The City of Murfreesboro’s plan to widen Brinkley road to a 3-lane roadway with sidewalk and multi-use path proposed a problem when it came to crossing Overall Creek. The existing two-lane bridge crosses the creek at a sharp skew, and flood waters overtop the existing roadway and bridge. The city wanted the proposed widened roadway and the bridge not to overtop during the 100-year flood event, and they want two-way traffic to be maintained during construction.

After ELI performed a site visit and existing bridge investigation, ELI studied alternatives to accomplish the city’s goals for this project. Some additional constraints included side streets on opposite sides of the road on each side of Overall Creek. The side street to the north is only 200’ away, and the side street to the south is about 300’ away. ELI studied multiple alternatives including a temporary bridge to maintain traffic. After studying widenings to the east, west and both sides, ELI presented a plan that was the struck a balance between the multiple factors of cost, roadway geometry, safely maintaining two-way traffic, minimizing utility relocations and creek modifications to accommodate flooding.

ELI’s plan includes a phase constructed prestressed I-beam bridge. Temporary sheet piles will be required at the approaches to maintain traffic because of the elevation difference between the new and old roadways.  The bridge’s alignment is skewed 45 degrees to Overall Creek.