Cranberry Creek Bridge

Location: Raleigh County, West Virginia

Owner: West Virginia Department of Transportation

Description: The new 1200' Cranberry Creek Bridge is a four lane, five span continuous structure that carries East Beckley Bypass over Cranberry Creek Gorge. The bridge has raised sidewalks, 8 foot wide bike lanes on each side, and a 14 foot wide median. The bridge is on a straight alignment and a 1% grade.

Superstructure: The bridge consists of five spans: 180'-280'-280'-280'-180'. The concrete deck is 90'-0" wide and 8-1/2' thick. Eight steel plate girders support the deck slab. The girders have 102-inch deep webs and the flanges contain HPS70W steel in the negative moment regions. The girders are attached with fixed elastomeric bearings at piers 2 and 3, and sliding elastomeric bearings at the abutments and piers 1 and 4.

Substructure: All substructure units bear on rock via spread footings. Piers have a single column and tapered, and vary in height from 77'-6" to 227'-0". Each pier cap is post tensioned in stages to support the required loads.

Special Considerations: The pier caps were designed for two-stage post-tensioning. After the cap is cast and the steel is erected, the first pull will be made. Subsequently, the deck, sidewalks, and parapets will be placed and the second pull will be made to accommodate traffic loads.

The topography of the area will be a challenge for the contractor during construction. Several design options were considered during preliminary stages, but most were considered not feasible due to cost, transport, and construction conditions.