Tarmac: Ready Mix Concrete

TARMAC SUPPLIES READY MIX FOR PORTABLE BRIDGE

You would normally expect to see a new bridge being built in clear view of its aging predecessor.

Not on the Virginia Peninsula where creation of the new four lane Coleman Bridge was being constructed 45 miles away in Norfolk. The reason? Building Coleman II next to Coleman I would have forced commuters crossing the scenic York River to take a year long, 70 mile detour.

Given current heavy usage, that was not a viable solution. So to minimize traffic woes, lead contractor Tidewater Construction Corporation decided to build a completed bridge in sections, then float the finished product to the site.

Coleman Bridge

New Coleman Bridge under construction 45 miles away from its permanent site on the York River.

Coleman Bridge

A Tarmac mixer is hoisted approximately 120 feet onto the bridge deck surface to pour the parapet wall.

Tarmac supplied all the lightweight concrete for the bridge structure. "We poured over 5,000 cubic yards," says Terry Aldridge, Sales Manager for Tarmac's Southern Virginia Ready Mix region. "We also used a new fiber additive designed to reduce cracking and speed up placement of slip form concrete in the parapet walls."

Tidewater Construction requested the lightweight concrete to reduce the total weight of the bridge. "To complete the decks," says Jim Holland, Quality Control Manager for Southern Virginia Ready Mix, "the concrete was pumped up from the ground through a five inch line but we had to actually lift some trucks by crane to the top of the bridge to pour the parapet walls."

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