Bridge Repair Projects Brule, Butte, and Brookings Counties

Background

Regular wear and tear on infrastructure is to be expected, especially with the intense freeze and thaw cycles of the Upper Midwest. Houston Engineering, Inc. (HEI) has been assisting the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) with much needed bridge repairs throughout the state by providing a range of services from girder replacement to spot painting.

The Project

Girder Repair and Painting over I-90
Most damage to overhead bridges will come from regular use and various forms of deterioration from weather conditions. However, occasional mistakes through collisions with oversized truck loads dramatically speed up the need for repairs.

This happened to a bridge near Pukwana in Brule County, damaging multiple girders and structural features. HEI worked with the SDDOT to repair both the damage from the truck and from natural deterioration. HEI provided plans for various girder repair and bridge painting—part of which involved designing repairs around heat straightening, as some of the bridge damage was not severe enough for a full replacement.
Other major damage areas involved designs to cut out and weld in new portions of the web and flanges.
Full designs were submitted in
July 2018.

US 85 Bridge Painting and Joint Repair
Typical wear and tear has been rusting away a bridge over Four Mile Creek and another over Moreau River in Butte County. The structures needed to be repainted to fix rust issues as well as receive repairs to the end joints, as leaks were causing drainage issues. New joints were pulled out and replaced, and designs for zone painting were submitted in November 2018.

Deck Overlays on SD 28 and SD 30 Bridges
The surfaces of two bridges in Brookings County have been unevenly worn, exhibiting cracking and delamination, along with receiving damage to the bridge’s joint systems. HEI designed deck overlays using low-slump concrete as a replacement so that the hills and valleys of the previous deck can be leveled out;
HEI also designed a joint replacement to repair the existing joints.
Full designs were submitted in December 2018, and construction was completed in 2019.