Werner Church Road Realignment and Bridge Replacement

Stark County, Ohio

Realignment and replacement improve safety and aging infrastructure.

This project consisted of the realignment and replacement of the Werner Church Road Bridge over the Middle Branch of Nimishillen Creek originally constructed in 1957. Replacement of the 78-ft long single span structural deficient steel truss bridge required Werner Church Road’s realignment to comply with the existing 55 mph design speed. The new 220-ft long bridge consisted of a three-span (65’-85’-65’) continuous, 45” deep composite prestressed concrete AASHTO (Type III) I-beam superstructure on a 45° skew with reinforced concrete deck and reinforced concrete substructures on drilled shaft foundation. Engineering studies met new ODOT/FHWA requirements and Load & Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) bridge design policies. In order to limit the number of right-of-way acquisitions, the project also included a 130-ft long, 1’-6” thick, and approx. 20 ft high-cantilevered type reinforced concrete retaining wall along the realigned Werner Church Road on stepped spread footing foundation.

The new realignment of Werner Church Road required added turn lanes, widened pavement, new traffic signals, and acquisition of right of way to accommodate projected traffic volumes. A new mast arm signal was installed using LED signal heads with backplates, combination poles with luminaires to provide lighting of the intersection and pedestrian signals.