Contractor: Kuhn Construction, Hockessin, DE

Contract Value: $34.5 million

Contract Duration: 1625 Calendar Days

The current roadway approaches contract includes temporary relocation of existing SR 1 to the east to create room for the new bridge to be built, construction of the new approach roadways to the bridge, new accesses to the park, retaining walls, and construction of drainage and stormwater facilities. This contract also includes construction of wetland mitigation sites at Fresh Ponds (located about 2 miles south of the inlet. View the photo gallery!.

Current Roadway Project News

On April 20, 2006 all travel lanes on northbound and southbound SR 1 were available for traffic. This was completed approximately 1 month ahead of schedule. The current traffic pattern will be in effect until the new bridge is opened (anticipated in late 2010). Open the photo gallery for pictures of the roadway construction.

Work is continuing on the retaining walls and approach embankments on the north and south sides of the inlet. The embankment will be initially constructed higher than the final elevation to accommodate settlement of the existing ground due to the weight of the new embankment. Instrumentation to monitor the embankment settlement is buried in the embankment areas. Weekly readings are taken and analyzed to ensure that there is not too much movement occurring. Once all the embankment material is in place, we will continue to monitor the area until such time as significant settlement stops. At that time, any excess material will be removed from the embankment and the new pavement section will be constructed.

The retaining walls that are being constructed to hold the new embankments in place are a two-stage wall. The initial stage consists of wire cages filled with rock that are constructed in tiers and tied together. Plastic straps are attached to the wire cages and then anchored into the new embankment. Once all the settlement of the embankment stops, a concrete facing will be attached to the wire cages. View the photo gallery!.

More information about the Roadway Approaches is available here