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Circle Drive Bridges Replacement Project

Transportation

Replacing four bridges without stopping traffic.

Four bridges built in 1963 carry South Circle Drive more than 60 feet above Fountain Creek, the BNSF Railway, Las Vegas Street, Hancock Expressway, and the Pikes Peak Greenway Trail — a critical link between I-25 and southeast Colorado Springs. After a life-cycle cost analysis, the City chose full replacement over rehabilitation. The PPRTA-funded Circle Drive Bridges Replacement Project, built by SEMA Construction, began in fall 2023 and is replacing all four 800-foot structures in phases: new eastbound bridges first, alongside the originals, then new westbound bridges once traffic shifts — all while keeping two lanes open in each direction. The project also adds a sidewalk connection to the Greenway Trail and bike and pedestrian improvements on Hancock Expressway.

Vivid Engineering leads quality assurance testing and supports the inspection team for the project, testing structural concrete, soils and backfill, and asphalt through each construction phase so that the new bridges meet City and CDOT standards for the next 60 years.

Project Details

  • Client

    City of Colorado Springs

  • Contractor

    SEMA Construction

  • Location

    Circle Drive between Janitell Road and Monterey Road

  • Timeline

    Fall 2023 – late 2025

  • Sector

    Transportation

  • Services

    Construction Inspection & Testing

  • Transportation

    SH 7 Permanent Repairs Project

    CO 7, South St. Vrain Canyon, Lyons to Raymond (MP 19 to 33), Boulder County, CO

    The September 2013 flood devastated Colorado Highway 7 through the South St. Vrain Canyon, severely damaging or completely washing away nine miles of roadway and cutting off canyon access for two and a half months. Temporary repairs reopened the road, but a permanent fix had to wait. The SH 7 Permanent Repairs Project — the final permanent infrastructure project of Colorado's $750 million 2013 Flood Recovery Program, funded through FHWA Emergency Relief — permanently rebuilt 14 miles of the canyon between Lyons and Raymond. The $60 million project replaced temporary post-flood asphalt with a fully reconstructed roadway, restored 11,500 linear feet of St. Vrain Creek to a resilient natural channel, rebuilt embankments and drainage, added rockfall ditches and a four-foot uphill bicycle shoulder, and revegetated 28 acres of disturbed canyon — all while meeting a net-zero construction waste goal.<br /> <br /> Vivid Engineering Group worked alongside Kiewit Infrastructure Co. and CDOT Region 4 from September 2021 through November 2022, providing field and laboratory materials testing of soils, aggregates, concrete, and asphalt to verify that every material placed met CDOT standards — including the 38,500 tons of asphalt that make up the new canyon roadway. In a narrow canyon with a single access road and an active creek restoration underway, Vivid's technicians kept sampling and testing on the contractor's schedule so the corridor could reopen as planned.

  • Transportation

    CO 119 Safety, Mobility & Bikeway Project

    CO 119 (Diagonal Highway), Foothills Parkway in Boulder to Hover Street in Longmont

    CO 119 — the Diagonal Highway — is Boulder County's busiest commuter corridor, linking Boulder and Longmont across 10 miles of open farmland and a growing string of intersections. CDOT's $165 million CO 119 Safety, Mobility & Bikeway Project, delivered in two construction packages with Kraemer North America and funded by CDOT, RTD, Boulder County, and a 2023 federal RAISE grant, is reshaping the corridor from Foothills Parkway to Hover Street. The project adds a separated commuter bikeway running the length of the highway, with four underpasses at CO 119, Niwot Road, CO 52, and Jay Road and an overpass at 63rd Street; new Bus Rapid Transit infrastructure and Park-n-Ride facilities; a reconfigured CO 52 intersection; and safety improvements at intersections along the route. Construction began in September 2024, with completion expected in spring 2027 — all while the highway stays open to the tens of thousands of commuters who depend on it every day.<br /> <br /> Vivid Engineering Group provides field and laboratory materials testing across both construction packages, working alongside Kraemer and CDOT Region 4. Our technicians sample and test soils, aggregate base course, concrete paving (PCCP), structural concrete for bridge decks, caissons, and drainage structures, and asphalt, performing CDOT owner acceptance sampling and testing to verify that every material placed meets specification, with samples run through Vivid's AASHTO-accredited Colorado laboratories. On site since 2024, the team has supported early-morning fast-track paving pours, bridge deck placements, caisson pours, and embankment work — keeping acceptance testing and documentation moving at the pace of one of the fastest-moving corridor projects in the state.

  • Transportation

    City of Cañon City Referendum 2A Program

    Citywide street program, Cañon City, CO 81212

    In November 2016, Cañon City voters approved Referendum 2A, a one-percent sales tax increase dedicated exclusively to contracting out street repair and replacement. The tax generates an average of $3.5 million a year across a 10-year program — $9 million of design-build work in the first year, 2017, followed by annual design-bid-build programs every year since.<br /> <br /> Vivid serves as the City's prime consultant and owner's representative for the program. Our team performs geotechnical investigations; prepares pavement designs for composite pavement, full-depth reclamation, and asphalt and concrete mill-and-overlay; and delivers civil plans and specifications covering roadway plan and profile, utility relocations, drainage, streetscape and ADA compliance, Safe Routes to School, stormwater management, quantities, and engineer's estimates, with Wilson & Company preparing civil plans as a subconsultant. Vivid supports bid document preparation, bid award, and pre-construction meetings, then serves as construction engineer through the build — providing construction inspection, quality management, and materials testing on every project. The result is a program that has steadily rebuilt the streets Cañon City residents voted to fix.

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