The Smart Road over Wilson Creek, located in Montgomery County, Virginia, is the primary bridge project on a future four-lane divided roadway between Blacksburg, Virginia, and Interstate 81. The road was given the name Smart because it will be used as a test bed for research in such areas as variable weather and lighting conditions, communications systems, and experimental pavements. Figg Bridge Engineers, Inc., designed the bridge for the Virginia Department of Transportation (Virginia DOT) and provided construction engineering and inspection services on site. Aesthetics were a major concern for the Virginia DOT and the local community because of the natural beauty of the surroundings. Long spans were used to minimize the number of piers. The 605-m five-span structure has three interior spans of 144 m (472 ft) and end spans of 86.5 m (284 ft). The variable-depth concrete box girder superstructure was built by using cast-in-place balanced cantilever segmental construction with form travelers. The cast-in-place piers are conventionally reinforced voided rectangular sections with variable slopes in both directions. With pier heights varying up to 41.4 m (135 ft), the bridge deck is a maximum of approximately 53 m (175 ft) above the valley floor, making the Smart Road the tallest bridge in Virginia. Other aesthetic enhancements implemented on this project include monolithic connections between the piers and the superstructure, the use of natural stone treatments on the piers and railing terminal walls, an open bridge railing, and a concrete surface coating.
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