| Salvaged beams keep 4,000 tons of concrete out of landfill |
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| Four thousand tons of concrete salvaged from detour bridge |
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A beam is cleaned before being transported.
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ODOT recently added a new “R”—restock—to the traditional three “Rs” of reduce, reuse and recycle. The agency salvaged 64 precast, prestressed concrete box beams from the Interstate 5 McKenzie River detour bridge north of Eugene and stockpiled them on an ODOT storage lot on the other side of the city, ready for use on future projects.
The June 2–5 transport schedule had to meet tight time constraints. To achieve environmental stewardship goals of avoiding work in the McKenzie River during salmon migration and spawning season, ODOT needed to move the beams as soon as it could divert both northbound and southbound I-5 traffic onto the new southbound bridge, which is large enough to accommodate four lanes of traffic. In addition, the agency took into account two local events that might create congestion for area motorists: the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, taking place June 27–July 6, and a city of Eugene improvement project scheduled for one of the streets on the haul route.
Each of the beams measured between 75 feet and 115 feet long, so moving them required logistical foresight. In addition to using pilot cars, the crew installed planking to allow the rear dual wheels of the trucks to negotiate gutters and the tight corners along the city street portion of the haul route. Close collaboration with Eugene’s traffic engineer secured approval for the route, which involved a two-and-a-half-hour round trip from the bridge work zone to the ODOT storage lot.
With each beam weighing in at 70 tons, 64 preserved beams mean that more than 4,000 tons of concrete will not go into a landfill.
“Not only does it make sense for the environment, but it’s also a good use of taxpayers’ money,” said Joe Harwood, Region 2 public information officer. “The state will save an estimated $1 million off the contracts in which the beams are reused.”
As the cost of quarrying and casting concrete continues to rise, it makes solid fiscal sense to preserve the beams for future use, especially with five years of bridge program construction ahead. And given that the price of concrete products has risen 120 percent in five years, ODOT did well in buying the beams at the 2004 price rather than the price they are today.
“It’s always good to invest in assets that appreciate,” Harwood said. “No one predicted how drastically materials costs would escalate over the past several years, but we’re glad to have the beams already built and ready to reuse.”
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