Direct Connect October 2024

Work continues of the reconstruction of the collapsed section of the highway. They are starting to install rebar which will be part of the new retaining wall. The new wall will be poured in place concrete instead of the pre-fabricated mechanically stabilized earth system that was used previously.  

Foundation work has started on the final new support for the new Browning Road overpass. You can just make out the rebar for the bottom of the columns in these pictures. 

Browning Road Overpass October 2024

The lanes on 42 have been reconfigured to open a work area for the final support column for the Browning Road overpass. The old support columns have been removed and the equipment is in place to start building the new one. 

 

Browning Road Overpass September 2024

With work complete on the second new bridge abutment for the Browning Road Overpass a lane shift has been done to allow work to continue. The far right lane which connects 42 North to 295 North has been shifted over to the right. This shift is needed to create a work area between the North and South bounds lanes of 42 so that the old bridge supports can be demolished and new ones built. There will also be some supports for the new 295 main line overpass. In the drawing below you can see the location of the new pier names "Pier 2". 

 

Browning Road Overpass July 2024

Work on the second abutment for the new Browning Road Overpass appears almost complete. The concrete supports on the top of the abutment have been poured and the retaining wall next to it has been capped off. The Jersey barrier along the bottom of the wall has also been poured. 

 

The new Jersey barrier has also been extended part of the way under the temporary overpass.

Browning Road Overpass June 2024

 There hasn't been much visible work on Direct Connect recently. The one area that is seeing clear progress in the Browning Road Overpass. 

Here is a picture from a couple weeks ago showing the concrete forms on the new bridge abutment. 

Here are two more recent pictures.

Once the second abutment is complete, they next step will be to demolish and rebuild the second set of support columns. The new support is a little closer to the North Bound lanes of 42 then the current supports, and there is also a support for the new 295 mainline overpass in this area. This may require lane shift to make room. 

Browning Road Overpass May 2024

The retaining wall for the second Browning Road bridge abutment has been constructed in front of the previously constructed support columns.  

Direct Connect April 2024

There hasn't been a lot of easily visible work on the Direct Connect project over the past few months but recently there were a few visible changes. 

Work has started up again on the second bridge abutment for the Browning Road overpass. The first was complete a while back, and the other side was demolished but then work appeared to stop. In the picture below you can see the four rebar cages that will for support columns for the new abutment. 

Another recent change, move concrete structures have been poured on top of the columns which will support the new 295 main line overpass. 

 

The rest of the work has focused on rebuilding the collapsed section of the roadway. A temporary retaining wall has been build to hold up the back portion of the roadway so work can be done to create a stronger foundation for the from retaining wall.