Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 15, 1990 TAG: 9006150161
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
This past winter, six of the bridge's 16 spans failed strength tests, indicating problems with the structure of two spans and durability of four others. The contractor and the department have been seeking a solution since then.
The contractor, Vecellio & Grogan of Beckley, W.Va., must replace the top 4 to 4 1/2 inches of concrete on two spans, Dan Brugh, resident engineer for the department, said Thursday. On the other four, it must mill the top 1 1/2 inches and install a latex concrete overlay.
The project is scheduled for completion in July, and it was not clear how much the repair work will delay it. That depends on whether the prefabricated deck panels below the poured concrete are damaged when it is removed, Brugh said.
The longest possible delay would be a couple of months, Brugh said.
The company faces a $1,000 fine for every day it is late, but Brugh said the department would take into consideration the long delay in coming up with a solution. Work essentially has been stopped on the bridge since winter.
Officials at Vecellio & Grogan, which also has a Salem office, did not return phone calls Thursday.
Brugh said no one is sure why the spans failed the strength tests. The mix was correct and was applied by a veteran crew. "Everything appears to have been done right," he said. "Sometimes that just happens."
One possibility is that the cement in the mix and a retarding agent were incompatible, Brugh said. The retarder is used to ensure that the deck hardens evenly when the concrete is poured.
But the retarder in the concrete is widely used, so the problem should have occurred elsewhere and hasn't, said Steve Marshall of Marshall Concrete Products.
Marshall's Christiansburg company is one of the two concrete suppliers on the bridge. No problems have been found with the concrete his company supplied, Marshall said.
The concrete spans must withstand 4,500 pounds per square inch, and most of the six tested at 3,000 to 4,000 PSI, Brugh said.
With those results, it would be safe to open the bridge now, but a weight limit might have to be imposed later, he said.
When the $6 million project is complete, Virginia 114 will be four lanes between the Radford Army Ammunition Plant and Virginia 679, which runs to the Fairlawn AT&T plant.
Work on the project began late in 1988.
by CNB