(March 23, 2012) – Motorists driving on the Intercounty Connector (ICC)/MD 200 between MD 97 (Georgia Avenue) and Needwood Road should be alert for potential shoulder closures beginning next week, as construction crews start work on several bridges.  The four bridges carry MD 97, Emory Lane, MD 115 (Muncaster Mill Road) and Needwood Road over the ICC.   During the six to eight week construction, the four bridges and the ICC itself will remain fully open to traffic with crews working between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

 

Crews will insert steel rods through holes drilled in the bridge pier caps (top portion of bridge), tighten the rods for tensioning, install a grout material around the rods to seal the holes and secure the ends with steel plates.  Crews will cover the plates with concrete to restore the bridge appearance.

The work on the bridges is necessary to improve the durability of the pier caps, which were designed with less internal steel than needed. The issue was identified when State Highway Administration (SHA) contractors found premature cracks on three of the bridges during routine inspections last fall.  An immediate review found that the pier caps need more steel to handle the wear and tear of long-term traffic.  

 

While there was no imminent safety concern, as a precaution, SHA directed the contractor to wrap steel cable around the pier caps of the Needwood Road, Emery Lane and MD 97 bridges over the ICC as a temporary measure while engineers developed a long-term solution.  The installation of the steel rods will insure the durability of the bridges to the anticipated 50-75 year “life span.”

 

SHA is evaluating several bridges along the ICC from MD 97 to I-95 to determine if modifications to additional support structures are necessary.  The state is not responsible for the cost of any modifications.​