Thursday, February 6, 2014

Preparations for Removal of Murray’s Ford Bridge

Preparations are underway for removal of the Murray's Ford bridge located over Goose Creek, south of the Sycolin Road bridge. Loudoun County officials have been working with residents of the area in connection with the project and have advised them that they will notice heavy equipment at the site over the next two months.

 

The contractor on the project, Facchina Construction Company, Inc., is expected to begin setting up at the site the week of February 10. The company will build a construction entrance designed to keep their trucks from tracking mud onto Sycolin Road. Stabilizing material will be added to the old Sycolin Road roadbed which will serve as the contractor's access route to the bridge. The contactor will also remove some existing trees and grade a staging area for equipment. 

 

Silt curtains will be installed across Goose Creek to contain loose debris and silt. That will be followed by the placement of large rocks in the creek to form a causeway for an excavator. The excavator will remove the large woody debris that is currently trapped behind the bridge and place it on the bank to be ground up and hauled to the landfill. The excavator will be turned downstream and it, together with other equipment, will be used to remove the bridge, crush the concrete, and remove the reinforcing steel.  After the bridge is removed, the causeway material will be removed as the excavator leaves the creek. 

 

All work within the creek is scheduled to be completed by April 15. After the bridge is removed, the contractor will stabilize the area with vegetative plantings, remove the stabilizing material they had added to the roadbed, and leave the site. 

 

In January, the Board of Supervisors authorized the county to enter into a contract for the removal of the bridge, which has not been in use as a road since the 1960s and is acting as a dam on the creek, causing harmful sediment and debris buildup. 

 

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