M-115 Bridge Project: Box Culverts

CHALLENGE: Decaying bridge deck; maintaining trail
SOLUTION: Replace bridge with 16 ft by 16 ft box culvert during off-season

If you need something done, call Team Elmer’s. The State of Michigan did just that when a deteriorating section of bridge deck on M-115 in Manistee County needed to be removed. The old bridge section would be replaced with a 16 ft. by 16 ft. box culvert section to maintain the snowmobile trail the original bridge deck crossed.

Team Elmer’s rose to the challenge of a multi-faceted deconstruction and rebuild with a short deadline. The Michigan Department of Transportation would allow a maximum two week time frame for road closure and construction, with no extensions for weather delays. This created a challenging time frame that required accuracy and dedication, Team Elmer’s supplied both.

The first challenge after closing the road to traffic was removing the 160 yards of concrete debris from the bridge decking. Once the steel sub-structure was revealed, the time consuming work began. Elmer’s welders moved on-site to cut each cross member section connecting the 40 ft. span sections that created the bridge crossing. The 170 ton crane was on-site to remove the main 40 ft. bridge spans, once the final cuts were made to disconnect them from the concrete bridge decking. The steel units were hauled away and construction continued without delay due to the deadline.

The box culvert sections spanning 80 ft. were in place. Grand Traverse Construction poured in place the 50 yards of material for the final four 1 ft. thick wing wall sections. Elmer’s crews backfilled over 95,000 yards of material to bring the project back to road grade. Tony Lawhead’s crew, Grand Traverse Construction and Team Elmer’s members, including the asphalt crews all worked late to ensure the project was completed on-time. Paving was completed and opened to traffic on-time, despite weather delays. So if you need something done right and on-time, call Team Elmer’s.