My name is Michael Miguel. I have been in the construc-
Mathews Bridge Deck Replacement Project
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
The Mathews Bridge was originally completed in April of 1953, the cantilever steel truss Mathews Bridge spans the St. Johns River and today brings more than 66,000 vehicles a day in and out of downtown Jacksonville along the Arlington Expressway. It was named after John E. Mathews, a Florida state legislator from the area and Chief Justice of the 1955 Florida Supreme Court. Justice Mathews was instrumental in making the bridge’s construction a reality.
Project Information: This 12.9 million dollar project, began on or about mid January, 2007. Project is being carried out by PCL Construction, and will replace the existing open grate bridge deck currently on Mathews Bridge with an “Exodermic Deck” resulting in a concrete riding surface.
An “exodermic deck system” is a steel grid filled in with lightweight concrete. This system has been successfully installed on several bridges including structures in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and the Tappan-Zee Bridge in New York which is similar to the Mathews Bridge. It has also been used on several other bridges in the United States . Supports beneath and above the riding surface will be replaced and strengthened to help provide a smoother ride across the bridge. The end result will be a solid riding surface across the entire 7,375 foot long bridge.
The Federal Department Of Transportation gave my crew among others, 90 days to complete a particular phase of the project. We replaced approximately 1600 lineal feet of grating by four lanes wide including median, with concrete.
It was a matter of removing existing grating, stingers, curb, median, and guardian rail and replaced with all new. Except the grating, that was replaced with lightweight solid concrete deck. This phase of the project was actually completed in 76 days, few days earlier than the deadline. We were all very please about it.
17th Street Causeway Project Details
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
The new 17th street causeway bridge is a variable depth segmental structure which is constructed by balanced cantilever and progressive cantilever method. In the center of the bridge, the counterweight for the bascule is housed inside of a unique Carina Pier.
Traylor Bros. was contracted by the Florida Department of Transportation to construct a mid-level bascule bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway on the 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This bridge is 1,908 feet long with dual 53.5 foot wide roadways, and provide a 125 ft wide by 55 ft vertical clearance at the waterway when closed. Vertical clearance, when the span opens, will be unlimited. The bridge consists of nine approach spans of precast segmental superstructure on C.I.P. piers and drilled shaft foundations, and a twin-leaf bascule span of 242 ft. The structural steel bascule spans rest on Y-legged “carina” piers of post-tensioned, C.I.P. concrete, on drilled shaft/cofferdam foundations.
During my time with Traylor Bros. I was in charge of building the carina (bascule) piers which constisted from the coffer dams, seal slabs, and a total of 18 pours per x4. The piers were a first of its kind, between all the radius and angles, it just made the formwork that much harder.
The installation of the falsework alone was quite a task. It included 24′ pipe pile and numerous sizes of beams to create a platform at elev. 10m in order to shore from.
Family Day at TY Park Video 1
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
I was home this weekend from work (Hathaway Bridge Project in Jacksonville Florida). We went to TY Park to spend some fun quality time with my family. We had a really nice time at the the water park.
Family Day at TY Park Video 2
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
See for yourself….Fun in the sun.
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