Delivering an iconic bridge $12 million below budget
Market
Civil & Marine
Key Services
Construction
Preconstruction
Self-Perform
Strategic Partnerships
Delivery Method
General Contracting (GC)Capacity
1,500-foot main spanThe challenge
The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge was a central piece of Missouri and Illinois DOTs’ joint Interstate 70 relocation plan. Two lanes of Interstate 70 travel over the bridge in each direction, with room to expand to three in the future. The bridge features a 1500-foot structural steel main span with a concrete deck, two 635-foot back spans, 400-foot-tall, reinforced-concrete piers, and 68 pairs of stay cables. Tower foundations reach depths of 100 feet. Construction began in January 2010 and was completed in February 2014 by the MTA joint venture that includes Massman Construction, Traylor Bros. and Alberici Constructors. With generations of experience, we worked as a single unit to manage the complexity of a large-scale infrastructure development while ensuring safety, minimizing costs, and meeting the strict engineering requirements of a cable-stayed bridge.
Key Facts
Excellence in Structural Engineering, Best Project, Structural Engineers Association of Illinois
3rd longest cable-stayed bridge in the U.S.
58 miles of cable strand
36,000 tons of record-breaking resistive strength
Challenge met
The Alberici joint venture addressed the challenges with a range of strategic solutions. Forward-thinking policies of the project owner, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), allowed MTA to offer design input and take a hands-on approach to quality control, ultimately improving the bridge design and project timeline. During the bid phase, we proposed an Alternative Technical Concept (ATC) that utilized specialized equipment to drill fewer shafts with larger diameters. This innovation realized cost savings of more than $12 million.
To ensure the bridge’s longevity and structural integrity, the joint venture implemented cutting-edge construction methods and materials. The bridge’s foundations, including six drilled-pier shafts embedded deep into bedrock and reinforced with 42 #18 vertical bars, set a world record during load testing, withstanding an impressive 36,000 tons of resistance without failure.
The bridge today carries four mainline traffic lanes with an estimated volume of 40,000 cars per day, fulfilling our client’s goal to relieve traffic congestion and reduce accident frequency along one of the busiest commuter corridors in the region.
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