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Audubon Bridge Foundations in Fall 2011 “Deep Foundations”

Robert Thompson — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:18:41 +0000

Dan and Steve co-authored an article in the Fall 2011 issue of Deep Foundations (from DFI) that covered the foundations for the recently completed record-setting Audubon Bridge in Louisiana. Dan and Steve cover not only the shaft testing, design, and construction, but also the unique cofferdam used for the tower foundations. I recently highlighted an article by Sereno Brown, P.E. of Flatiron that covered the design and installation of the cofferdam in detail.

You can receive Deep Foundations every quarter (soon bi-monthly!), as well as the DFI Journal, by joining DFI. Get information on joining at this link – click on “Membership” at the top banner.

Dr. Steve Dapp…in Taiwan!

Robert Thompson — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:51:00 +0000

During a recent trip to Taiwan, Steve had the opportunity to participate in a lecture on base grouted drilled shaft foundations. He was invited to speak at a meeting of the Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society (CTGS), also known as the Taiwan Geotechnical Society (TGS), by Dr. Prof. San-Shyan, Lin, National Taiwan Ocean University (current president of TGS). The meeting was held at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

His visit on 21 June 2011 was noted in the August 2011 issue (Volume 5, No. 4, p82) of the ISSMGE Bulletin. During his lecture, Steve talked about the experiences of DBA with base grouting drilled shafts at the Audubon Bridge and the Huey P. Long Bridge on the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Steve said that base grouting has become a very common technology in Taiwan for high rise structures supported on drilled shafts.

The meeting is noted here on the TGS site.

(Source: ISSMGE Bulletin Volume 5, No. 4, p82)

Audubon Bridge–Cofferdam Construction Article

Robert Thompson — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:23:51 +0000

As noted earlier on this blog, the Audubon Bridge opened a little bit earlier than planned. Although over a year old, an article recently came to my attention that puts a spotlight on the unique engineering and construction that went into the cofferdams for the two main bridge piers in the Mississippi River. The article is “John James Audubon Bridge Project – Cofferdam Construction for the Main Span Pier Foundations”, published in the February 2010 issue of Louisiana Civil Engineer, the Journal of the Louisiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The article’s lead author, Sereno Brown, P.E., was the construction team’s Project Engineer for the design-build project. In the article, Mr. Brown outlines the issues that led to the team selecting a pre-cast concrete cofferdam over other methods, the design methodology, and then the construction of the cofferdam. The effort posed several significant design and construction challenges, including the sequence of lowering the cofferdam into place through a set of hydraulic jacks. The entire process was truly an amazing engineering and construction feat.

Download the article here.

Audubon Bridge Opened To Traffic (earlier than planned!)

Robert Thompson — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:01:58 +0000

The John James Audubon Bridge was opened to traffic on May 10, 2011 a little earlier than planned. While the project is not 100% complete, the bridge was sufficiently complete to allow an emergency opening due to closure of the nearby ferry the bridge is replacing. From the project website:

Due to the high level of the Mississippi River causing the closure of the New Roads/St. Francisville ferry, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) opened the John James Audubon Bridge at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 5, 2011. This emergency opening allowed continuous river-crossing access for traffic affected by the ferry closure. The ferry, which carried approximately 720 vehicles per day according to 2009-2010 DOTD statistics, is permanently closed with the opening of the Audubon Bridge.

Construction is still ongoing and could affect traffic until the project is 100% complete later this year.

Audubon Bridge Closure–The Span is Complete!

Robert Thompson — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:00:00 +0000

On December 29, 2010, Audubon Bridge Constructors recently “closed” the main span of the John James Audubon Bridge between New Roads and St. Francisville, Louisiana. Watch the video featured at the top of the page at the bridge link to hear about the bridge, including the drilled shaft foundations! For something really fascinating, go to the webcams here and scroll back through the various dates. They have archived images all the way back to start of construction.

Photo: Chris Usery, Figg Bridge Inspectors

The last cables were installed on January 3, 2011 as noted on the project website:

The last two cable stays of the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere were installed on January 3, 2011, five days after the spans were connected. The John James Audubon Bridge, Louisiana’s newest crossing over the Mississippi River, now has all of its 136 cable stays in place.

This bridge will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America when it opens later in 2011. Again, from the project web site:

The spans of the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere were connected on December 29, 2010, stretching 1/3 of a mile over the Mississippi River. The John James Audubon Bridge, connecting Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes in Louisiana, is approximately 92% complete. Construction of the spans began from both sides of the 500-foot tall towers earlier this year. Both sides continue to progress at a rapid pace, and now the meeting of the spans has occurred.

Steve Dapp and I had the pleasure of working with many great people during our time on site (much more time for Steve than for me!) during foundation construction. One of them, Chris Ursery of Figg Bridge Inspectors, has been great about providing us with photos now and then to keep us updated of some of the details of the bridge construction. Chris has granted us permission to share a few of his recent photos, which are shown below or can be seen in our web albums here.

Previous post on Audubon Bridge.

A Foundation Engineering Trip Down the Mississippi River

Robert Thompson — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:16:22 +0000

Dan recently played the part of storyteller at the Southeastern Transportation Geotechnical Engineering Conference (STGEC) 2010 conference in Charleston, West Virginia when he gave the lunch presentation on the conference’s first day. He took the audience on a trip down the Mississippi River from a foundation engineer’s perspective, talking about several bridges that DBA has had the pleasure to work on, or is still working on, along the river the last few years. Dan began with the I-35W Bridge replacement in Minneapolis, Minnesota and ended at the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana. Stops along the way included the Hastings Bridge (Hastings Minnesota), the new I-70 Bridge (St. Louis, Missouri), and the Audubon Bridge (New Roads/St. Francisville, Louisiana). Dan covered some of the technical issues/problems associated with each project and the solutions applied to complete the foundations (or complete the design). It was a very informative talk presented in a unique way that everyone at the luncheon seemed to enjoy. Dan’s presentation is now available on our Presentations Page.

Posts on Hastings Bridge here.

Posts on I-70 Bridge here.

Posts on Audubon Bridge here.

Posts on the Huey P. Long Bridge here.

Immediately after lunch, Robert made a presentation that described some of the pile load tests performed on two of the storm protection projects in New Orleans that DBA was privileged to be involved with through Kiewit. By following Dan, it provided a little continuity to the story as Robert took the group below the Huey P. Long Bridge to the levees and canals downstream of New Orleans. Robert’s presentation can also be found on our Presentations Page.

Post on the pile load tests here.

Bridge updates – kcICON, Audubon, Beck Street

Robert Thompson — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:20:09 +0000

As geotechnical/foundation engineers, we don’t usually get to see much of what happens on a project after the foundations are completed, especially a project like a large bridge that can take years to complete. Technology such as the Internet, webcams, and digital photography have made it easy for us to see how things are progressing on projects, as well as maybe get images of the completed structure. As I have noted before, some projects are using Twitter and Facebook to keep the public informed on closures, delays or overall project progress as part of good public relations. Her are some updates on a few of our recent projects.

kcICON:

The main span is well underway, including the cables. The kcICON Facebook page is here.

Audubon Bridge:

Check out the webcam. You can download images if you like. YOu can also do a time-lapse from Day 1 of construction.

Beck Street Bridge:

Part of the I-15 Express Link project in Salt Lake City, UT. The photos below I obtained from the photos page on the project web site . We were involved in the design and construction of the foundations for the Beck Street Bridge only.

Geo-Florida 2010 Papers posted

Robert Thompson — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:13:37 +0000

Papers by Dan, Steve, and Tim that were included in the GeoFlorida 2010 conference have been uploaded to our Publications page. Dan and Steve co-authored a paper on the test program of the base grouted drilled shafts for the Audubon Bridge. Tim co-authored a paper with Willie NeSmith of Berkel and Company Contractors, Inc. on plate load testing of displacement grout columns. Dan was also a co-author with several others on a paper on jet grouting for improved pile lateral capacity.

Dapp, S.D. and Brown, D.A. (2010). “Evaluation of Base Grouted Drilled Shafts at the Audubon Bridge”, GeoFlorida 2010, Advances in Analysis, Modeling and Design, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 199, ASCE, pp1553-1562.

Rollins, K.M., Herbst, M., Adsero, M. and Brown, D.A. (2010) “Jet Grouting and Soil Mixing for Increased Lateral Pile Group Resistance”, GeoFlorida 2010, Advances in Analysis, Modeling and Design, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 199, ASCE, pp1563-1572.

Siegel, T.C. and NeSmith, W.M. (2010). “Large-Scale Plate Load Testing of Ground Improvement Using Displacement Grout Columns”, GeoFlorida 2010, Advances in Analysis, Modeling and Design, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 199, ASCE, pp2398-2405.

Geo-Florida Presentation by Steve Dapp – Tip-Grouted Drilled Shaft Foundations for the Audubon Bridge

Robert Thompson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:14:50 +0000

I have uploaded the presentation Steve gave at Geo-Florida 2010 on February 24th. You can find it on our Presentations page or by clicking the image below. Enjoy!

Audubon Bridge Update – Piers out of the water!

Robert Thompson — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:22:35 +0000

It has been a little while since we last visited the John James Audubon Bridge site in New roads, Louisiana. My how things have changed! I just have a couple of pictures of the piers from January – it is really looking like a bridge now! For frequent updates, check out the webcam and the photo albums on the project web page. The web cams have a really cool time lapse button that shows you a time lapse loop of the pier from the beginning of construction.

UPDATE (2/28/10) - I added 3 new photos to the slide show that were taken this last week. At that time the piers were at lift 21 and were about elevation +335 feet (the top of the sheet piles at the foundation level are about elevation +50 feet).