Walnut Creek Bridge Test Site
The Walnut Creek Bridge Test Site is located 20 minutes south of Norman on I-35 near mile marker 91 in Purcell, OK. Our infrastructure gives us ready access to the underside of the east bridge. The Walnut Creek Bridge was constructed in 1971 and is 400 ft. (122m) long and 38 ft. (11.6m) wide. It has 400 ft. continuous steel girders with 5 piers at 100 ft. intervals. The concrete deck carries two lanes of south-to-north traffic. The bridge has a 45° skew to accommodate the creek below. Some key characteristics of the Walnut Creek Bridge structure are shown below. The average daily vehicle traffic exceeds 18000, and average daily heavy truck traffic exceeds 2,500.
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The Walnut Creek Bridge Test Site also provides ready access for the installation of bridge monitoring sensors. In the past, strain gages were placed on the beams. More recently, we have used wireless accelerometers to monitor the bridge both on the beams and on the bridge shoulders. In March 2006, a more effective sensor network was installed at the Walnut Creek Bridge Test Site.
