By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

If you stand at the east end of the Ina Road bridge over the Santa Cruz River in Marana, it looks like the bridge goes on forever.

That’s not quite true, but the bridge that should begin handling traffic by the end of the year is longer than most in Arizona. It’s 640 feet long – more than the length of two football fields – and longer than the longest home run in major league history (Babe Ruth hit one 575 feet back in 1921).

ADOT crews put girders in place for the new westbound bridge in mid-May. The structure is almost identical to one we built in 2017 that eventually will carry two lanes of eastbound traffic toward Interstate 10 about a half-mile away.

Here are more numbers when it comes to the Santa Cruz River bridges:

• With the help of a crane and some very strong ropes, we placed 54 girders to support the bridge.
• There are nine piers holding up those 54 girders.
• Six girders, running the same direction as the bridge, rest on each pier.
• Each girder weighs 45,000 pounds, or about 22.5 tons.
• Combined, that’s 2.43 million pounds – 1,215 tons – of girders ready to support the roadway that will cross the bridge.

The next big step: Pouring the deck and superstructure of the bridge later this year. That will involve pouring 946 cubic yards of cement. At 2 tons per cubic yard, we’ll be pouring, smoothing, curing and striping nearly 1,900 tons of concrete for this bridge alone.

Looking at the bridge from below reveals that the girders curve upward just a bit. That’s to allow each to drop down just a little when the deck is poured into place.

ADOT is overseeing a $128 million project creating a modern traffic interchange that includes a bridge carrying Ina Road traffic over Interstate 10. We're also widening the interstate and making Ina Road two lanes in each direction west of I-10. The project remains on track for completion in early 2019.

The town of Marana is contributing $7.9 million toward the cost of the Santa Cruz River bridges and the rest of the funding is from the Federal Highway Administration, the Pima Association of Governments and the Regional Transportation Authority.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

The last time you went to the gym, how much weight did you lift? More than 100 pounds? 200?

More than 75 tons, anyone?

Those building a new bridge connecting Interstate 10 and State Route 87 in Eloy didn’t really lift 20 tons, of course. But 30 feet above the ground today, as two cranes lifted huge girders into place, these professionals, securely perched atop bridge piers, made sure these 145-foot girders landed in just the right spot.

And they repeated the process over and over, as shown in the slideshow above.

Precision may be difficult with a heavy girder, but it’s essential. There needs to be the right number of girders across each pier to support the bridge deck and traffic over decades. And each girder must allow room for the one that will connect to the next pier.

Today marks six months since crews began clearing ground for new lanes of I-10 and the new interchange with SR 87. Placing girders on the bridge is another visible sign that work is continuing on schedule.

The project is creating six new lanes of I-10 that will connect with the existing freeway just west and a few miles east of SR 87. Traffic will be moved to the new pavement as soon as this fall, with the entire project scheduled for completion by fall 2019. After this project and another in Casa Grande are complete, I-10 will be three lanes in each direction all the way between Casa Grande and the east side of Tucson.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

It sounds like something Forrest Gump would say: Bridges are like icebergs – you never know what you really have.

Icebergs, as most anyone can easily tell you, are much larger below the surface than above it.

It’s pretty much the same with bridges.

In Casa Grande, Arizona Department of Transportation crews are working along Jimmie Kerr Boulevard under the bridges that carry Interstate 10 traffic. As part of a project to widen I-10 in the Casa Grande area, crews are building new, wider bridges over Jimmie Kerr and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The new bridges will be between the existing bridges.

The pillars you see supporting bridges all across Arizona only tell a small part of the story.

Lying on the ground along Jimmie Kerr under I-10 recently were several 80-foot-tall cylinders of rebar, metal used to strengthen the concrete supporting the bridge. Maneuvering carefully between the existing freeway bridges overhead, crews last week placed the first rebar tower into the first 82-foot hole.

It’s a snug fit: the hole is only about 6 feet across and has about 6 inches of space to spare on each side.

After the hole is filled with concrete, the supporting piers will rise from ground level to the bridge itself. In all, about 10 piers will support each of the two bridges, one for each direction of I-10.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

A project as large as the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway makes for some impressive pictures, including the slideshow above produced as crews set extremely long girders to create two half-mile bridges that will span the Salt River.

There's plenty more to explore on the South Mountain Freeway Flickr page – 31 albums in all, from the start of construction on the 17th Avenue interchange to showcasing colors and designs to be used on interchanges and walls to creating the I-10 interchange in the West Valley.

You'll see some videos there as well, including this one showing one of the long, long Salt River bridge girders arriving at the construction site.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

It’s no surprise that the greatest impact from the new overpass coming to State Route 347 in Maricopa will be for drivers, from commuters to students and teachers at Maricopa High School, who use SR 347 every morning and evening.

But the overpass and related roadway changes will also significantly benefit those who travel the 21 miles between Maricopa and Casa Grande.

For drivers entering Maricopa on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, the road will turn north just west of the Maricopa Unified School District offices. Drivers will go north to Honeycutt Road, then west to join SR 347.

For those going the other direction, there will be no more waiting for a green light at Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. Instead, drivers will follow the road first to the right of the road’s current alignment, then left under the overpass and on their way to Maricopa neighborhoods or Casa Grande.

The $55 million overpass will be built largely on a new alignment east of the current roadway to minimize the impact on the community. Initial work is set to begin Monday, with completion scheduled for fall 2019.

By John Dougherty / ADOT Communications

Occasionally things that are old look beaten up and unattractive. Sometimes they can look weathered with an interesting patina only found on well-aged items. That's exactly what we found with this guardrail on the old Canyon Diablo bridge near Two Guns in northern Arizona. This bridge was last used more than 70 years ago. It just proves you can get better with age!

Art of Transportation
We think there is beauty in transportation. It’s not all hard hats and pavement. Art of Transportation is a blog series featuring unique photos our team has taken while on the road or on a construction project.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

In 1965, as Interstate 10 was first making its way through Pima County, the bridge over Ina Road was among the first to be completed.

On the first Friday morning of 2018, that bridge came down to make way for a newer, wider, safer traffic interchange.

The flurry of activity that brought down the bridge was the first of many big steps that will shape the future for many years to come.

The Ina Road project – including new bridges to carry Ina Road over I-10, Union Pacific Railroad tracks and the Santa Cruz River, as well as widening both Ina and I-10 – is near its midpoint. The work should be complete a little more than a year from now. The next big step: Before the end of January westbound traffic will be moved to share the road with eastbound traffic on the new eastbound lanes.

Ina Road isn’t the only major freeway interchange getting improvements. The first phase of Ajo Way (State Route 86) interchange improvements will be completed in the spring. The new bridge already has a safer, wider single-point urban interchange and will include wider lanes on Interstate 19, a new bridge over the Santa Cruz River and a new pedestrian bridge at Michigan Avenue.

That’s not all we’re doing to improve roads in Pima County. East of downtown Tucson, this spring we’ll begin adding traffic signals and other improvements at the eastbound I-10 exits for Wilmot, Rita and Kolb roads. We already made similar changes at Houghton Road last year.

Our crystal ball – a.k.a. the state’s five-year construction program – shows there is more in store for Tucson and Pima County. Perhaps the biggest: widening I-10 over the three-plus miles from Ina to Ruthrauff. That work is scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2021.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

Get ready, Pinal County. A big year is beginning.

Four major projects – three of them along Interstate 10 between Picacho and Casa Grande – will begin in earnest in January. All four will keep our engineers and construction crews busy for the next two years, making transportation in Pinal County smoother and safer.

Construction crews have already begun moving dirt east of I-10 in Eloy to add a third lane in each direction between Eloy and Picacho. Our crews will create a new interchange with State Route 87 and create a new alignment to the east of the current travel lanes. The added lanes will reduce congestion and make the road safer.

At the same time, we’re also building a dust detection system unlike anything that has been done in the U.S. Short- and long-range radar systems will help identify when blowing dust is creating a hazard for drivers, while electronic message boards and variable speed limits will get information to drivers that can help them make safe decisions.

The two projects, which are being done at the same time to coordinate the work, will cost about $58 million and are expected to be complete in fall 2019. Most of the work will be done away from the current travel lanes, meaning few restrictions and delays during the work.

In mid-January, the State Transportation Board will consider awarding the contract for widening a second section of I-10, between Earley Road and Interstate 8. The estimated $40 million project also includes replacing the bridge at Jimmie Kerr Boulevard and other improvements. Completion of that project is expected by late 2019.

And 20 miles up Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, work is set to begin on a bridge that will carry State Route 347 over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, eliminating frequent delays and increasing safety on the city’s busiest roadway. The $55 million project also is scheduled for completion by late 2019. Like the other projects, most of the work will be done away from current travel lanes, reducing delays.

The animation at right shows what the bridge is going to look like.

Four projects, a $150 million investment in Pinal County transportation and a boost for one of Arizona’s most-important key commerce corridors. We can’t wait to get going.