DFI Journal - The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute

Volume 5, Issue 2, November 2011
DOI: 10.1179/dfi.2011.007

All Journal papers are free to DFI members.
If you are a member, please click on the "Login" link at the top of this page to to download this paper.

Not a member? Join here to get access to all papers or click the purchase button below to access this paper only.

Foundations for the New Mississippi River Bridge, St. Louis
Article Type: Case Study

Axtell, P. J. & Brown, D. A.

Abstract


This case history describes the foundation design and construction for the New Mississippi River Bridge, presently under construction in St. Louis, Missouri. The 1,500 ft (457.2 m) main span of the cable-stayed bridge is supported by two delta tower pylons in the river, with anchor piers on each bank. The final foundation design was completed as a part of an Alternate Technical Concept (ATC) proposal by the winning construction team, and utilized drilled shafts up to 11.5-ft (3.5-m) diameter that were socketed into very hard limestone. As part of the ATC foundation design, a full-scale, bidirectional static load test was performed to verify the design and allow use of higher resistance values. This paper presents the results of the site exploration, construction of the load test shaft, details of the load testing, and a comparison of the test results with various design parameters.

Keywords:
load testing, alternate technical concept, ATC design, foundation design