The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/75751
A-10 Wednesday, July 25, 2012 H I-69 construction gin work on the exchanges. Much of the concrete pave- ment has already been put down in Pike County. In most areas it runs in sections up to several hundred feet from overpasses, interchanges and bridges. Elliott said they stop away Continued from front page liott drove on the new in- terstate from State Road 57 south to the Patoka River Bridge. The concrete is in place and shoulders were be- ing completed. The Patoka River Bridge is the largest structure and from these areas where run- arounds or bypasses have been constructed. Once crews are able to remove the temporary route, then they can start the final dirt work preparing them for the pav- ing work. In the tour last week, El- most expensive on the route in Indiana. It stretches 4,400 feet, spanning not only the Patoka River, but also the en- tire corridor of the US Fish and Wildlife's Patoka Refuge. Elliott said particular care was taken to lessen the im- pact on the refuge. Along with it spanning the corri- dor of the refuge's boundar- ies, designers developed a drainage system to prevent salt and other hazardous ma- terial spills that might occur in an accident from pouring into the refuge. Elliott said typically bridge The Press-Dispatch VIDEO NETedition Exclusive structures just have drains with pipes similar to a down- spout on a house. This bridge still has the drains, but in- stead of downspouts it has a series of large pipes that collect the liquid and debris coming through the drains and transports it the length The I-69 Patoka River bridge spans 4,400 feet at the cost of $35.1 million and when finished will in- clude 212 concrete beams. of the bridge to a catch ba- sin. So if there is a spill it will be contained in the catch ba- sin—then pumped out. To give some dimen- bridge on the project— it dwarfs the White River Bridge," said Elliott. In Gibson County, Elliott sion to the sheer size of the structure, the large con- crete I-beams that are be- ing placed on various bridg- es and overpasses typical- ly are 140 to 120 feet long, weigh about 80,000 pounds and are hauled one at a time on semi-trucks and special trailers. There are 212 such beams in the one bridge. It costs $35.1 million. "It is by far the biggest shown that there is "still that chance for some settling." Concrete has little flexibility to deal with the settling, while asphalt does. The highway will switch to asphalt around the Indiana 64 exchange. Another change motorists said drivers heading north will notice a difference in their driving surface—it switches from concrete to asphalt and back to concrete. "We do have portions of I- Mitch Daniels announced the accelerated schedules for the design and construction of the I-69 corridor. When the Evansville-to-Crane sec- tions open later this year, it will be nearly three years ahead of the state's targeted 2015 date. For Section 4, stretch- might notice is the shoul- der on both sides of the new highway is asphalt, as well. The asphalt is layered on top of several layers of rock. In October 2009, Gov. placed, they are tied together and then a deck pan is put in place before concrete is poured. As beams for the I-69 Patoka River bridge are 69 that will be concrete. And we do have some portions that will be asphalt as far as the driving surface," she said. "Any area where the driving lanes are going to be asphalt is because we are in an area that is an under- ground mining area. What we needed to be able to do was provide a roadway that had some flexibility to it." ing 27 miles from Crane to Bloomington, previous plans estimated construction would not even begin until sometime between 2016 and 2020. Now, state officials, say it will be open by 2014. As for what happens with She said studies have nounced a series of meet- ings for communities north of Indianapolis, where Inter- state 69 already exists. The topic for that meeting will be renumbering the exits. With the extension of the ing office and the funding to pay for the last stretch hasn't been hammered out. Last week, INDOT an- highway from Indianapolis to Evansville, the road will ing starts at the south and increases as one travels north in a state, I-69's exits and mile markers must be changed. When completed, I-69 will grow in length by 184 miles in Indiana. Since interstate number- pass through eight states and provide a direct route through the Midwest be- tween Canada and Mexico. the remaining part of the highway between Blooming- ton and Indianapolis (run- ning near Indiana 37), still remains to be seen. There is opposition in the Blooming- ton area, Gov. 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