West 7th Street Bridge–Fort Worth, TX–Arches Update

July 6, 2013 Robert Thompson

The West 7th Street Bridge in Fort Worth, Texas was closed on June 7th so that Sundt Construction could start demolishing the existing bridge. Sundt set all of the arches for the world’s first pre-cast network arch bridge according to TxDOT.

The W. 7th Street bridge is a gateway between downtown Fort Worth and its cultural district. TxDOT designed the bridge with six arch spans across the Trinity River to improve safety, pedestrian access and add to the architectural redevelopment under way in this corridor. The project will widen and reconstruct the four-lane bridge with 10-foot sidewalks. It is the world’s first pre-cast network arch bridge.

ENR had an article in early June about the unique bridge (requires subscription to ENR):

http://enr.construction.com/infrastructure/transportation/2013/0603-builders-say-precast-concrete-network-arch-bridge-is-a-first.asp

DBA provided Sundt with some construction support related to the heavy lift cranes for the arch picks. I previously wrote about it here.

In late May, Cade Redig of Sundt sent me a few photos of the progress. Take a look and enjoy!

View from existing bridge deck with arches on either side

Crane with arch

Aerial view

Bridge Foundations, Foundation Design

Hastings Bridge Opens to Traffic

June 4, 2013 David Graham

Looking north towards Hastings as traffic travels on both bridges

Looking west from the Hastings’ river bank

I had the unique opportunity to be among the first people to cross the new Hastings bridge and among the last to cross the old Hastings bridge, during the short period of time when the two bridges were simultaneously carrying traffic.

Yesterday evening, Monday, June 3rd, crews shifted southbound traffic onto the new bridge for the first time. This evening, the old bridge will be closed to traffic for good as crews shift northbound traffic onto the new bridge. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, there will be a funeral service of sorts for the 1950’s era truss bridge tonight, complete with a bagpiper and hearse.

Being just up the road for the St. Croix Bridge Project, I took the opportunity to travel across both bridges today and take a few pictures like the ones above. It is not every day that we, as foundation designers, get a chance to see this stage of a project. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time.

Bridge Foundations, Foundation Design

St. Croix Bridge Construction Starts with Official Groundbreaking

May 30, 2013 David Graham

Earlier this week, officials from the Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of transportation (MnDOT and WisDOT) met for an official groundbreaking ceremony on the projected $629 million bridge and highway project that will connect Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, to St. Joseph, Wisconsin, just south of Stillwater, Minnesota, as highlighted in yesterday’s edition of The Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. The new bridge will replace the 80-year-old Stillwater Lift Bridge and relieve traffic congestion in nearby Stillwater.

DBA has been retained by MnDOT as the lead geotechnical consultant and foundation designer for the extradosed river bridge. Last summer, DBA aided MnDOT in the design and oversight of a load test program described in my blog post, “DBA Wraps Up Load Test Program and Proceeds with Design on St. Croix Bridge.” Following final design, which took place over the fall and winter, construction of the foundations will begin next week with the installation of a technique shaft. DBA will participate in construction as well, providing construction observation and review of the technique shaft and at least one shaft at each of the five production piers. Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc. of Plain, Wisconsin, has been selected as the general contractor for the foundation contract with sub-contractor Case Foundation Company of Chicago, Illinois, performing the drilling. The extradosed bridge will feature five main river towers, each resting on two footings supported by a 4-shaft group of 8.5-foot drilled shafts, socketed 25-feet or more into sandstone bedrock.

I hope to have some more updates soon with some pictures following my upcoming site visits to observe the construction operations. In the mean time, you can stay updated by visiting the MnDOT project page and watching the “action” live via the construction webcam.

Bridge Foundations, Driven Piles, Dynamic Testing, Foundation Design, Foundation Testing, Research

Deep Foundations Research

May 23, 2013 Robert Thompson

In the course of digging throughout the internet for data and information for a couple of projects using one of the best wifi routers, I came across some (relatively) recent research reports geared toward improving design of driven piles based on field testing. A report from The Illinois Center for Transportation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is focused on improving pile design through increased resistance factors and nominal bearing values. A project by the Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University focuses on developing LRFD design procedures for steel piles in Iowa. It was published in two volumes, with Volume I covering the development of LRFD calibrations and a load test database, and Volume II covering field load tests performed for the project.

I have not had time to dig into them yet, so I just offer the links and abstracts to pique your curiosity. Perhaps you may find something interesting in them, or maybe something applicable to a project. There is a lot of research going on out there for TRB and NHI, so I figure sharing interesting tidbits helps get things circulated.

Click on the name of each of the research centers above to find out what other things they are doing, available reports, etc.

Improved Design for Driven Piles on a Load Test Program in Illinois, Research Report FHWA-ICT-12-011, Illinois Center for Transportation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, July 2012 (Authors: Jim Long and Andrew Anderson, )

Abstract:

Dynamic pile testing and one static load test was performed in accordance with ICT project R27-69, “Improved Design for Driven Piles Based on a Pile Load Test Program in Illinois.” The objectives of this project are to (1) increase the maximum nominal required bearing that designers can specify to reduce the number and/or weight of piles, (2) decrease the difference between estimated and driven pile lengths to reduce cutoffs and splice lengths by development of local bias factors for predictive methods used in design, (3) increase reliance of pile setup to increase the factored resistance available to designers, (4) reduce the risk of pile driving damage during construction, and (5) increase the resistance factor (decrease in factor of safety) based on increased data and confidence from load tests in and near Illinois. Project deliverables can be categorized as (1) better prediction methods for stresses during driving, (2) better prediction methods for pile capacities using resistance factors for driven piling based on local calibrations that consider the effects of pile setups, and (3) collections of static and dynamic load test data focused on Illinois soils and geology.

Development of LRFD Procedures for Bridge Piles in Iowa, Volume I: An Electronic Database for PIle LOad Tests (PILOT) (Volume I), Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University, January 2011 (Authors: Matthew Roling, Sri Sritharan, Muhannad T. Suleiman)

Abstract:

For well over 100 years, the Working Stress Design (WSD) approach has been the traditional basis for geotechnical design with regard to settlements or failure conditions. However, considerable effort has been put forth over the past couple of decades in relation to the adoption of the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) approach into geotechnical design. With the goal of producing engineered designs with consistent levels of reliability, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a policy memorandum on June 28, 2000, requiring all new bridges initiated after October 1, 2007, to be designed according to the LRFD approach. Likewise, regionally calibrated LRFD resistance factors were permitted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to improve the economy of bridge foundation elements. Thus, projects TR-573, TR-583 and TR-584 were undertaken by a research team at Iowa State University’s Bridge Engineering Center with the goal of developing resistance factors for pile design using available pile static load test data. To accomplish this goal, the available data were first analyzed for reliability and then placed in a newly designed relational database management system termed PIle LOad Tests (PILOT), to which this first volume of the final report for project TR-573 is dedicated. PILOT is an amalgamated, electronic source of information consisting of both static and dynamic data for pile load tests conducted in the State of Iowa. The database, which includes historical data on pile load tests dating back to 1966, is intended for use in the establishment of LRFD resistance factors for design and construction control of driven pile foundations in Iowa. Although a considerable amount of geotechnical and pile load test data is available in literature as well as in various State Department of Transportation files, PILOT is one of the first regional databases to be exclusively used in the development of LRFD resistance factors for the design and construction control of driven pile foundations. Currently providing an electronically organized assimilation of geotechnical and pile load test data for 274 piles of various types (e.g., steel H-shaped, timber, pipe, Monotube, and concrete), PILOT (http://srg.cce.iastate.edu/lrfd/) is on par with such familiar national databases used in the calibration of LRFD resistance factors for pile foundations as the FHWA’s Deep Foundation Load Test Database. By narrowing geographical boundaries while maintaining a high number of pile load tests, PILOT exemplifies a model for effective regional LRFD calibration procedures.

Development of LRFD Procedures for Bridge Piles in Iowa, Field Testing of Steel H-Piles in Clay, Sand, and Mixed Soils and Data Analysis (Volume II), Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University, September 2011 (Authors: Kam Weng Ng, Muhannad T. Suleiman, Matthew Roling, Sherif S. AbdelSalam, and Sri Sritharan)

Abstract:

In response to the mandate on Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) implementations by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on all new bridge projects initiated after October 1, 2007, the Iowa Highway Research Board (IHRB) sponsored these research projects to develop regional LRFD recommendations. The LRFD development was performed using the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Pile Load Test database (PILOT). To increase the data points for LRFD development, develop LRFD recommendations for dynamic methods, and validate the results of LRFD calibration, 10 full-scale field tests on the most commonly used steel H-piles (e.g., HP 10 x 42) were conducted throughout Iowa. Detailed in situ soil investigations were carried out, push-in pressure cells were installed, and laboratory soil tests were performed. Pile responses during driving, at the end of driving (EOD), and at re-strikes were monitored using the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA), following with the CAse Pile Wave Analysis Program (CAPWAP) analysis. The hammer blow counts were recorded for Wave Equation Analysis Program (WEAP) and dynamic formulas. Static load tests (SLTs) were performed and the pile capacities were determined based on the Davisson’s criteria. The extensive experimental research studies generated important data for analytical and computational investigations. The SLT measured loaddisplacements were compared with the simulated results obtained using a model of the TZPILE program and using the modified borehole shear test method. Two analytical pile setup quantification methods, in terms of soil properties, were developed and validated. A new calibration procedure was developed to incorporate pile setup into LRFD

Miscellaneous

How do you move a 300 ton concrete arch?

May 17, 2013 Robert Thompson

Image Source: Star Telegram.com

Very carefully, of course! (You knew that was coming!)

DBA has had the pleasure of consulting with Sundt Construction on their effort to replace the West 7th Street Bridge over the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas. Our role has been to provide geotechnical consulting for the heavy lifts of the arches, as well as a VE design on a secant wall.

West 7th Street is a major artery into downtown Fort Worth. From the City of Fort Worth:

The aging Seventh Street Bridge, a popular east-west thoroughfare that connects downtown to the Cultural District, is due to be reconstructed.

The original span was built in 1913 and was expanded in 1953 when the Trinity River was rerouted and the surrounding levees were built. Although the bridge has been determined safe to use, beams, girders and the deck of the 1913 section are deteriorating.

To reduce the impact of closing the bridge, Sundt has installed new drilled shaft foundations on either side of the existing bridge. The twelve, 163-foot long, 300-ton concrete arches were fabricated off-site on the west side of the river. Large trailer dollies with 120 wheels move the arches from the yard to the site. Large cranes from Burkhalter (heavy lift and transport specialist) pick the arches from the dollies on the existing bridge and set them on the new foundations. The bridge is closed or partially closed during each lift. Once all of the arches are in place, the bridge will be closed to demolish the existing structure and build the new deck between the pairs of arches. The compete closure is supposed to last only 150 days.

Here is a time lapse video of the first arch being set:

The first arches were set over the weekend of May 11-12. Here are some links to video and articles:

300-ton arches for new bridge moving toward Trinity (Fort Worth Star Telegram, May 7, 2013)

TxDOT West 7th Street Bridge You Tube Channel – includes time lapse of first arch.

KDFW Fox4 News

CBS DFW

Bonus: For all of those that love “big boys with big toys” , make sure and check out the Burkhalter web site.

Ground Improvement, Slope Stability

Geofoam and Slope Stability

April 24, 2013 Robert Thompson

A recent TRB E-newsletter (4/2/2013) was spotlighted by Randy Post (aka RockMan) at Geoprac.net. The newsletter was about the publication in January of Research Results Digest 380: Guidelines for Geofoam Applications in Slope Stability Projects.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Results Digest 380: Guidelines for Geofoam Applications in Slope Stability Projects explores the use of expanded polystyrene-block geofoam for slope stabilization projects. For the purpose of the report, slope stabilization projects include new roadways as well as repair of existing roadways that have been damaged by slope instability or slope movement.

The research was performed by the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Memphis (UoM). David Arellano, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at UoM, was the Project Director. The other project investigators were Timothy D. Stark, Professor and Consulting Engineer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; John S. Horvath, Consulting Engineer and Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Manhattan College; and Dov Leshchinsky, President of ADAMA Engineering, Inc., and Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware.

The digest is a summary of the NCHRP Project 24-11(02), “Guidelines for Geofoam Applications in Slope Stability Projects.”

This report presents the results of a study performed to develop a comprehensive document that provides both state-of-the-art knowledge and state-of-practice design guidance to facilitate the use of EPS-block geofoam for slope stabilization and repair. This report includes the following five primary research products: (1) summary of relevant engineering properties, (2) a comprehensive design guideline, (3) a material and construction standard, (4) economic data, and (5) a detailed numerical design example.

The project was initiated to develop comprehensive design guidelines for use of geofoam in slope stability applications. According to the Digest, geofoam use is becoming more widespread in the U.S., but the adoption of it as a routine roadway construction material has been slowed by lack of design guidelines.

Although EPS-block geofoam for road construction is an established technology and despite the more than 30 years of extensive and continuing worldwide use of EPS-block geofoam, it has been underutilized in U.S. practice because a comprehensive design guideline for its use as lightweight fill in roadway embankments has been unavailable. There was, therefore, a need in the United States to develop formal and detailed design documents for use of EPS-block geofoam in roadway applications.

To learn more about the project, go here. Click this link to download the project report.

And speaking of slopes and slides, RockMan has some posts on a recent slope failure in a copper mine in Utah and one on the WSDOT doing some rock blasting on I-90 (with cool video!). Check them out:

WSDOT rock blasting on I-90 for Snoqualmie Pass

Bingham Canyon Slide

Bridge Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Load Testing

Huey P. Long Bridge Expansion–Completion in June 2013

April 10, 2013 Robert Thompson

The Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana will be officially completed in June this year, according to the LADOTD. A recent article in the Times-Picayune on-line announced another ramp opening last weekend, bringing the $1.2 billion project one step closer to completion. DBA was brought onto the project by the contractor team to consult on the design, load testing, and construction of the 9-foot diameter, 184-foot long base grouted drilled shafts.

Check out our previous DBA posts on the HPL.

This article from the Times-Picayune in 2009 gives a great graphical description of how the bridge was widened.

You can learn all about the history of the bridge and the project at the project page of the Louisiana TIMED Program. The project page has a lot of good links, including photos from the project.

Photo Credit: Louisiana TIMED project photo album

Drilled Shafts, Foundation Design

Calibration of Resistance Factors for Drilled Shafts -A report from the LADOTD

March 27, 2013 Robert Thompson

Note: Okay – I’ll admit – I also do a blog for the Geo-Institute Deep Foundations Committee. as such, there are often things that I feel should be posted at both – to get the widest possible audience! So, if you have already been over there, this post will look very familiar. It is much easier to reuse a post written by yourself. – Robert

With the adoption of LRFD design methods by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and most state Departments of Transportation, the big question in the geotechnical world is “What resistance factor should we use for __________?”. AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications provide a lot of guidance, but many in the industry are working to calibrate resistance factors to regional or local design methods and soil conditions. Various universities and state DOTs, with assistance from FHWA, National Highway Institute (NHI), and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) are conducting research projects to provide some answers to the big question (there is never just one answer in geotechnical engineering!).

Randy Post over at GeoPrac.net recently blogged about a newly released report from The Louisiana Transportation Research Center and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) on their investigation for calibrating resistance factors for the design of axially loaded drilled shafts. From the report abstract:

As a continuing effort to implement the LRFD design methodology for deep foundations in Louisiana, this report will present the reliability-based analyses for the calibration of the resistance factor for LRFD design of axially loaded drilled shafts using Brown et al. method (2010 FHWA design method). Twenty-six drilled shaft tests collected from previous research (LTRC Final Report 449) and eight new drilled shaft tests were selected for statistical reliability analysis; the predictions of total, side, and tip resistance versus settlement behavior of drilled shafts were established from soil borings using both 1999 FHWA design method (O’Neill and Reese method) and 2010 FHWA design method (Brown et al. method). The measured drilled shaft axial nominal resistance was determined from either the Osterberg cell (O-cell) test or the conventional top-down static load test.

You can download a PDF of the report here.

Bridge Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Foundation Design, Industry News and Events

ENR’s Best of the Best 2012–Audubon Bridge

February 17, 2013 Robert Thompson

The John James Audubon Bridge was recently selected as the Editor’s Choice/Transportation for ENR’s Best of the Best Projects for 2012. The annual competition culminated in honoring ENR’s selection of the most outstanding construction projects in the U.s. And Puerto Rico complete between July 2011 and June 2012.

Nearly 1,000 project teams submitted their best work to ENR’s regional "Best Projects" competitions. For each of the nine regions, our editors assembled an independent panel of industry judges to home in on the winners in 19 categories. The winners of the regional contests moved on to the national competition. A different set of industry judges examined the projects to distinguish the "Best of the Best" in teamwork, success in overcoming challenges, innovation and quality. This year, a new award honors the safest project, judged by industry safety experts in both the regional and national competitions. Also, ENR’s editorial staff chose one special project as the "Editors’ Choice" to represent the pinnacle of design and construction excellence.

The Audubon Bridge won the Editor’s Choice – the editorial staff’s selection of the “pinnacle of design and construction excellence”. Congratulations to everyone at Audubon Bridge Constructors (Flatiron, Granite and Parsons), Louisiana DOTD, and all who worked on the project!

Regular readers of our blog will be very familiar with the JJA as we often called it. You can catch all of the geotechnical and foundation highlights on our project page, or check out previous posts.

Images from: ENR.com

Dan Brown and Associates, LLC