Execution and Leadership

The construction of the New River Gorge Bridge left a lot of challenges because of the terrain and being built on mountains. This meant that the design team needed to address issues with inaccessibility as well as making sure the bridge is lasting or sustainable. From the design team being hired in 1967 the bridge was not completed until 1977. The designer for the New River Gorge Bridge was the Michael Baker Company and the American Bridge Division of U.S. Steel constructed it (National Park Service). The bridge was built using Cor-ten steel and this sort of material allows for no painting to be needed for the bridge (Hartley).  Which means that the steel rusts and is resistant to other factors such as weathering and is why money is saved by not needing to paint annually (Cook).

To start the project the area where the bridge was being built had to be cleared of trees and other surrounding plants. When this was completed the next step was to pour the concrete needed for the bridge and would thus be  forming the foundations and the other structural components that would be needed. Afterwards towers that were used for a temporary amount of time were added which would allow for the cables that had trolleys attached to stay up that were being added as well (National Park Service). The trolleys were used to get construction workers up and down that allowed them to actually work on the bridge. They added those towers on each side of the gorge and this made it easier for construction because of the challenges of building on a mountain (Michael baker International). The tower allowed for travel not only of the workers, but also for materials to be carried and taken from one place to another. 

The Michael Baker Company was required to work extensively on this bridge and thus is why it is such a marvel now. There were a total of 4,759 design calculation sheets used for the project as well a number of alternatives in the design that would possibly be used for the bridge (Michael baker International). From the Michael Baker Company themselves they say that the project contains large tooth-type rocker, pin bearings, large tooth-expansion joints and down spouting (Michael baker International). This led to the New River Gorge Bridge to have the longest steel arch in the USA at 1,700 ft., have a length of 3,030 ft. and to be 876 ft. above the water (National Park Service). 

An example would be when the design is brought to bid which determines the schedule and leads to different construction groups having to bid. There will be a direct result on the kind of people working on the project and in this case it was the American Bridge Division. One of the decisions discussed earlier from Michael Baker was the use of alternative designs in certain cases. The choice that they went for in this bridge was the arch bridge alternative and the other choices were a suspension bridge, a deck truss bridge, and anchored truss arch bridge (Michael baker International). These sorts of decisions are made by the design team which can change the aesthetic or look of the project as a whole. They also need to make sure all of this is safe and will not lead to issues which is why they chose cor-ten steel as discussed earlier. Also, making sure to perform assessments of their plans on the areas they are going to affect in the environment.

The motivations of the project are the goal which is making travel easier for people in this area and that is what the leadership part of construction management deals with. Making sure to satisfy the client and the demands of what they need. All of these steps such as scheduling, planning, economics, and execution tie into this a result.