Steel sees Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge built super fast

Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge
Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge is constructed super quickly

With concrete supplies limited and speed of the essence, the Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge was built from steel in a very short time frame.

Situated in the eastern region of North Dakota, Red River Valley’s prime industry is agriculture and farmers rely on a network of over 300 bridges that cross streams and rivers to transport their goods. Increasingly heavy loads were putting additional strain on the already ageing substructures of one bridge crossing the Goose River, close to the town of Northwood, and there were fears that it was becoming unsafe.

One solution was to reduce its load capacity, but this wasn’t really feasible and would lead to truckers being forced to take long detours and rising transportation costs. A replacement bridge needed to be constructed and fast.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, had led to a concrete shortage, which could delay the building of a concrete bridge and so steel began to be considered as an alternative. Grand Forks County tasked engineers KLJ with designing a replacement bridge for this flood hotspot with limited vertical clearance. The bridge could not rely on concrete and needed to be operational in time to transport the large loads involved in spring farming work.

The result was the award-winning Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge.

Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge in the snow
Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge was constructed using prefabricated steel

Steel takes the load for Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge

The winning design features abutments comprised of H-pile, channels and galvanised corrugated sheet piling. A prefabricated steel structure makes up the superstructure. It comprises beams manufactured with low-maintenance weathering steel, a bridge deck made from corrugated sheet metal and abutments fabricated from raw steel ready to be painted after installation.

Local contractor Industrial Builders Inc. began work on the site on March 14, 2022, while the superstructure of the bridge was being prefabricated off-site. They removed the existing bridge and started constructing the abutments, driving piling, welding on pile caps and installing sheet piling backwalls. About a month later, on April 19, 2022, the prefabricated sections of steel beams and corrugated decking, manufactured at TrueNorth Steel’s Fargo plant, were delivered to the site in four pieces.

Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge was nearly ready for traffic when the Red River Valley experienced a near-record-breaking flood, making the site unworkable for nearly two weeks. Once the water receded, however, materials were cleaned and prepped for painting and earthwork grading operations were completed to tie the roadway back in and facilitate guardrail installation. The roadway and deck were gravelled and the bridge was open to traffic on May 19, 2022, all ready for the annual pilgrimage of tractors and heavy goods vehicles needed for the spring planting season.

It was only thanks to steel that the bridge was able to be operational so quickly. Had concrete been used, the bridge would not have been workable for the 2022 farming season.

In 2024,  Grand Forks County Prefabricated Bridge was awarded the prestigious Prize Bridge Award by The American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Steel Bridge Alliance.