Myrtle Beach: HBG Flatiron crews forge ahead
Bridge #8 will be a two-span, flyover structure to allow a local road to cross over Carolina Bays, giving access to the west side of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. This large borrow pit will provide enough embankment material to construct approximately two miles of this 20-mile project.
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The goal of the ambitious highway construction project in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is to build 43 bridges in 26 locations. Wow! Work began last January, and was originally scheduled for completion in 34 months. However, add-ons and change orders have pushed the date back to June 2003.
With 70 percent of the work already completed, project manager Terry Poole is confident that even with the extra work, the project will be completed within the original 34 months or sooner. Weather is always an unknown factor, but so far crews have made it through the second hurricane season without a major storm.
HBG Flatiron is partnering with Tidewater Construction in a joint venture called Palmetto Transportation Constructors. HBG's portion of the $240 million design/build contract is $156 million. The 30-kilometer-long (20 miles) Carolina Bays Parkway will provide a new North-South route with controlled access as an alternative to the crowded coastal road that serves this popular tourist area.
The project consists of five interchanges connecting the new highway to existing roads. The main part of the road is a divided six-lane highway. It runs through a unique natural landscape dotted with numerous wetlands. These swamp-filled oval depressions, or bays, are being preserved for their unique plant life. Crews are taking special erosion-control measures such as silt fencing, sediment ponds and ditch checks.
To protect the wetlands as much as possible, the bridges carrying the road are being built from the top down. Piles have been driven from an overhanging frame. The piles are then capped and cross beams laid across the top to support the bridge deck. "Using this method enables us to minimize the impact on the wetlands because we don't have to build any access roads," explains Terry Poole.
The Carolina Bays Parkway and Veteran's Highway Interchange opened to traffic in July of 2000. The Carolina Bays portion consists of two 1,350-foot-long flyover structures, and a twin, two-span mainline structure. The 1,700,000-cubic-yard embankment requirement for the interchange came from below the water table.
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The longest of the bridges over the wetland stands on 342 piles, and has 18 spans of 12 meters each. Five flat-slab bridges are being built over wetland areas. Since the piers are completed on the majority of the other bridges, crews are currently focusing on placing the bridge decks.
The road base is ready, so laying asphalt will be a major activity at the site for the next few months. It will take over 500,000 tons of asphalt to complete the roadway.
Read more about this project on our Carolina Bays page.
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