Pedestrian overpass still on schedule for completion by fall

Students arriving in the fall 2004 semester will not have to worry about taking any detours from University Park to the campus.

The north overpass construction, which began in February, is scheduled to be completed Aug. 1. The bridge connects two residence halls, Brush Towers and University Park, to the west side of the University campus.

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Jim Seifert, a civil engineer for SIUC Construction Management, is in charge of the bridge project. He said the summer semester was a good time to finish construction on the bridge, since there are fewer students on campus. Progress on the overpass since the end of the spring semester has been tremendous, according to Seifert.

The bridge’s final expenses amounted to approximately $1 million.

The overpass was in need of an upgrade due to excessive salt use during the winter seasons. The salt is a necessary evil, creating a safer traveling footing, but at the same time deteriorating the concrete.

Construction workers are installing a drainage system that will be more effective in preventing liquids from getting into the concrete.

Currently, the bulk of the construction workers’ responsibilities has been focused on pouring concrete on the main span of the bridge. Concrete will be the only covering for the floor of the bridge. Blacktop will not be used because it was part of the problem that plagued the bridge before.

A new element of the bridge will be the Plexiglas color scheme. While the old panels had an all over smoke complexion, the new scheme will be smoke-colored on the top and bottom, with a black band running through the middle.

“Progress is going real well,” Seifert said.

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