INDIANAPOLIS -- Construction crews will resume the final demolition and rebuilding of the Rockville Road bridge over I-465 on Monday.
The bridge was significantly damaged earlier in January when the hydraulic arm of a mobile car crusher on the back of a semi extended upward as the vehicle headed north on I-465 approaching the Rockville Road overpass. It struck the support beams bridge, causing the extended closure of Rockville Road, and several hours of stopped traffic on I-465.
Troopers say hundreds of pieces of concrete, from baseball to basketball size, fell from the damaged support beams onto northbound traffic. Five vehicles were struck by the falling debris, but no life-threatening injuries were reported.
No cause was ever determined as to why the hydraulic arm raised unexpectedly on the back of the semi.
No traffic restrictions are expected on I-465 in this final stage of construction on the bridge.
Crews will install construction zone signs and begin selectively removing concrete and steel at the east end bridge abutment to prepare the site for new beams and reconstruction of the bridge deck.
This work will be done from the eastbound Rockville Road loop ramp to northbound I-465, which remains closed.
In the upcoming weeks, similar removals will be performed at the median pier. This work will install temporary concrete barriers to close the shoulders of I-465. One left lane of northbound and southbound I-465 will be closed during overnight hours.
Some remaining portions of the bridge deck over northbound I-465 will also be removed before rebuilding can begin. This will require some overnight multiple-lane closures on both directions of I-465 in the weeks ahead.
Specific dates and times of lane closures will be announced in advance.
One lane of eastbound traffic on Rockville Road is shifted across the median to share the undamaged westbound side of the bridge until reconstruction is complete. The eastbound Rockville Road loop ramp to northbound I-465 remains closed until the project is complete.
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