PCL Awarded Major Bridge Project in Virginia

TAMPA, Florida -- The PCL family of companies is pleased to announce that PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. (Tampa) has been awarded a $133.8-million contract to replace the Gilmerton Bridge on Route 13, over the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The project involves replacing the existing bascule bridge that crosses the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River with a 225-foot tall vertical lift bridge. The bridge crosses a busy shipping channel in Chesapeake, Virginia. The new bridge will increase the vertical clearance for navigable traffic from 19 feet to 40 feet in the closed position, and to 137 feet in the open position. Construction access will be achieved by use of a trestle system and barges, so crews can construct 12-foot diameter drill shafts for the main span and 5-foot diameter drill shafts on the approach bridges.

The project entails several logistical challenges, such as constructing the lift bridge structural steel towers and the main span over the existing bridge during nightly and weekend roadway traffic closures. The main span will be floated in, and the new bridge activated during a critical 72-hour closure of the roadway and navigable waterway. 

Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2010 and complete in October 2013.

About PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. (Tampa)
PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. (Tampa) is part of the PCL family of companies, the seventh largest contracting organization in the United States and the largest contracting organization in Canada. The PCL family has offices in 27 major centers across Canada, continental North America, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Caribbean. Watch us build at www.pcl.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Regina Rehfield
PCL Civil Constructors, Inc.
Phone:  813-264-9500
Email:  rerehfield@pcl.com