Bridge Information and Objective

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On June 2, 2014, the bridge over the Christina River was closed after it was discovered that four support columns were tilting 4 degrees to the east. I-495 was closed to traffic between the DE 9A and 12th Street interchanges. DelDOT officials at first said that the bridge would remain closed indefinitely. They later announced plans to have the southbound side of the bridge reopen by Labor Day, with the northbound side to follow by late September 2014. The southbound lanes reopened on July 31, a month earlier than expected, and the northbound lanes reopened on August 23, 2014. During the closure, traffic was detoured onto I-95, and several major roads in the Wilmington area experienced increased traffic congestion.

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DelDOT contracted Pennoni / iis to instrument the I-495 bridge section under repair due to a 4 degree lean of the bridge with a series of tilt meters for long term public safety and to monitor during repairs. DelDot requested the IntelliOptics SHM software previously used on the New Indian River Inlet Bridge implemented for long term monitoring. Pennoni contracted Cleveland Electric Labs and ChM4 implemented IntelliOptics software a cloud based system for its sophisticated abilities to produce automated reports and warning system based on Pennoni's protocols for monitoring of super structures. ChM4 is contracted by DelDOT to maintain the IntelliOptics software for both IRIB and I-495 currently.