Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project – Virginia DOT/FHWA/MSHA
The Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria Virginia, Route 1 and I-495, had one of the worst reputations for bottlenecked traffic in the entire U.S. due to an overload of 200,000 vehicle a day usage.
The Virginia DOT decided to build a new twelve lane bridge to replace the six lane bridge that dated back to 1961. Total length of this huge project was approximately eight miles long. The area also had to have four interconnecting interchanges constructed. Because of soft soil conditions and settlement concerns, geofoam was chosen to replace the traditional fills materials. Being such an important FHWA project, the site was also used to have a “live” geofoam EPS deployment showing the ease at which geofoam can be deployed and installed. Representatives from the FHWA have stood behind geofoam and its ability to become a huge step forward in highway construction of all kinds. The cost of this massive project was 2.5 billion dollars. photo credit:FHWA and EPSIA