Construction to cause lane closures

Improvements to the Interstate 30 bridges over DeRoche Creek will require temporary lane closures, according to Arkansas Department of Transportation officials.

Weather permitting, crews will reduce traffic on Interstate 30 to a single lane in each direction between mile markers 79 and 81 starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday and continuing for 10 days until work is completed. These closures will allow crews to complete ARDOT’s second ever lateral bridge slide.

The westbound bridge slide started August 17 and was projected to take 10 days to complete, but crews instead finished the work 2 days early. This slide will replace the structure in the eastbound lanes with a newly constructed bridge. This is ARDOT’s first project using the accelerated bridge construction technique called a lateral bridge slide.

In this technique, a new bridge is built adjacent to the existing one so traffic can continue using the existing structure during construction of the new one. Once the new bridge is built, traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction and shifted to one side of the interstate. The old bridge is then torn out and the new bridge is slid laterally into its final position. Traffic will move fully onto the new bridge once it is in place and connected to the existing eastbound lanes.

Traffic will be controlled by traffic cones and signage. Drivers should exercise caution when approaching and traveling through all highway work zones. Additional travel information can be found at IDriveArkansas.com or ARDOT.gov.

Individuals can also follow on Twitter @myARDOT.