THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994 TAG: 9406210141
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREG GOLDFARB, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: 940622 LENGTH: Medium
``If I don't do this now we'll have to close it later for a year or two,'' said Chuck Fullerton, a city waterways maintenance engineer.
{REST} Motorists and the surrounding community should experience little inconvenience due to the construction, Fullerton said, because although the two eastbound lanes will be completely closed to traffic the two westbound ones will remain open, but to two-way traffic.
The eastbound bridge was built in 1958 and the westbound one in 1967, but neither has ever been completely closed to traffic. Various lanes have been closed for up to two weeks for painting, Fullerton said, and for other maintenance.
The bridges, which each measure 1,528 feet long and have a water clearance of about 25 feet, were built by the state but are maintained by the city. They cross the Lynnhaven River at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. The bridges are among the state's most heavily used, as tens of thousands of vehicles use them daily during peak travel periods.
Thorough bridge inspections are conducted every two years, Fullerton said, but other than filling the usual potholes and cracks in the pavement, neither bridge has ever been resurfaced from one end to the other. Both bridges are said to be in structurally superior condition.
What makes the $220,000 project special, Fullerton said, is that it is part of the Federal Highway Administration's ``Thin Bonded Overlay and Surface Lamination Program,'' and the Lesner bridge was the only one in the state to receive the treatment. The work is also being done as an experiment by the Virginia Department of Transportation's Research Council in Charlottesville. Virginia Beach is expected this summer to apply for funds to resurface the westbound bridge.
VDOT, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Transportation and a California-based company, E. Khashoggi Industries, solicited participants from various regions in the country for a six-year, $15 million applied research program, according to Mike Sprinkle, VDOT's research council manager. Sprinkle said that $1.2 million has been earmarked statewide for seven bridge overlay projects, and three pavement section improvements. Localities pay 20 percent of the total cost, while the government pays the rest.
Applying the new overlays and lamination is relatively simple, Fullerton said, but it must be done quickly; materials must be mixed to exacting specifications at the site, and not in advance. The mixture, called ``EKI,'' will be spread like glue over the existing 8 1/2-inch thick road, after about the top one-fourth inch of it has been sandblasted or waterblasted away. Only about three-fourths inch of it is applied - about half the amount of cement or asphalt regularly used for repaving.
The new process has already been lab-tested and is said to yield a bonding material that is stronger, lighter, more flexible and more durable in all kinds of weather than other mixtures. Because less of it is used, it is expected to save the cities and counties money, said Fullerton. It also is supposed to last longer than conventional road-covering mixtures, exceeding 40 years. Salt and other road chemicals are reportedly unable to penetrate LKI-treated surfaces.
The council plans 5- and 10-year follow-up inspections.
by CNB