The new Idylwood Road bridge over I-495 in Fairfax County opened about six months after it closed to traffic and 17 months ahead of the original construction schedule. The bridge was rebuilt to accommodate the future, widened Beltway as part of as part of the Capital Beltway HOT Lanes Project, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
The new two-lane bridge includes pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly sidewalks and new curb and gutter to better manage storm water runoff. It is one of the first improvements to be delivered under the $1.5 billion, 14-mile project. About 58 Beltway bridges and overpasses are being reconstructed for the HOT Lanes which are scheduled to open in late 2012.
Original construction plans for the Idylwood Road Bridge called for closing one of its two lanes for approximately two years and installing temporary traffic signals to alternate one-way traffic across the bridge.
However, Transurban-Fluor, the Capital Beltway HOT Lanes partners and Fluor-Lane, the project’s design-builder, proposed and won local community support for an alternate construction plan that eliminated the one-way traffic plan and shortened the construction period by 17 months.
The fast-track construction required the complete closure of Idylwood Road Bridge, allowing construction crews round-the-clock access to the bridge. The entire bridge was rebuilt simultaneously, rather than in phases, and was completed in about six months.
The Idylwood Road bridge carries about 15,000 vehicles per day.
For more information about the reconstruction of bridges on Oak Street and Idylwood Road, click here.
Documents
