Year Inducted: 1990
The Interstate 10 Mobile Bay twin bridge crossing is located in Mobile, Alabama. This phenomenal engineering feat is 7 an integral part of Interstate Route 10, which extends from Jacksonville, Florida, to Los Angeles, California.
The Mobile Bay twin bridges were designed by David Volkert and Associates for the Alabama Highway Department and the Federal Highway Administration. David Volkert and Associates was responsible for all preliminary and final designs, construction plans and specifications, and supplemental reports.
The Mobile Bay twin bridges are located in the upper reaches of Mobile Bay, connecting Spanish Fort and Mobile. The selected location was finalized after in-depth studies that examined the basic transportation service of the facility, as well as the immediate and long-range impact construction would have on the environment of the very sensitive area it traverses.
The location of the bridges provides uninterrupted traffic flow for one of Alabama’s major interstate routes, and at the same time provides access to the eastern shore of Mobile Bay and to Battleship Parkway, where one of Alabama’s leading tourist attractions, the Battleship U.S.S. Alabama, is located. Officially opened in 1978, a hurricane evacuation route from Mobile was maintained during Hurricane Frederick in September 1979 by way of the Interstate 10 twin bridges.
The preliminary engineering phase of concrete piles.
the twin bridge project included studies of the construction materials and construction techniques needed to establish a superstructure and substructure, with regard to economics, the desired life span, and future maintenance costs. The most economical construction method was determined to involve precast, pre-stressed monolithic spans 65 feet in length, placed on precast concrete caps and supported by pre-cast The twin bridges are seven miles long and 40 feet wide, and they provide two lanes for through traffic, each 12 feet wide. The bridges total slightly more than 39,721.01 feet, making the structure the sixth longest span in the world.
The twin bridges were the first project in the state of Alabama to employ the New Jersey barrier rail; they also have continuous lighting for night-time safety. The bridge construction contract-totalling nearly $79,800,000-was the largest single construction contract signed by the Alabama Highway Department at that time, and has yet to be surpassed.
This magnificent project has been honored with numerous awards, including the Portland Cement Association’s 1978 Award for Excellence, and selection by the National Society of Professional Engineers as one of the 10 Outstanding Engineering Achievements in the U.S. in 1978.
The Interstate 10 Mobile Bay twin bridge project stands as one of the South’s greatest engineering accomplishments.
