Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has announced that the Hickman Road Bridge over the Tuolumne River is now open in Stanislaus County, California.
Following 17 months of construction, the new bridge consists of a five-span cast-in-place, post-tension concrete box girder structure supported by seat abutments at each end and intermediate two-column piers. Each pier is supported by two cast-in-drilled-hole piles, ranging in diameter from 84 inches to 108 inches, and measuring up to 123 feet in depth. The bridge features two, 12-foot traffic lanes with 8-foot shoulders for bicyclists and one 5-foot sidewalk for pedestrians. Additionally, 960 feet of roadway has been reconstructed to conform the replacement bridge into the existing Hickman Road.
“Other than emergency repair efforts made to address the extensive erosion issues that have flagged the existing Hickman Road Bridge as being subject to foundation failure, there hadn’t been significant repairs made to the existing bridge since its original construction in 1964,” says Dewberry Project Manager Mike Pugh, PE, SE. “Now that the construction of the replacement bridge is complete, the new bridge offers a structure that addresses the Tuolumne River channel erosion issues with more capacity for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists, as well as capacity to carry a new regionally important waterline and other vital utilities.”
Construction of the project will continue over the next several months to demolish the existing bridge, complete the reconstruction of the River Park multi-use trail below the bridge, and complete the project landscaping and native plant revegetation work within the Tuolumne River channel.
The project was funded through the Highway Bridge Program, Local Seismic Safety Retrofit Program, and local transportation funds.
