The Wilson T. Ballard Company is proud to have assisted the Prince George’s County DPW&T with the Harry S. Truman bridge project. The rehabilitation of bridge no. P-0581, Harry S. Truman Drive over Southwest Branch, was awarded the 2025 County Engineers Association of Maryland Award of Merit for large projects.
During the annual condition inspection of Bridge P-0581 in February 2018, by WTB, the beams were determined to be in serious condition. The existing bridge, constructed in 1974 and rehabilitated in 2014, was a two-span 84’ long prestressed concrete voided slab bridge with a hot mix asphalt wearing surface. Bridge P-0581 carried a four-lane roadway, Harry S. Truman Drive over Southwest Branch.
There were water stains and water leakage throughout the underside of the beams and at the joints between the beams, additionally, cracking was observed on the beams. The prestressing strands had up to 90% section loss and the stirrups up to 100% section loss.
The left Northbound Lane was closed to traffic and the posting on the bridge was lowered due to beam defects. Due to the severity of the superstructure deterioration and the potential risk of failure of the bridge, the DPW&T engaged WTB to design emergency temporary supports so that the Northbound Lane could be reopened.
The County and consultant developed and implemented an extensive material testing program to determine the condition of the existing bridge. The testing showed that accelerated corrosion was occurring at the reinforcing steel in the pier cap to a depth of 5”, necessitating the replacement of the pier cap.
The project required a full range of engineering services including wetland identification; preparation of right-of-way plats and metes and bounds description, property and easement acquisition; coordination
with utility companies; hydrologic and hydraulic analysis for in-kind structure replacement; environmental documentation; storm water management design; coordination with reviewing agencies; obtaining borings, foundation design and scour assessment; final bridge and roadway design; AASHTO Review; maintenance of stream flow; maintenance of traffic design; preparation of contract plans, specifications and engineer’s cost estimate.
Environmental services provided for the Harry S. Truman Bridge Rehabilitation over Southwest Branch included wetland and waterway delineation, agency field view and preparation of a waterway permit application, a field review and preparation of a Natural Resource Inventory equivalency and Woodland Conservation Ordinance Exemption Letter request, agency coordination on protection of instream species, and NEPA compliance.
As a cost savings and to expedite MDE permit approval, the existing 20” diameter tapered pipe piles were utilized and incorporated into the new pier bent; likewise, the existing abutments and concrete slope protection were retained and new abutments constructed behind the existing supported on 20” diameter concrete filled pipe piles. This allowed the construction to proceed with minimal stream diversion and impacts.
Total construction Cost of the project was $5,045,000.00. The Contractor was given Notice-to-Proceed on December 13, 2023. Construction was substantially completed on May 19,2025, ahead of schedule and under budget.
This is an excellent example of a project where all parties, including the County, consultants, reviewing agencies, utility owners, contractors, and adjacent landowners worked together to accomplish the goal of replacing the severely deteriorated bridge as quickly as possible. The Project Team worked together to develop a replacement solution to deliver an outstanding project to address the mobility and safety concerns of the local community.