Bridge Piers Rise 217′ Above Cranberry Creek
(3rd Quarter 2010)
A Look “Through The Lens“ at Vecellio & Grogan’s East Beckley Bypass Construction Project in Beckley, West Virginia
Job Facts:
$19.8 Million WVDOH Contract
1.13 Miles of 4-Lane Highway
4-Lane Bridge 1,200 Long
Bridge Piers Up to 217 Tall
(Photos by Carl Thiemann)
A crew of steel workers is lifted out to a bridge pier as Crane Operators Tommy Coiner and Richard Clary hold a rebar cage ready for placement. The crew will guide the cage into a waiting form, into which concrete will be poured to form a pier cap.
Above left: Secure in their harnesses, two members of the bridge crew work on a pier form. The piers will rise more than 200 above the bottom of a deep gorge to support the bridge spans at grade. Above right: David McGuire packs dirt along the edge of the tiered wall project.
A haul truck brings in more fill as Dozer Operator Larry Griffith spreads the material, while David McGuire and Roller Operator Evelyn Jarrell compact it, in an area of the job known as the wall project. A wire mesh- and geo-fabric-reinforced retaining system provides the needed slope and stability as the area is brought up to grade one layer at a time. Grass seed in each shelf puts the finishing touches on the wall.
Hoe Operator Phil Hooser repositions rock as Dozer Operator Larry Griffith spreads fill on a lower level in the background.
Left: Service Truck Operator Les Lilly greases the fittings of an excavator equipped with a breaker hammer. Right: Hoe Operator Billy Wood furnishes a load of material to a Cat 777 haul truck operated by Robbie Drylie.
Left: Roller Operator Evelyn Jarrell compacts fill in the area of the job known as the “wall project.” Right: Operator Larry Dillon runs a front-end loader equipped with forks, as Laborer Wes Winebrimmer readies drainage pipe for loading.
A loader brings fill to crew members with shovels along the edge of the tiered wall project.
(Photos by Carl Thiemann)