The Tacoma Avenue South Bridge, constructed in 1930, is a 5-span, 333-foot long, 52-foot wide steel girder bridge spanning over South Tacoma Way and Sound Transit railway. Due to localized heavy corrosion on the steel elements of this bridge, it was posted for reduced loads and two of the four traffic lanes and both sidewalks were closed to any traffic mode. Early in the design phase, TranTech’s inspection team performed an in-depth bridge inspection with a UBIT for quantification of all the observable damages on this fracture-critical bridge. These damages included frozen rocker bearings, various stages of steel corrosion, pack rust conditions, concrete deck cracking, and abutment cracks and spalls. Based on the in-depth inspection report, an Alternative Study Report was generated where four different rehabilitation alternatives were studied. These alternatives included attributes such as staged construction, full closure construction, and usage of light weight concrete.
The City approved TranTech’s recommended alternative which called for a new deck composed of lightweight concrete, replacement of the exterior girders, repair of various corrosion damages throughout the structure, bearing replacements, and painting of the bridge. This alternative was advanced to full design. This project was completed in 2016 and won the 2018 APWA National Project of the Year Award for Historical Restoration/Preservation.
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