Parsons will handle the design work for a new bridge in Indiana carrying the SR 249 route. The bridge will replace an ageing structure carrying George Nelson Drive across the US 12 Dunes Highway, as well as two rail lines at the town of Portage. The design-bid-build project was awarded by the Indiana Department of Transportation. The existing bridge carries around 10,000 vehicles/day of which around 40% comprises freight carrying heavy trucks. The bridge link is critical as this is the only major entrance to the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, one of the busiest ports in the Midwest. It is also the state’s only deep-water port that receives ships carrying cargo to and from international destinations across Lake Michigan.
Parsons’ services will include bridge, roadway, and maintenance of traffic design as well as National Environmental Policy Act studies and documentation, a topographic survey, geotechnical investigations, right of way acquisition, public outreach, and utility coordination. The new 10 span structure will be 314m long.
