Project wraps up six months ahead of schedule; $500,000 under budget
Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) Director Peter Alviti, Jr. joined with state and local officials today to mark the early completion of the Oxford Street Bridge, which carries one of the busiest sections of I-95 in Providence. Using accelerated bridge construction methods, RIDOT competed this $10.8 million project six months ahead of schedule and approximately $500,000 under budget.
RIDOT replaced the superstructure of this 56-year-old bridge this summer, using a series of lane shifts and lane splits which changed configuration on a near weekly basis. This allowed RIDOT to keep all lanes of traffic moving on the highway while replacing the bridge one lane at a time. This approach shaved several months off the construction schedule.
"The quick replacement of the bridge is a testament to the project management model we've adopted at RIDOT, with skillful coordination of all our road and bridge projects," Director Alviti said. "At the Oxford Street Bridge, we replaced an entire highway bridge deck in one of the busiest stretches of highway in Rhode Island in less than two months with little traffic disruption. This is truly amazing."
The accelerated bridge construction methods included the use of pre-manufactured Northeast Extreme Tee (NEXT) beam components – a concrete deck/beam combination that is installed side-by-side to rapidly create a new bridge deck. The Department also picked the summertime months for the lane shifts because traffic volumes are much lower compared to other times of the year. All lane shifts were removed prior to Labor Day.
More than 160,000 vehicles per day travel over the Oxford Street Bridge.
The rehabilitation of the Oxford Street Bridge is made possible by RhodeWorks, RIDOT's ongoing commitment to repair structurally deficient bridges and bring Rhode Island's transportation infrastructure into a state of good repair, promote economic development, and create jobs. Learn more at www.ridot.net/RhodeWorks.