Funds to aid five bridges

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Structures in Shenandoah, Frederick counties will be replaced or repaired

By Elizabeth Wilkerson -- ewilkerson@nvdaily.com

Five bridges in Shenandoah and Frederick counties are among the 119 in Virginia to be replaced or repaired using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, state officials announced Thursday.

According to a press release from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, the Commonwealth Transportation Board recently awarded seven construction contracts totaling $50.7 million to replace 119 "structurally deficient bridges across the state that would otherwise have gone unaddressed."

In Shenandoah County, four bridges will be repaired, They are on Va. 601 over Tumbling Run, Va. 678 over a tributary of Passage Creek, Va. 600 over Shell Run and Va. 645 over a tributary of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. In Frederick County, a bridge on Va. 657 over Interstate 81 will be repaired, the release says.

"We're very excited," said Jerry Copp, the Virginia Department of Transportation Edinburg residency administrator. "We look forward to working with the contractor and the citizens to accomplish this work."

The deck structure of the bridge over Tumbling Run on Va. 601 at Fishers Hill has deteriorated and "there's some substructure work that needs to be done," he said.

The bridge on Va. 678 in Fort Valley will be widened, he said, and the work is "going to be a safety enhancement."

On Va. 600 in the Cedar Creek Valley, the bridge over Shell Run includes "three lines of large pipe culverts that carries quite a bit of water," Copp said. The contractor will do a drainage study evaluating different solutions, such as replacing the pipe culverts or installing a box culvert, he said, and VDOT will review and agree to a solution.

"The bottoms of [the pipes] have rusted out, so this is a good opportunity ... to get that replaced," he said.

A bridge on Va. 645 east of Maurertown is in a similar situation, Copp said, as the bottoms of two lines of pipe culverts have rusted out. As with the Va. 600 bridge, the contractor will study drainage options and suggest solutions, he said.

The bridge on Va. 657 that crosses I-81 is right at the Winchester city limits near Jim Barnett Park, he said, and it "carries a lot of traffic."

"The whole deck will be replaced on it," he said. During construction, traffic will be managed by a temporary traffic signal, he said.

Copp said he thought the contractor had until fall 2011 to complete the work.