The NTTA recently offered area engineering students a hands-on educational experience with the Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge (LLTB) project.

 

The LLTB, currently under construction in Denton County, served as a classroom for a day on Nov. 20 for 10 visiting students from The University of Texas at Arlington. The graduate and post-graduate-level students are enrolled in a bridge design course under Professor Nur Yazdan.

 

The reason for their visit: LLTB is one of few bridges under construction in North Texas that provides a rare, hands-on learning opportunity for the future engineers. LLTB, a 1.7-mile toll bridge with a 0.3-mile approach, consists of a flowage easement bridge and a lake bridge. The NTTA is responsible for the design, construction and operation of the $122 million project.

 

During the hour-and-a-half session, students met with the LLTB project team to discuss the toll bridge’s history, design classification, superstructure and substructure, construction management and sustainability features. The students were especially interested in how the bridge’s foundation was developed under water. Additionally, the students received information about how the NTTA has worked with the public and cooperating agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Denton County to build a project of this magnitude. For a more in-depth illustration of the toll bridge’s structural components and design, Construction Manager Paul Bedard led the students on a walking tour of the project.

 

In September, the LLTB reached 70 percent completion and is expected to open to traffic in the third quarter of 2009. The toll bridge will feature two lanes in each direction and an all-electronic toll collection system on the project’s western approach. In addition, the design boasts a 360-foot-long red steel tied arch in the center of the bridge.