With blasting complete, work focuses on bridge piers and abutments
Contributed Article/Courtesy ADOT
SUPERIOR – The Arizona Department of Transportation has reached the halfway point on a project to replace the Queen Creek and Waterfall Canyon bridges on U.S. Highway 60 east of the Phoenix area.
Crews have completed the extensive blasting and earthwork to make room for a new U.S. Highway 60 bridge across Queen Creek, allowing workers to focus on the structure itself.
This milestone comes nearly two years after work began on a $44.7 million project to replace bridges on each side of the Queen Creek Tunnel just east of Superior with spans designed to handle passenger and commercial traffic for decades to come.
The Queen Creek Bridge is the larger of the two projects. There, crews recently finished removing 89,000 cubic yards of material in the mountainous area so U.S. Highway 60 can be realigned to connect with the new structure. The earthwork required 67 blasting operations.
Work is complete on three of four concrete piers for the new Queen Creek Bridge, and crews are in the early stages of constructing the final pier. Also, work is underway on two abutments and a rockfall barrier.
Work will continue on the structure’s lower portions for another year, with crews anticipated to begin bridge girder and deck construction in spring 2027. This will require intermittent highway closures, with a multi-day closure in fall 2027 to shift the roadway to the new bridge.
Closures, when needed, will be scheduled on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., a schedule the ADOT designed to provide consistency for those who rely on this highway. Closures are not expected to occur every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but will be limited to those days.
During closures, motorists will use a detour on state routes 77 and 177 through Winkelman. That roughly 68-mile route includes a 10 percent grade and will significantly increase travel time. Drivers may want to plan trips before or after the full closures due to potential delays.
At the Waterfall Canyon Bridge, work is about halfway done on replacing the existing structure with two box culverts.
Work will continue into mid-2028 as crews dismantle the old Queen Creek Bridge and rehabilitate what is now a massive construction site.
The new Queen Creek Bridge will span 763 feet and feature one lane of travel in each direction with 4-foot-wide shoulders. The replacement structure for the Waterfall Canyon Bridge will span 107 feet.
The Queen Creek Bridge dates to 1949. While the bridge remains safe for traffic, it has reached the end of its lifespan and no longer meets current bridge design standards.
For more information, please visit azdot.gov/US60QueenCreekBridgeProject. Also, visit az511.gov for the most current information on U.S. Highway 60 restrictions or closures.
