The nearly completed Cline Avenue Bridge is now an award-winning project.

The Indiana Ready Mixed Concreate Association named it its 2020 Project of the Year. The association recognizes numerous concrete projects that demonstrate innovation, uniqueness, complexity, and magnitude.

“Our judges were impressed by the innovative technology and practices used with the Cline Avenue Bridge,” said Chad Montgomery, promotions manager of the Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association. “From the custom, rapid-cure concrete mix used to the techniques used to pour and lift finished pieces into place, to the sheer volume of concrete used, this project distinguished itself from the other entries to earn the ‘Project of the Year’ distinction.”

The Cline Avenue Bridge is a 1.2-mile-long new segmental concrete bridge connecting an existing, fully rehabilitated, half-mile steel viaduct at the east end with the existing SR 912 roadway abutment on the west end. The custom concrete mix for the bridge project was formulated and provided by Smith Ready Mix in East Chicago.

The Cline Avenue Bridge in East Chicago, which has been closed since 2009, is on pace to reopen in 2020, according to project representatives. The project is more than half completed.

The bridge project is being privately funded and has an estimated cost of $150 million. When completed it will reconnect SR 912 to I-90.