustainable, traversable structure to the public and to keep freight moving to market," said Chris Woodward, a Caltrans public relations officer. "It is addressing current erosion and scour around the bridge foundations and increasing vertical and horizontal clearance for trucks and freight haulers moving goods through the area.
"Worker safety will be improved by significantly reducing or eliminating the need for crews to scale the steep structure to fix damage caused when larger trucks or their freight loads impact the overhead bridge truss."
Building a new bridge has environmental benefits.
"Potential construction or project impacts will be mitigated through the creation of the Lower Beaver Creek ponds and a ‘bat hotel,'" said Woodward. "Work at the Beaver Creek ponds will help expand fish populations and provide a seasonal refuge for area species as well."
Pre-construction utility relocations occurred in the winter of 2023-2024. Tree removal also was necessary to clear a path for the new bridge and roadway alignment.
Caltrans designed the new bridge and roadwork. The bridge design features larger 8-ft. shoulders and a bicycle railing, enhancing safety and accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists.
"Caltrans had a lot of the design and engineering completed when we pre-bid the job," said Kurtis Frailey, Myers & Sons vice president. "Some of the design challenges would be the temporary design work — the falsework and the access to install the falsework into the river because some of the dams were recently removed upstream — the flows of the river were pretty much unknown. We were going to build a trestle at first, but we decided to go with a rock berm to access the river to install the falsework."
The bridge was designed for a 100-year lifespan. To ensure that the lifespan is met, a polyester concrete overlay will be placed on top of the deck.
"This waterproof seal extends the life of the bridge," Frailey said.
So far Myers & Sons Construction has completed most of the road work and the bridge construction; the soffits and other elements are all poured.
"Now we are forming up to pour the deck and that should start in mid-June," Frailey said. "Then we'll be able to strip the falsework and pull our access out of the river. This will all be done by August, and we'll place the polyester overlay and switch traffic onto the new bridge and demolish the old one."
The work is six months ahead of schedule due to the crews' efforts.
"They've put in a really good effort to get the job done quickly," Frailey said. "They are working out-of-town, quite a ways from home. They do their work and go home for the weekends."
Due to the job's remoteness, crews are housed in trailers and local hotels. The remoteness also prompted Myers & Sons to set up an on-site concrete batch plant at a local aggregate pit because local concrete suppliers couldn't reach the job site. Water for the concrete production is provided by ponds at the pit site.
The construction of the new bridge is based on a detailed plan.
"It's a three-span bridge, so we started with the abutments while we made access to the center of the river," Frailey said, "and at the same time, started work on the center pier, footings and columns. We designed our falsework. We didn't have to go down into the river with anything."
Cast-in-drilled-hole (CDIH) piles, 6-ft. in diameter, were drilled to depths of approximately 90 ft.
The falsework consists of metal beams.
"This is the most efficient, quickest, and least expensive way to build it," Frailey said.
The bridge sits 18 ft. above the water, so worker safety is paramount.
"We have all of our full protection methods —handrails and harnesses — when working at these heights," Frailey said.
Myers & Sons equipment operators employed a Link-Belt crane to handle the materials to build the bridge, Cat 335 excavators to dig all the footings and a Cat D6 dozer for the dirt work to access the river. Malcolm Drilling used a Bauer BG 45 rotary drill rig for the CDIH piles.
All the road work is done save for the section where the traffic will be switched to access the new bridge. Steve Manning Construction in Redding, Calif., is handling the asphalt road construction.
For the earth work, the subcontractor used Cat 336 excavators to load off-road haul trucks. approximately 20,000 cu. yds. of dirt was moved to create the fills for the approaches on both sides of the bridge.
Close to 5,000 yds. of hard granite rock was removed via a Cat 336 excavator with a hydraulic hammer attached to it.
"It was tough going," Frailey said.
The existing steel truss bridge will be demolished by CW Maloney of Stockton, Calif.
"They will demolish it in place piece-by-piece and then recycle all of the metal parts," Frailey said.
Myers & Sons' management team consists of Project Manager Chris Nelson and Superintendent Shawn Kinnie.
"These two have been building this job and are doing a great job to keep it ahead of schedule," said Frailey, who noted that Nelson has been with the company for 13 years and Kinnie for three years. "It's been a great team dynamic between us, Caltrans and the local community.
"It's a partnership and very collaborative. We're trying to lessen the impacts to the public to get this job done early. We've done a lot of work in this area for the past 15 years and we understand how to work in these remote areas."
Typical days have 18 Myers & Sons and subcontractor personnel on site.
Crews excavated 65,000 cu. yds. of roadway.
New materials should include 5,500 cu. yds. of concrete, 8830 tons of HMA and 737,000 lbs. of rebar.
Being in a remote area means that equipment must be in tip-top condition.
"We get repairs done immediately," said Frailey. "We have a mechanic that goes up there when we have any issues. At the end of the day, the wear and tear we are dealing with is due to digging in rock. This includes cutting edges and the teeth on buckets."
Myers & Sons buys its Cat equipment from Holt of California in Sacramento and its cranes from Nixon-Egli Equipment Co. in Stockton. Equipment is rented from United Rentals and California Compaction.
Frailey appreciates the work of the general contractor who built the original bridge.
"They were pretty good at building stuff back then," he said, "with not having the equipment we have today —the bridge is still here 72 years later. They had to do a lot of it by manpower." CEG
Irwin Rapoport
A journalist who started his career at a weekly community newspaper, Irwin Rapoport has written about construction and architecture for more than 15 years, as well as a variety of other subjects, such as recycling, environmental issues, business supply chains, property development, pulp and paper, agriculture, solar power and energy, and education. Getting the story right and illustrating the hard work and professionalism that goes into completing road, bridge, and building projects is important to him. A key element of his construction articles is to provide readers with an opportunity to see how general contractors and departments of transportation complete their projects and address challenges so that lessons learned can be shared with a wider audience.
Rapoport has a BA in History and a Minor in Political Science from Concordia University. His hobbies include hiking, birding, cycling, reading, going to concerts and plays, hanging out with friends and family, and architecture. He is keen to one day write an MA thesis on military and economic planning by the Great Powers prior to the start of the First World War.
Read more from Irwin Rapoport here.
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