New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Acting Regional Director Darrell Kaminski announced the award of two, 2010 Bridge Awards from the Association of Bridge Construction & Design (ABCD), Western New York Chapter.

The Bridge Awards were given for the U.S. Route 219 Twin Arch Bridges over Cattaraugus Creek, located in the towns of Concord, Erie County, and Ashford, Cattaraugus County, and the New York Route 60 (Washington Street) Bridge over West Harrison Street, the Chadekoin River, and the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad in the city of Jamestown, Chautauqua County.

“The New York State Department of Transportation thanks ABCD for recognizing the design and construction of these bridges,” said Kaminski. “Department staff work hard every day to support the traveling public by designing and building projects that improve safety, enhance mobility and promote economic growth across Western New York. It’s wonderful for these projects to be recognized.”

The Route 219 Twin Bridges over Cattaraugus Creek were built as a part of the U.S. Route 219 expressway expansion project to carry northbound and southbound traffic over Cattaraugus Creek at the Zoar Valley Gorge. Tremendous care was taken during the design and construction of these bridges to minimize impacts to the fragile environmental assets in and around the construction site. The design and construction was a cooperative effort between NYSDOT and other stakeholders, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, State Department of Environmental Conservation, State Historic Preservation Office, and the Erie County Department of Parks and Recreation.

Cold Spring Construction Company of Akron, Erie County, was the construction contractor on the project.

The Washington Street Bridge over West Harrison Street, the Chadekoin River, and the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad consists of six spans with variable depth, and curved steel beams, which were set on five, uniquely shaped piers of varying heights. This project required extensive coordination with local stakeholders, including the city of Jamestown, Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, bicyclist groups, businesses and the citizens of Jamestown. To accelerate the bridge construction on this main truck route, NYSDOT required the contractor to demolish the existing 940-ft. (286 m) bridge and completely reconstruct a new bridge in just 273 days. The aesthetics of the structure were not sacrificed to meet the accelerated schedule. The uniquely shaped piers, the architectural texturing on the piers and barrier, the fabricated bicycle railing, architectural details at each light fixture, and decorative lighting made meeting the proposed schedule challenging.

Union Concrete & Construction Corp. of West Seneca, Erie County, was the project construction contractor and set an aggressive schedule to complete the project. The bridge was completed ahead of schedule in 211 days.

The ABCD Bridge Awards are given to recognize outstanding new or rehabilitated single or multi-span structures opened to traffic in calendar year 2010.

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