Indian River Inlet Bridge Annual Inspection & Roadway Approach Work Restricts Route 1

Indian River -- The Department of Transportation's (DelDOT) Bridge Management Team will be conducting its annual inspection of the existing Indian River Inlet Bridge Monday, July 20, through Thursday, July 23, 2009. The work will start on the Route 1 southbound side and will require the right lane and shoulder of the existing Indian River Inlet Bridge to be closed from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 20. On July 21, crews will move to the northbound side of the roadway, and Route 1 northbound will have a right lane and right shoulder closure to allow for completion of the inspection. July 23 is identified as a raindate, if needed.

Also during this time, DelDOT's Materials and Research staff will be taking core/boring samples along the approaches in the northbound right lane and right shoulder of Route 1 over the bridge. This work is needed to gather information about the road materials in this area which will be used as engineers design the contract for the removal of the existing bridge and roadway approaches. All work is weather dependent. There will be no lane impacts on Friday, July 24.

This regular, annual bridge inspection will consist of a hands-on type inspection to check the beams, bearings, portions of piers above water and the decking under the bridge. The closures allow the inspection crew to also fully check the condition of the bridge rails, sidewalks, joints and riding surface of the deck. In addition, DelDOT monitors the existing bridge via:

1. Underwater Dive Inspections: DelDOT performs annual underwater dive inspections. The next inspection is scheduled for September-October 2009.

2. Bathymetric Surveys: DelDOT continues to conduct annual bathymetric/fathometer surveys to examine the streambed area around and between the piers until the new bridge is complete. A fathometer study was recently conducted in April. The study indicated that there have not been any significant changes over the last year. This routine survey will be completed again in spring 2010. Additional surveys are conducted after severe storm events. In addition, the Army Corps of Engineers has provided DelDOT with their periodic bathymetric surveys, the most recent from 2007. The technology has improved over the years allowing the viewer to essentially see an underwater picture of the site. These renderings are posted on www.irib.deldot.gov.

3. Land Survey Equipment: Land survey equipment is used to monitor movement on the existing bridge on a regular basis (monthly). These readings have indicated little to no movement of the bridge. Any movement indicated is a result of normal expansion and contraction due to temperature effects.