BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Faulty concrete has delayed the opening of the Waldvogel Viaduct west of downtown for 1 1/2 weeks.
The viaduct was supposed to open Saturday. A nearly 3,000-square-foot section of newly poured concrete must be torn up and repoured before the bridge can be reopened, said Stephen Gressel, project engineer and senior engineer for the city of Cincinnati. A July 29 reopening date has now been set.
The viaduct, a connector between Lower Price Hill and the Sixth Street Expressway, has been closed since May 4 to repair the concrete bridge deck and resurface the viaduct and its approaches. The nearly mile-long project was expected to cost about $1.2 million.
After the deck repairs had been made, crews resurfaced the bridge with a concrete overlay. The problem is the result of a bad patch of concrete from a supplier on the overlay, Mr. Gressel said. The concrete did not meet specifications, he said.
The bad concrete makes up a small portion of the bridge overlay -- about 2 percent, according to one estimate -- and poses no threat to the viaduct structure, he said.
Mr. Gressel said he expects the concrete supplier will be held responsible for the extra work and costs.
About 20,000 motorists used the Waldvogel Viaduct daily before the reconstruction project. Until the opening, they can continue to use the Eighth Street Viaduct as an alternative route.
On the east side of downtown, the Columbia Parkway Viaduct is expected to reopen as planned by Monday, said Kim Patton, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation's office in Lebanon.
