Courtland St Bridge

The Courtland Street Bridge Replacement project is located in the City of Atlanta near the Georgia State Capitol building and serves as a major thoroughfare through the downtown campus of Georgia State University (GSU). The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) estimates it sees traffic from thousands of motorists, including more than 30,000 students and staff at GSU. Originally built in 1906, the bridge crosses over two Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) tracks, two CSX Railroad tracks, and Decatur Street. Under the original design-bid-build concept, the closure duration for the reconstruction of the bridge would have been at least 18 months but by using design-build and Accelerated Bridge Construction, the total roadway closure time was five months. Two of the most important goals for this project were to preserve the historical aspects of the original bridge while also reducing the impact that construction would have on the local community, especially considering the central location of the bridge in the middle of downtown Atlanta. To further reduce congestion in the area, the new bridge also added a 12-foot bus lane and expanded sidewalks. Total replacement costs were approximately $21 million. GDOT was recognized by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) for exemplary work on this project. 

LONG provided surveying services for the design and construction to install the new bridge between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Gilmer Street. LONG provided a roadway database featuring survey for 1600 linear feet along Courtland Street from face of building to face of building, as well as 1000 linear feet under the Courtland Street Bridge from face of building to face of building. Additional surveying services included establishing survey control and developing a survey control package in accordance with GDOT standards. 

LONG also provided utility locates and utility coordination as well as a utility impact analysis. LONG supplemented the existing SUE data with refined QLB and additional test holes. Because the construction schedule was so constricted, utility avoidance was critical. Unknown utilities had to be located and dealt with in a matter of days. LONG assisted the contractor (CW Mathews) with coordinating each utility with over 10 different owners. Service lines were the contractor’s biggest problem. Not only were they not shown on the plans they were non-tonable. LONG designated laterals and performed more than 10 THs on service lines alone.