Yellowstone National Park has held a unique place in the American landscape since 1872, when it became the nation’s first national park. It spans more than 2.2 million acres across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, and draws millions of visitors each year. Known for its rugged terrain, geothermal features and abundant wildlife, Yellowstone also is home to a complex and aging infrastructure system that requires careful attention and ongoing investment.
The park’s northeast entrance provides direct access to some of its most iconic and remote areas, including the Lamar Valley, a prime location for wildlife viewing and backcountry exploration. Providing access to the region while also protecting its natural environment is a constant balancing act that becomes especially challenging when critical infrastructure needs to be replaced or upgraded.
The Yellowstone River Bridge is one such example. Located near Tower Junction, the bridge spans a stretch of river in a geologically active and environmentally sensitive area. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the project involves replacing a 60-year-old bridge with a new 1,285-foot-long, 175-foot-high steel girder bridge. The existing road is being removed, and the area will be regraded to restore Lost Creek’s natural channel, surrounding wetlands, upland habitat and a fish barrier system.
As of the FHWA’s most recent project update, the girder erection and precast deck panel installation have both been completed and bridge deck work is currently underway. Recent progress includes installation of drainage systems, geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) backfill, concrete wingwalls, rebar placement and shear stud welding. The project commenced in January 2023 and is expected to be completed by November 2026.
When Precision Counts
As the impressive new bridge takes shape high above the Yellowstone River, precast concrete is playing a central role in meeting the project’s structural, environmental and logistical demands. Contech Engineered Solutions used a match-casting process to produce 28 precast concrete box sections for the bridge’s three support columns. Twenty-five of the sections measured 18 feet by 12 feet by 10 feet (LWH), and each one weighed approximately 105,000 pounds. The additional three sections manufactured for one of the columns were 14 feet by 8.5 feet (LW) and weighed about 62,000 pounds each.
Lee Wegner, regional sales manager at Contech, says the company got involved with the bridge rebuilding effort after learning about it from a project subcontractor that the precaster had previously worked with. Match-casting was a firm requirement from the Army Corps of Engineers, prompting Contech to take on a method it hadn’t used before. The technique involves directly casting concrete segments against each other to better ensure the right fit and alignment during assembly.
“Match-casting was new for us, but we were up to the challenge,” Wegner said.
The site’s remote location was another roadblock that Contech and its construction partners had to work through. Getting the massive precast pieces to such a remote site meant hauling 105,000-pound components through Yellowstone National Park during peak tourist season.
“That was no easy task,” Wegner said. “While large bridge projects are standard for us, there were definitely a few unusual hurdles on this job.”