The Ohio River Bridges project includes a 2,500 feet long span cable stay bridge, 7.57 miles of associated six-lane highway, 24 bridges, multiple roundabouts, and a 1,680 feet long twin bored vehicular tunnel connecting Clark County, Indiana, State Road 265 to Jefferson County, Kentucky State Road 841.
One of the highlights of the project is its winter maintenance programme, which demonstrates the project’s adherence to environmental stewardship. To reduce fuel consumption and equipment wear, we used wider ploughs on equipment to clear the entire lane in one pass. Additionally, state-of-the-art cutting bit technology on ploughs allows for higher efficiency of snow and ice removal, reducing the use of de-icing chemicals, while better quality bits required fewer blade changes than traditional plough bits.
The main de-icing material used was salt brine at a 23.3 per cent solution. This was made on site and mixed with a corrosion inhibitor that made the product 70 per cent less corrosive than straight salt. Furthermore, we used two varieties of rock salt pre-wetted upon application to the road, which reduced bounce and scatter by up to 40 per cent, keeping more material on the road and preventing it from entering drainage systems.
The Portfolio Company subscribes to a Maintenance Decision Support System that forecasts weather and road conditions and suggests treatment of products, amounts, and timing, which has helped save on labour and equipment costs. The winter equipment was calibrated before and during the season, and plough routes were optimised to reduce the carbon footprint during operations.
The Ohio River Bridges project’s winter maintenance programme shows that infrastructure projects can prioritise environmental stewardship, and that new technology and equipment calibration can increase the effectiveness of winter maintenance programmes and reduce environmental impacts.
