Mount Rushmore - S.D. Highway 244
Project Summary:
Replacing a bridge that is at the end of usable life. Adding turning lanes for safety near the KOA. Improving sight distance for the entrances to the KOA and the Willow Creek Campground and Trail Head.
Project Location: West of Mount Rushmore Palmer Gulch Gateway. S.D. Highway 244. Between Hill City and Keystone. You can access Mount. Rushmore through Keystone, but not West from U.S. Highway 16 / 385.
Project Timeline:
Sept. 2023 - May 2024
May 3, 2024: The project will be open to traffic. Everything should be completed by this date except for the asphalt surfacing. Specifications do not allow the placement of the final lift of asphalt until after May 15.
June 21, 2024: Overall completion date.
---
Road closure and detour:
No earlier than Oct. 2, 2023 and no later than May 3, 2024
Project Detour:
Project Updates:
April 24, 2024-Press Release: S.D. Highway 244, near Keystone and Mount Rushmore National Monument, has been closed to through traffic from Palmer Creek Road to the east for one mile since Oct. 2023, for a structure replacement project. The project is scheduled for interim completion on Friday, May 24, 2024. Upon interim completion, the road will be reopened to through traffic.
Crews are currently conducting bridge decking, grading, paving, and concrete slab work. Until the roadway is reopened, a detour will remain in place around the project along U.S. Highway 16/16A. Access to Mount Rushmore National Monument will remain open via Highway 16A and Highway 244 from the east.
Miscellaneous field work will be completed with an anticipated overall project completion date of Friday, June 21, 2024.
---
April 15, 2024
April Completed Work: The contractor installed reinforcing steel and forms and poured abutment number two. The geocell was installed at abutment number two and filled with rock. All of the bolts for the diaphragms between the girders were tightened. Falsework installation for the bridge deck began. A concrete bridge deck pour is anticipated toward the end of April. Grading of Highway 244 is anticipated to begin toward the end of April.
Anticipated work in May: The contractor will complete the bridge deck and begin working on the bridge barrier. The approach and sleeper slabs are anticipated to be constructed by the middle of May. Grading work will continue on Highway 244 with paving anticipated to occur mid to late May.
Project Photos:
Project Contract Amount:
$5.4 Million
Project Contacts:
SDDOT:
Project Engineer
Jason Baker
605-209-3388
Contractor:
Heavy Constructors
David Dailey
605-381-8127
STATEWIDE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS PAGE
PCN 04FT