Survey Crews Conducting Work for New Downtown Jeffersonville Bridge Approach
January 2006 – Survey crews are currently conducting work in Jeffersonville to collect
data for engineers and designers of the Indiana approaches for the new Downtown
Bridge, part of the Ohio River Bridges Project. Over the next three to four months,
workers will be surveying the area where the bridge approach section will be built
– along the I-65 and US 31 corridor from the Ohio River to Stansifer Avenue, within
the old Jeffersonville historic district (south of Court Street) and west of Spring
Street.
According to officials with Butler, Fairman & Seufert , the Indianapolis engineering
firm in charge of the project, the survey will last several months and is currently
scheduled to conclude in March or April.
The survey work will determine the contours of the existing ground surface and assess
structural features in the area as it will serve as the foundation for the bridge
approach section. While preliminary work is currently underway, a significant portion
of the survey work will begin in mid-January.
Butler, Fairman & Seufert is working with two other firms – USI Consultants and
First Group Engineering – to conduct the general survey work. Another firm under
the direction of Butler, Fairman & Seufert, TBE Group, is responsible for assessing
utility locations as part of the survey work.
“This is a critical step in the process of approach design because this information
is essential to understand the foundation on which this section will be built,”
said Jim Hamilton, vice president with Butler, Fairman & Seufert.
The survey crews will assess a number of factors in the affected area, mapping location
features such as utilities, drainage, buildings, structures, fences, roadways and
sidewalks. The team will also study ground elevations to collect information about
the contours of the land in the area. The survey work will supplement aerial photographs
taken of the area.
The survey crews, though visible to motorists and pedestrians as they conduct the
work, will have little impact on traffic. In some cases, manhole covers will be
temporarily removed for workers to investigate sanitary sewers, utility and drainage
systems. In these cases, motorists will be alerted, redirected and are urged to
use caution when driving through work zones.
Geotechnical survey work and drilling for soil samples will be conducted in the
area in 2007 or early 2008.
The Ohio River Bridges Project addresses the long-term, cross-river transportation
needs in the Louisville-Southern Indiana region. The Federal Highway Administration,
Indiana Department of Transportation and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet agreed
that the only feasible way to meet cross-river transportation needs is to construct
two new bridges and rebuild the Kennedy Interchange. Of a variety of options studied,
the alternative selected meets transportation needs with the least amount of impact
on environmental resources and communities.
The Bridges Project, currently in the design phase, is tentatively scheduled for
completion in 2020.