Kiewit Infrastructure Group beat the clock for a second time, as it demolished and replaced an Interstate 40 bridge in Nashville in less than 58 hours, using accelerated bridge construction to minimize traffic impact in a heavily traveled area.

The Tennessee Dept. of Transportation’s Fast Fix 8 project calls for demolishing and replacing eight pairs of spans on I-40 near the downtown area, closing the highway to all traffic for a total of 13 weekends, so work crews can have full, round-the-clock access to the worksite.

The accelerated method allows completion of this project in one year instead of two to three, TDOT officials said. Some 140,000 vehicles travel through the area daily.

It requires precise planning. “Every hour is used during the process,” says Will Reid, TDOT director of construction. “Every function, every task has to be choreographed, planned out and carried out in an efficient manner and in a safe way.”

A typical weekend window - 8 p.m. Friday - 6 a.m. Monday – calls for bridge demolition,  debris removal, placing new beams, placing precast deck panels, pouring concrete, replacing deck walls, adding approach slabs, paving and striping lanes.

The first weekend’s work included placing eight bridge beams and 22 deck panels and pouring 81 tons of concrete.

Kiewit is acting as both construction manager and general contractor for the $62-million project, which is scheduled for completion July 2016.

The bridges, all built in 1968, cross Herman Street, Clinton Street, Jo Johnston Avenue and Charlotte Avenue, as well as CSX and Nashville and Western railroad lines. That section of interstate measures about 4,000 ft.

TDOT Commissioner John Schroer calls the bridges “prime examples of aging infrastructure … long overdue for major work.”

The Charlotte Avenue Bridge was partially closed to traffic three times in 2013 for repairs, after chunks of concrete fell from it and onto the roadway below.

During the shutdowns, I-40 traffic is re-routed to I-65, which, with I-40, circles the downtown area.