US-17 Wilmington Bypass
Wilmington, North Carolina
Project Description
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) officially opened the US 17 Wilmington Bypass to traffic on 30 June 2006. The new US 17 Wilmington Bypass spans the NE Cape Fear River and adjoining wetlands in New Hanover County, from US 421 to US 117 / NC 133. The project included four minor bridges, ramps connecting to US 421, the west approach spans, the east approach spans and the main channel spans. This and several other construction projects combined linked US 17 north-east of Wilmington to US 421 west of Wilmington. By the end of August 2006, the remaining minor roadway items were completed.
The main channel span is a three-span segmental bridge comprised of a twin cell post-tensioned concrete box girder superstructure. The bridge was designed for segmental, balanced cantilever, cast-in-place construction utilizing both form-travelers and conventional falsework. The segmental span lengths are 279 ft. – 479 ft. – 279 ft.
The Designer was T.Y. Lin International. Parsons performed the CEI for the segmental spans. This was one of the first cast-in-place segmental bridges constructed in North Carolina.
Location
US-17 over the Northeast Cape Fear River
Wilmington, North Carolina
Owner
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Contractor
GLF Construction Corporation
Designer
TYLin
Total Contract Value
Timeline
2001 - 2006
Construction Method
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Cast-in-place segmental constructed as a balanced cantilever
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Our Role
Hatcher Technical was engaged GLF Construction Corporation, the main bridge contractor to assist them in a claim on the project. Jason reviewed the design and construction drawings as part of a comprehensive constructability review. Jason also modeled several complex areas of the segmental balanced cantilever portion of the bridge to illustrate the challenges found in the field during construction. All of these reviews and analysis were conveyed to GLF in an expert witness report which was then used in the claim arbitration process.
