An article entitled “Historic Cable-Stayed Link Taking Shape in Louisiana” about the construction of the John James Audubon (JJA) Bridge in Louisiana is on ENR.com here. The drilled shafts actually extend much deeper than indicated in the article, for what its worth. I think they were only talking about the permanent casing, not the entire drilled shaft.
Category Archives: Drilled Shafts
Lateral load tests of drilled shafts behind an MSE wall – research with KDOT and KU
DBA is part of a research project involving laterally loaded drilled shafts and MSE walls with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) and the University of Kansas. The ultimate goal of the study is to develop rational design procedures for situations where drilled shafts are constructed near or adjacent to MSE walls. From the study proposal:
Drilled shafts used to support sound walls and other structures are often constructed near the facing of mechanically stabilized earth walls (MSE walls) due to right-of-way constraints or other limitations. Suppliers and designers have expressed concern that lateral loads from the shafts may be transferred to the wall facing, causing excessive deformation. Procedures currently available to design MSE walls to resist internal lateral loads are very conservative isolating the shafts from the backfill or the using extremely large shafts to minimize deflection have been adopted. These designs are very expensive and in some cases lead to other problems. Results from this research project are expected to lead to much more cost effective designs on subsequent KDOT projects. We expect that the results will lead to improved national design standards for this type of construction as well.
Seven test shafts and 6 reaction shafts were constructed at the tests site, with some of the shafts socketed into the underlying limestone and shale bedrock. All of the test shafts were located within the reinforced backfill zone of the wall, varying the distance between the shaft and the wall face. Single shafts and shaft groups were loaded laterally. The wall face, reinforcing geogrid materials, and backfill were instrumented to measure loads, strains, and movements. The shafts were built with inclinometer casings to allow measurement of shaft deflections using an inclinometer during the tests. Many of the materials and construction work for the wall and shafts were made as in-kind donations by various companies, including Tensar who supplied the geogrid. KDOT Maintenance personnel perfomed most of the construction work and provided support for the load tests.
The tests took place between November 5th and 16th. I was on site the 12th through 16th to observe the tests, provide oversight, and assist Chris Kohlhof of AFT with running the tests. You can see a photo album or slideshow of some photos from my time at the site by clicking below.
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| KDOT Wall |
Dr. Bob Parsons, P.E. of the University of Kansas Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectual Engineering will concentrate on analyzing the data concenring the wall and the backfill. DBA will analyze the lateral load tests data to derive p-y relationships for shaft design and will prepare a report on the load tests that includes design recommendations.
: Deep Foundations, Drilled Piles, Drilled Shafts, Engineering Research, Foundation Construction, Foundations, Geotechnical Engineering, Load Test, Test Shaft
DBA on winning team for landmark bridge in Kansas City, MO!
DBA is part of the winning team for the kcICON project in Kansas City, Missouri. The $245 million project includes a new landmark bridge over the Missouri River. The winning joint venture is Passeo Corridor Constructors consisting of Massman Construction Company, Clarkson Construction Company, and Kiewit Construction. Parsons Transportation Group and Transystems are the major design firms working for the joint venture. DBA will be the geotechncial engineer for the river bridge while Terracon will provide geotechnical services for the remainder of the project.
The kcICON project area covers about four miles of I-29/35 in Kansas City. The project features a landmark cable-stay Missouri River bridge and will upgrade Interstate 29/35 to six lanes (expandable to eight lanes) from north of the Route 210/Armour Road interchange to Independence Ave. Construction will begin in Spring 2008. Full service to all lanes will be restored by June 1, 2011 and final construction completed by July 31, 2011.
The cable-stayed bridge will be approximately 1700 feet long, with the two cable-stayed spans supported by a single pylon. The main channel span will be 550 feet and the back span will be about 450 feet. Approach spans will vary from 110 to 165 feet. Drilled shafts will be utilized to support the bridge, with 11-foot diameter shafts planned for the main pylon. The shafts will be socketed in to shale bedrock.
The complete news release announcing the project award is here.
An ENR story is here.
The kcICON project website is here.
A link to the project website will be added to our project links area on the left side bar. We’ll be posting updates as things get moving next year.
International Foundation Congress & Equipment Expo 2009
A preliminary call for papers has been released for the International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo 2009 (IFCEE ’09) to be held in Orlando, Florida March 15-19, 2009. The meeting is a joint venture of The Geo-Institute of ASCE (GI), The International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC) and The Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA).
Information about the call for papers is here.
I’ll have links to the conference web site once it is up and running, as well as blogging additionla information when available. This promises to be a great conference much like the 2004 Geo-Support Conference.
Photo slideshow and album from JJA Bridge posted
I have finally added some photos from the JJA Bridge project. Steve Dapp has accumulated quite a few in his trips to the site. I was finally able to find the write tools to make it work. The slide show and album links are on the JJA project page. You can also go straight to the slide show or album below.
Album:
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| JJA Bridge Drilled Shaft Construction 2007 |
Slide show:
: Bridge Foundations, Deep Foundations, Drilled Piles, Drilled Shafts, Foundation Construction, Foundations, Geotechnical Engineering, Load Test, Post-grouted Drilled Shafts, Test Pile, Tip-grout
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Dan to speak at ADSC Drilled Shaft Foundation Seminar
Dan will be one of eleven speakers at the ADSC’s Northeast Chapter Drilled Shaft Foundation Seminar. From the ADSC’s August 2007 edition of The Hole Story:
” The seminar will be held by the ADSC Northeast Chapter on November 14, in East Elmhurst, NY,at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, located at LaGuardia Airport. Eleven presenters drawn from the ranks of the nation’s top design, construction and testing practitioners will cover drilled shaft design, specifications, construction, concrete design, testing, as well as geotechnical investigation, and remediation techniques. An opportunity to visit with exhibitors will add to the seminar’s value. Among the featured presenters will be Dr. Dan Brown, P.E., Auburn University; Silas Nichols of the FHWA; Dr. Bernie Hertlein, P.E., STS Consultants; and Fred Rhyner, P.E., Mueser Rutledge. Internationally prominent design engineer Clyde Baker, STS Consultants will moderate a Q&A Panel. PDH credits are offered. For information including registration details, contact Ralph Capelli, 712/353-9616 or rcapelli@posillicorp.com.”
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Added Link to International Society for Micropiles
I have added a link to the International Society for Micropiles in our links area. I have also linked the upcoming 8th International Workshop on Micropiles in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 26-30.
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Publications on IGM (intermediate geomaterials) added to site
I have added a couple of publications to the site that cover intermediate geomaterials, or IGM. The first is a paper Dan and I published from my master’s thesis in 1994 which I presented at the 25th Ohio River Valley Soils Seminar in Lexington, Kentucky.: The second one is a report of axial and lateral load tests for drilled shaft foundations in shale for a bridge in Alabama. The loadtests, analysis, and design recommendations were done as part of a research project on drilled shafts Dan was doing for ALDOT. My thesis work was part of the research project.
I am slowly working on getting as many of our publications on the site as possible. Thank you for your patience!
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Dan leads team updating the FHWA Drilled Shaft Manual
Dan is leading a technical team that is updating the FHWA drilled shaft manual “Drilled Shafts: Construction Procedures and Design Methods”, FHWA Publication Number IF-99-025, by Dr. Michael W. O’ Neil, P.E. and Dr. Lyman C. Reese, P.E.. The manual was first published in 1988. An updated version was published in 1999. A new edition is now underway in order to incorporate advances in design and construction of drilled shaft foundations. The effort will include a comprehensive review and analysis of load test results from all over the country in a variety of soil and rock formations in order to review and modify the recommended design methodologies. The team of authors that has been assembled includes:
Dr. Dan Brown, P.E. – Auburn University and DBA
Dr. John Turner, P.E. – University of Wyoming
Dr. Jim Long, P.E. – University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
Ray Castelli, P.E. – PB (Parsons Brinckerhoff)
The author team will be assisted by Dr. Tom Sandford, P.E. of the University of Maine as well as graduate and post-doc students at the various universities. The team will also rely on input from designers and contractors in the drilled shaft industry. PB (Parsons Brinckerhoff) is the contract administrator for the manual update project. Jeremy Hung, P.E. is the PB project manager. The revised manual is planned to be available sometime in 2008.
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Drilled foundation construction in the Piedmont – Dan’s 2002 paper from JGGE
Dan’s paper from the December, 2002 issue of the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering has been added to our Publications page.
Brown, D.A., 2002. “Effect of Construction on Axial Capacity of Drilled Foundations in Piedmont Soils,” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Volume 128, No. 12, ASCE, pp967-973.
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