Bridge Repairs to Close Emmet Street Overnight June 17-18

A short section of Emmet Street near the University of Virginia will be closed for a few hours to accommodate repairs to the McCormick Road bridge.

The street underneath the bridge will be closed from 9 p.m. on June 17 to 6 a.m. on June 18 to allow the Virginia Department of Transportation and Corman Construction Inc. of Annapolis Junction, Md., to install the new bridge’s beams.

Work crews began rehabilitating the 72-year-old bridge on May 20. The work is expected to conclude in late July.

The bridge spans Emmet Street, which bisects the University’s Grounds. It has been in service, but with a reduced weight posting, for the past year.

Pedestrian detours include the Ruffner Pedestrian Bridge over Emmet and crosswalks spanning Emmet Street near its intersection with Stadium Road and near the Central Grounds Parking Garage. The University and VDOT have posted message boards and detour signs promoting alternate routes for pedestrians during the closure.

The new bridge surface will be a mixture of concrete and latex, with drainage grooves cut into the surface. The rehabilitated bridge will remain the same length and width and have sidewalks similar to the current structure. Contractors are planning to have open cathedral railings similar to what has been there.

The bridge was built in 1931, widened in 1951 and further repaired in 1981. In May 2012, inspectors discovered significant deterioration of the bridge’s deck. VDOT made emergency repairs and installed shielding under the bridge to protect vehicles on Emmet Street from any falling debris.

The bridge was posted with an eight-ton weight limit in July 2012, and the University Transit System re-routed buses to avoid the bridge. At that weight, many emergency vehicles have been barred from using the bridge as well.

The repaired bridge will have no weight limit, VDOT spokesman Lou Hatter said, and bus service along McCormick Road will be fully restored.