Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, Connecticut, United States of America

The Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, known as the Q Bridge by locals, is located on Interstate 95 (Connecticut Turnpike) across the Quinnipiac River in New Haven, Connecticut, US.

It is an extradosed cable stayed bridge which will accommodate five travel lanes in each direction, as well as full inside and outside shoulders.

Construction of the bridge, which is owned by Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), began in 2008 and is expected to be completed in June 2015. It is a part of a $3bn project to reconstruct and widen 13 miles of I-95, between West Haven and Branford.

The northbound span of the bridge was completed and opened to traffic in June 2012, while the southbound span is expected to be finished in June 2015. It has been predicted that the bridge will accommodate more than 150,000 vehicles a day by 2015.

Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge project

In 1989, the ConnDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiated a study to improve the I-95 between Branford and West Haven.

The old bridge was constructed as part of the Connecticut Turnpike project in the 1950s, but it became outdated with traffic bottlenecks becoming a chronic problem. The study considered replacing the existing bridge on Quinnipiac River with a better option.

The bridge was opened with a design capacity to accommodate 40,000 vehicles in a day, but the vehicle traffic on the bridge currently increased to more than 150,000 vehicles a day. In 1992, ConnDOT and FHWA presented many alternatives for the construction of a new bridge in a draft environmental impact statement.

Design of the Q Bridge

The final design of the bridge, prepared in 2001, featured a 75ft tower above the bridge deck. The ten-lane cable-suspended extradosed bridge has a centre span of 515ft and two side spans each 249ft long. The overall length of the bridge is 1,013ft.

Connecticut's memorial bridge construction

The bridge will be constructed by placing two integrated pier caps, encasing four girders and spanning 230ft over a roadway. The pier caps lock the girders into the concrete and restrict movement.

The construction works include shaft foundations, anchor piers, tower piers and superstructure for the extradosed cable-stayed bridge. It also includes construction of retaining walls, disposal of hazardous materials and demolition of the existing structure. The entire construction is divided into three phases.

Contractors for Pearl Harbor Bridge

The $137m contract for phase one of the bridge's construction, which is also known as contract B-1, was awarded to a joint venture between Cianbro and Middlesex III in June 2009.

The scope of the contract includes the construction of northbound approach structures of the bridge. URS provided the design for the project, while H.W. Lochner is in charge of construction engineering and inspection, while Parsons Brinckerhoff is programme manager.

Hippwrap was hired for providing the design for a shrink-wrap system to encase the 230ft bridge span. Polygon was awarded a contract to install eight 30-ton DX cooling units and two 20-ton DX cooling units to hold the steel beams at 66. It also deployed five of its ExactAire systems, while Munters was subcontracted to handle the temperature control.

Contract B, worth $417m, was awarded to a joint venture consisting of Walsh Construction and PCL Civil Constructors. The scope of work includes the construction of full shoulders and a new median barrier on both sides of the bridge, as well as installation of new drainage, signage and lighting on the bridge.

Financing the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge

The cost of the new bridge's construction was estimated to be $800m in 1997. It was later increased to $1.5bn and is expected to reach $2bn by the time of completion in June 2015. It is financed with 90% federal funds, with the remaining ten percent coming from state and local funding.