News release from INDOT:
US 27/ Clinton Street Bridge Project Schedules Lane Restriction for Monday, Oct. 3, and Tuesday, Oct. 4
Restriction and some stoppages due to beam placementThe Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Fort Wayne District announces that the southbound US 27/Clinton Street project between East Superior Street and East Jacobs Avenue will be restricted to one lane on Monday, October 3 and also on Tuesday, October 4, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., as crews perform bridge beam placement work at the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge. This event is weather permitting.
Traffic will be briefly stopped, as each beam is removed from the semi and set one at a time. Six beams will be set on the center span on Monday and six beams will be set on the north span on Tuesday. Each beam is approximately 92 foot long and weighs just under 50 tons. The sum total for all beams on the entire bridge is approximately 1,500 Tons.
The project is 75 percent complete. Depending on the weather, all three lanes should be open by mid to late December.
The project replaces the bridge and adds features to the gateway into Fort Wayne’s downtown including a new pedestrian trail on both sides to connect Headwaters Park and Lawton Park, an arched steel truss style façade, ornamental lighting, plus prominent memorials to Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy etched into the railing along the bridge. The project will be complete by 2011, with minimal work occurring in early 2012. While INDOT’s portion of the bridge project centers on functionality, the City of Fort Wayne is funding a portion of the project to make the structure a signature gateway. The memorials to Martin Luther King Jr. will remind the public of the bridge’s actual name, the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge.
The contract for the project was awarded to R L McCoy based on the company’s low bid of $7.5 million.