By Gitte Laasby, Post-Tribune
glaasby@post-trib.com
The Cline Avenue bridge is so structurally deficient that the state might choose to tear down the bridge and build a new one rather than making repairs.
"Anywhere we go, we're talking a large sum of money. Do we want to spend a large amount of money and have a 20-year-old bridge that's been fixed or the same amount of money on a brand new?" said state bridge inspection engineer Bill Dittrich.
Dittrich said a consulting company has presented 12-20 possible options for the bridge's future, but he declined to provide cost estimates.
"There's a multimillion-dollar swing between various options," he said. "Either way, it's going to cause a lot of other projects not to be done because it's going to be expensive."
The now-closed bridge, commonly called the Cline Avenue extension, cost $240 million to build. It opened in October 1986.
In a Nov. 6 letter, the state's consulting firm, URS Corp., warned the Indiana Department of Transportation that it needed to reduce weight loads on the bridge to a maximum of 18 tons, restrict traffic from bridge shoulders, and "immediately begin retrofit and/or replacement evaluation and strengthening implementation to correct structural deficiencies."
"Failure to reduce loads on the bridge in accordance with URS' recommendations could result in a structural failure," URS structural engineer Robert Anderson wrote in the letter accompanying the report.
URS' evaluation of the bridge assumes the bridge is in its original condition and does not reflect reductions in load carrying capacity caused by degradation.
The Indiana Department of Transportation closed down a four-mile stretch of Cline Avenue between Calumet Avenue in Hammond and Michigan Avenue in East Chicago on Nov. 13. On Wednesday, nearly four weeks later, INDOT released the inspection report to the Post-Tribune.
Before receiving the latest inspection report, the state planned to retrofit the bridge, but that would be very expensive and lead to road closures for five to six years, Dittrich said. The state would also have to continue to spend a large amount every year on inspection and testing of the bridge, he said.
Why the 1986 bridge is in such bad shape is still a mystery.
"What caused this? Did someone get the input data wrong? Did they build the bridge differently than what the plans called for?" Dittrich said. "It's hard to know."
In April 1982, the Riley Road ramp portion of the project collapsed, killing 14 workers.
URS Corp. has inspected Cline Avenue for the past 2.5 years. The report by URS Corp. said structural parts of the elevated highway are severely corroded.
When it was closed in November, Cline Avenue was expected to be closed for at least six weeks, but Dittrich couldn't say when it might open back up. State officials are still contemplating how to proceed.
Leigh Morris, deputy commissioner of the INDOT Toll Road Oversight Committee Board, said plans for Cline Avenue must take into consideration several projects in the works, including lakeshore redevelopment, the Marquette plan, expansion of the Gary airport, high-speed rail and possible relocation of rail lines in the area.
"I think it behooves us at INDOT to be aware of those and make sure we take those into account and don't do anything that would subvert that," he said. "There may be a short-term solution to the Cline Avenue bridge situation and a longer-term solution. All of our thinking ought to be geared to both of those so we don't waste resources on a short-term solution, so they don't cause us problems as we work on a long-term solution."