ST. CROIX — Bridge work resumed on Queen Mary Highway this month following federal approval of required design changes due to field conditions that became known during construction as the Virgin Islands Department of Public Works tackles five bridge projects on The Big Island, according to the DPW commissioner.
As work continues after seven months on the bridge located west of the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands on Queen Mary Highway, or Centerline Road, motorists continue taking a detour on a bumpy road past the Virgin Islands National Guard Armory in Estate Bethlehem with no streetlights or road striping that is difficult to see at night.
Now that the design changes have been approved and work has resumed, the new construction schedule and material orders for the Queen Mary Highway bridge have resulted in an expected completion date for this summer, according to Public Works Commissioner Derek Gabriel, who recently told senators he expects the project to conclude in June.
DPW is also working on bridge projects on East Airport Road and Altona Lagoon. Work will begin in the future on two other bridge projects on Midland Road and Industrial Road, which runs next to the Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture fairgrounds. All the bridges are being repaired due to their poor condition.
“As you know, many of these bridges have their original construction dating to the 1800s in some instances,” Gabriel said in an email. “Traffic conditions and the weight of cars have significantly changed since then, allowing for significant deterioration, which was further exacerbated by the storms of 2017.”
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. briefly discussed the bridge projects during his January 22 State of the Territory Address, noting that contracts were awarded for the repair of five “historic bridges” on St. Croix that are starting to show their age. He said at the time that the bridge projects at Queen Mary Highway, East Airport Road and Altona Lagoon were scheduled to be completed in the next few months. He said the bridge projects on Midland Road and Industrial Road will begin once the other three projects are completed to maintain traffic flow.
Senators Franklin Johnson and Kenneth Gittens, majority leader, requested Gabriel to give an updated timeline for the completion of the bridge projects during a Committee on Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning held in the Earle B. Ottley Legislative Hall on St. Thomas.
Gabriel told senators the bridge projects on Queen Mary Highway, East Airport Road, and Altona Lagoon are slated for completion in June. He said he suspended work on Midland Road to alleviate traffic concerns since the other bridges remain out of service.
“That one will not be starting until East Airport Road and Queen Mary are complete,” he said.
Additionally, Gabriel said in an email that notice to proceed on the Industrial Road bridge project will likely not be issued until work is completed on Queen Mary Highway.
All the bridge projects are being managed by Eastern Federal Lands, a division of the Federal Highway Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation.
When Custom Builders began work on the Queen Mary Highway bridge, the contractor encountered field conditions that required major changes to the approved design that called for further engineering analysis, studies, and design alterations, Gabriel said.
“The design changes were just approved by EFL last month, allowing for work to resume this month,” he said in an email.
As work continues on Queen Mary Highway, the contractor is designing the abutments to support the new structure. A temporary bridge that is already on island will be erected once the abutments are in place, allowing traffic to continue along the road as the main bridge gets repaired, Gabriel said.
VI Paving, the contractor for the bridge on East Airport Road, has completed driving piles as construction continues, Gabriel said.
“Based on the current schedule, the contractor should begin pouring concrete abutments within the next two weeks,” the commissioner said in an email.
Construction of the abutments will support the bridge superstructure, which are the huge concrete arches lying on the ground at the construction site.
VI Paving is also completing the Altona Lagoon bridge, where Gabriel said piles have been driven, and construction on the concrete abutments is ongoing.
Custom Builders is the contractor for the bridges on Queen Mary Highway and Industrial Road, both of which are funded through DPW’s regular allotment from the Federal Highway Administration. VI Paving was awarded the projects on East Airport Road, Altona Lagoon, and Midland Road, all of which are funded through Federal Highway Administration – Emergency Relief funds.
The scope for the permanent bridge projects includes demolition, the construction of bridge approaches, spans, decks, rails, and new roadways, according to DPW. Motorists are asked to utilize alternate routes, when possible, and proceed with caution while traversing the areas.
