Wagman Heavy Civil Project

South Fork Bridge Replacement-Route 340/522

  • Location

    Warren County, VA

  • Duration

    December 2013 – December 2017

This $48 million project for the Virginia Department of Transportation, included the complete reconstruction of large bridge structures carrying Route 340 over the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and the Norfolk and Southern Railroad. The new bridge structure was constructed and the existing bridge was demolished. The project included significant excavation, drainage, base, and asphalt paving to construct new roadway approaches to the bridge, as well as new interchanges on the approaches to the bridge. The project also included associated street lighting on both the roadway and bridge, new signalized interchanges, guardrail installation, signage, and landscaping.

Key Challenges & Project Details

  • The new bridge structure is eight spans, including one pier in the center of the river.
  • The new 1,910-foot bridge has six lanes and accommodates bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
  • A rock causeway and temporary bridge were used to access the construction for the river spans.
  • The new bridge piers were built in two phases and included very complex formwork needed for web wall construction between the main pier shaft components.
  • A borrow pit was established adjacent to the project, which furnished the 170,000 CY of imported embankment material needed to construct the new approaches and interchanges.
  • Large storm drain installation was performed with deep cuts through cultural resource areas and via the use of a jack and bore tunnel under the existing Norfolk Southern Railroad.
  • Major challenges included construction of storm drain and bridge piers in the areas restricted by cultural resources and access complications on the Front Royal end of the bridge.
  • This project alleviates severe congestion in the bridge corridor and improves safety.
  • Due to access restrictions on the town end of the bridge, VDOT detailed a causeway that provided access for bridge construction from one end only.
  • Wagman proposed and utilized a very different causeway configuration that will allow access for bridge construction from both ends.
  • This project includes grooving of the bridge surface per the Owner’s specifications.

Project Fun Facts

  • A very new, innovative interchange design, called a Quadrant Roadway Intersection, was constructed at the intersection of Route 55 and Route 340. This intersection provides movement in all directions without the use of any left turns from any direction.