Replacement of Sunnyside Avenue Bridge over Indian Creek

Located in a wetland, Sunnyside Avenue Bridge was a 37-ft span steel beam bridge—it, and the adjacent roadway, were flooding frequently and needed to close to traffic whenever this happened. As a frequently travelled route, shutting down the road resulted in severe traffic jams on local roads and inconvenience to the public.

As a trusted consultant and partner of the Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation, at the County’s request, our design team provided preliminary studies, concept development, environmental documentation, final design for the replacement of the existing single span bridge. The new bridge is a seven-span continuous adjacent box beam supported on steel pile bents and semi-integral abutments. The bridge carries two 12-foot lanes, two bike paths, two shoulders, and two sidewalks. For storm water management, two submerged gravel wetlands were installed due to the existence of a high water table, poor draining soils and natural wetlands.  

The new bridge is a significantly larger bridge with much higher profile to pass the 25-year storm without increasing the 100-year flood elevation. With the new bridge now constructed, the road does not get overtopped by flooding and can remain open to traffic during annual heavy storms.