Stevensville, MD
William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge
Scope/Solutions
Constructed in 1973, the westbound structures of the William Lane Memorial Bridge carry three lanes of U.S. Route 50 across the Chesapeake Bay. During an overlay project at the bridge, Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) inspectors found areas of extensive cracking and debonding. Working with O’Connell & O’Connell, SGH investigated the cause of debonding and helped develop of repair procedures for the 5 mi. long structure.
The bridge superstructure varies by location along the bridge and includes prestressed concrete beams, steel plate girders, a cantilevered through-truss, deck trusses, and a suspension portion, all of which support either a cast-in-place lightweight or normal-weight concrete deck. Our investigation of the concrete overlay involved the following:
- Inspected the entire bridge deck and performed delamination testing, direct-tension bond testing, and petrographic examination of cores removed from the deck
- Performed nondestructive impulse-response testing of 225,000 sq ft of bridge deck to locate areas of distress on the underside of the slab
- Prepared data summaries and presented information to the MdTA
- Assisted in the determination of appropriate repair techniques and tested repair mockups
Project Summary
