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.
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
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.
