Miscellaneous

Deep Foundations Discussions on GeoWorld and LinkedIn

The world of social media or on-line networking sites continues to grow.  Some of the sites offer opportunities for industry groups or committees to have groups that provide a place for discussion on specific topics relevant to the group or committee.  DBA staff members are active on many technical committees in the Geo-Institute, DFI, PDCA, and ADSC. The G-I Deep Foundations Committee has Groups on both GeoWorld and LinkedIn open for anyone to join – not just committee members.

GeoWorld is the online professional networking site for geotechnical engineers and associated fields.  It was launched last year and is growing.  If you aren’t a member, click here to join.  Once you join you will find all sorts of groups and other avenues for networking within the geoengineering community, including a group for the DFC (look for Technical Committees in the Groups area). Or just click the icon below to go to the group.

LinkedIn (as many of you already know!) is a social media site for all professions, providing networking opportunities for many purposes (industry news, technical advice, job seeking, keeping up with colleagues, etc.) .  To find the DFC group, click on the icon below.

In addition to the G-I DFC, the DFI and the ADSC have groups on LinkedIn – go there by clicking on the logos below:

Check out these and other groups – join a discussion, or start your own!

DBA News, Foundation Design

Article by Dan in Geo-Strata

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An article coauthored by Dan and Dr. Paul Mayne, P.E. of Georgia Tech on geotechnical engineering in the Piedmont appeared in the November/December issue of  the Geo-Institute’s Geo-Strata Magazine.  The four page piece includes a brief overview of Piedmont geology, a discussion on sampling and testing of Piedmont soil and rock, a description of some of the unique engineering properties of Piedmont geomaterials, a discussion on the standard of practice for foundation design within the region, and a discussion on the value of engineering experience.  Examples and data from research and construction projects Dan and Dr. Mayne have been involved in are scattered throughout.  To read the article yourself, click here or pickup the latest copy of Geo-Strata.

Foundation Testing, Load Testing, Micropiles

DBA and Missouri S&T Conduct Live Load Test at Foothills Bridge as Construction Wraps Up

Just before Christmas, David, Tim, and Nathan joined Dr. Ronaldo Luna and his graduate student, Devin Dixon, of Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly the University of Missouri–Rolla) to conduct a live load test on the all but officially complete Foothills Parkway Bridge No. 2., near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  During installation of the micropile foundations, DBA and Dr. Luna’s research team installed strain gages in four micropiles and at the base of the pier pedestals at both Piers 1 and 2 of the bridge.  Strain data have been collected during construction of the superstructure.  Following completion of the bridge, the live load test involved loading the bridge with four loaded dump trucks at prescribed locations with respect to the instrumented piers.  Data were collected for several load configurations.  The aim of the research is to better understand the performance of micropiles and micropile groups, particularly with respect to bending.

Visiting the site for the load test provided an opportunity to take some great pictures of this particularly scenic bridge nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.  A new web album of pictures taken by David has been added to our Picasa page here,  and some aerial photos of the nearly completed bridge taken in December by Aerial Innovations have been added to our Picasa web album Foothills Parkway Bridge No. 2 – From a Bird’s Eye View.

DBA News

Dan Inducted into the UT Austin Cockrell School Academy of Distinguished Alumni

graphic of crane suspending text

Seven alumni and one faculty member of the Cockrell School of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin were recently inducted into the School’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni.  Dan, who received his Ph.D from UT Austin in 1985, was recognized for his award wining research at Auburn and his distinguished consulting career here at DBA. If you are also looking for good english vce tutor, visit learnmate.com for more info. The other 2012 inductees included:

  • Raul E. Allegre, a former UT and NFL football star and Spanish-speaking NFL football commentator.
  • Elia King de Jordan, a Peruvian transportation engineer turned business-woman who was the former general manager of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
  • Elie H. Homsi, the senior vice president of Engineering Services at Flatiron Corp. responsible for much of that company’s success and accolades, including some DBA consulting projects.
  • James H. Metzger, the president and CEO of a construction company that bears his name with over 45 years of experience in the construction industry.
  • G. Charles Naeve, an award winning structural engineer and founder of Architectural Engineering Collaborative who has pioneered green and sustainable design.
  • Kelley S. Neumann, a 20-year veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers, she is also responsible for several major public works projects in San Antonio as senior vice president of Strategic Resources.
  • Roy E. Olson,  professor emeritus of geotechnical engineering, was recognized for his long and honored career as faculty member at UT Austin.

Congratulations to Dan and all the others who have received this honor!

Bridge Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Load Testing

“Geotechnical Monument” in St. Louis

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It may not have been intended as such, but we will “claim” this large rock core on the Mississippi River as a “geotechnical monument”.  At the site of the new I-70 crossing over the Mississippi River in St. Louis, one of the 11-foot diameter limestone rock cores retrieved from one of the rock sockets drilled for the bridge foundations has been placed on the river bank along with a sign. Our own David Graham stopped by and had some pictures taken when on a personal trip their last year.  So, the next time you are in St. Louis, look for the big hunk of rock on the west bank (St. Louis side) near the new bridge north of the Arch.

Check out our previous posts on this project here.

 

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Bridge Foundations, Drilled Piles, Drilled Shafts, Driven Piles, Foundation Testing, Load Testing

NCHRP Report 461–Static and Dynamic Lateral Loading of Pile Groups

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Here is a blast from the past on pile groups: NCHRP Report 461 – Static and Dynamic Lateral Loading of Pile Groups.  I had a request for this report recently, so I found it and figured we needed to post the links to it.  Dan was the lead researcher on this report during his time at Auburn University, and had an all-star line up that included Dr. Mike O’Neill and Dr. Mike McVay, two of the heavy hitters in foundation engineering.  The report introduction gives a good summary of the contents:

A key concern of bridge engineers is the design and performance of pile group foundations under lateral loading events,
such as ship or ice impacts and earthquakes. This report documents a research program in which the following were developed:
(1) a numerical model to simulate static and dynamic lateral loading of pile groups, including structural and soil hysteresis and energy dissipation through radiation; (2) an analytical soil model for nonlinear unit soil response against piles (i.e., p-y curves) for dynamic loading and simple factors (i.e., p-multipliers) to permit their use in modeling groups of piles; (3) experimental data obtained through static and dynamic testing of large-scale pile groups in various soil profiles; and (4) preliminary recommendations for expressions for p-y curves, damping factors, and p-multipliers for analysis of laterally loaded pile groups for design purposes. The report also describes experimental equipment for performing site-specific, static, and dynamic lateral load tests on pile groups.

Several full-scale field tests were conducted on pile groups of 6 to 12 piles, both bored and driven, in relatively soft cohesive and cohesionless soils. All of the groups were loaded laterally statically to relatively large deflections, and groups of instrumented pipe piles were also loaded dynamically to large deflections, equivalent to deflections that might be suffered in major ship impact and seismic events. Dynamic loading was provided by a series of impulses of increasing magnitude using a horizontally mounted Statnamic device.

For a relatively short (50 pages) report, there is a lot of information packed into it gleaned from a lot of full-scale field work.

Bridge Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Driven Piles, Dynamic Testing, Foundation Design, Foundation Testing, Load Testing

DBA Wraps Up Load Test Program and Proceeds with Design on St. Croix Bridge

Project rendering courtesy of HDR 

Lateral Statnamic test, picture by David Graham of DBA, click here for a YouTube video

DBA has been selected by MnDOT as a geotechnical and load testing consultant for the design phase load test program and foundation design of a new bridge crossing the the St. Croix River near Oak Park Heights and Stillwater, Minnesota. The new bridge will carry State Highway 36 across the St. Croix River between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Currently, Highway 36 is carried on an 80-year old two-lane vertical lift bridge in downtown Stillwater.  The new bridge will divert the heavy through traffic away from the historic downtown center and reduce travel time for commuters.  The iconic lift bridge will be converted to a pedestrian and bicycle only structure.

Work began this summer on the load test program which consisted of one 8-foot test shaft, two 24-inch driven steel pipe piles, and two 42-inch driven steel pipe piles, all installed in the St. Croix River along the alignment of the new bridge.  Local contractor Carl Bolander & Sons Co. was selected as the general contractor for the load testing program.  Bolander self-performed the installation of the test piles and sub-contracted the construction of the test shaft to Case Foundation Company, of Chicago, Illinois.  Axial load testing of the test shaft was performed by Loadtest, Inc., of Gainesville, Florida, using Osterberg Cells (O-cells).  Dynamic testing of the driven piles using the pile driving analyzer (PDA) was performed by local geotechnical consultant Braun Intertec.  Axial testing of the driven piles and lateral testing of the shaft and one of each size pile was performed using the Statnamic Device by Applied Foundation Testing, Inc. (AFT), of Jacksonville, Florida.  DBA provided pre-test recommendations, assisted MnDOT in construction oversight, provided analysis and review of the test results, and made design recommendations based on the test results.

Following the successful load test program, DBA is working with MnDOT’s structural design consultants for the project, HDR, Inc. and Buckland & Taylor Ltd.  to optimize the bridge design.  Already, the design team has been able to lengthen the bridge spans and eliminate a river pier as a result of the load test results, as was recently reported by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR).  Also, because the total number of drilled shafts required to support the main pier towers has been reduced, construction on the foundations will been moved up to 2013 rather than the original estimated start date in 2014, also reported by MPR.

For more information, please see:

The MnDOT Project Page

The DBA Project Summary Sheet

Bridge Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Driven Piles

Hastings Bridge Takes Shape with Newly Installed Main Span

photo by Chad Richardson of the Hastings Star Gazette

A major construction feat was recently completed at the Highway 61 bridge project in Hastings, Minnesota when the 545-foot, 6.5 million-pound main bridge span was hoisted into place, 50 feet above the Mississippi river.  The main span, the longest free-standing tied-arch in North America, was constructed on the shore of the Mississippi River, about a mile upstream of the river crossing.  Placed on massive dollies, the span was rolled onto a set of six barges and floated downstream.  Once positioned under the piers, hydraulic jacks on top of the piers slowly lifted the span into place.  Around midnight on Sunday, September 23rd, 2012, the lift was complete.  By noon of the following day the span was secured in place and the existing bridge was reopened to traffic. A time lapse video of the entire process can be viewed below or on YouTube.

Links to news stories published about the main span lift:

Mn/DOT News Release

Minneapolis Star Tribune, “New Hastings bridge reaches into the future”

Hastings Star Gazette, “A massive lift, massive relief – Bridge crews worked long hours, drank 50 gallons of coffee and ate 10 gallons of chili”

Links to project information:

MnDOT Project Page

DBA Project Page

Previous Hastings Blog Posts

Bridge Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Foundation Design, Foundation Testing, Terzaghi & History

Huey P. Long Bridge Designated ASCE Civil Engineering Landmark

Photo Credit: Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-Picayune archive (via NOLA.com)

The Huey P. Long Bridge over the Mississippi River in New Orleans was recently designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. From NOLA.com (via ASCE SmartBrief):

Representatives with the Society of Civil Engineers, including national president Andrew Herrmann, along with state Transportation Secretary Sherri LeBas are expected to attend. They will place a plaque on the bridge, distinguishing it as one of 250 such historic landmarks around the world. The honor places the Depression-era built bridge in the company of the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal, the Hoover Dam and the U.S. Capitol.

The $1.2 Billion bridge improvement project is one of several being managed by the Louisiana TIMED Program:

The TIMED (Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development) Program is the single largest transportation program in state history. The TIMED Program was created by Act 16 of the 1989 Louisiana Legislature and was voted for by the people. The $5 billion improvement program includes widening 536 miles of state highways to four lanes on 11 project corridors, widening and/or new construction on three major bridges and improvements to both the Port of New Orleans and Louis Armstrong International Airport. The Program is designed to enhance economic development in Louisiana through an investment in transportation projects.

DBA was involved in the test shaft and base grouting program for the drilled shafts supporting the new pier added to supplement the existing piers of the bridge.  Check out previous posts here.

Specialists in Deep Foundation Design, Construction, and Testing and Slope Stability Problems