Depot Road Bridge – Coventry, Connecticut

The Portland Cement Association honored the Depot Road Bridge with an Award of Excellence, in an international competition recognizing creativity and imagination in the aesthetic design of concrete bridges.

Completed in 1996, the Depot Road Bridge project included the replacement of an historic stone arch bridge built in the early 1800’s.

The new bridge consists of a precast rigid frame, with cast-in-place concrete parapets and wingwalls, supported on timber piles for scour protection.

Most notable is the concrete form-lining and color-staining utilized on the wingwalls and parapets to simulate the appearance of stone masonry.

Consideration of site aesthetics during design of roadside safety improvements also led to the selection of an AASHTO approved steel-backed timber guide rail that complements the appearance of the simulated stone masonry. Nathan L. Jacobson & Associates, Inc. was reported to be the first to use either of these two aesthetic solutions on a State Local Bridge Program Project in Connecticut.