RIDOT Sakonnet River Bridge Foundation Design and Testing

GTR was retained by Haley and Aldrich, Inc. (H&A) to provide large diameter, pipe pile design services for the Sakonnet River Bridge. The multi span 2850 feet long bridge was the first significant LRFD designed structure in the New England area. The design phase program involved static and dynamic load testing on H-piles and large diameter pipe piles with capacities in excess of 6000 kips. An innovative solution was developed by GTR for the large diameter pipe piles that forced plugging and increase pile capacity, and in turn, significantly reduced the pile lengths compared to originally-designed open pipe piles. Construction phase services included dynamic testing on every large diameter pipe pile over various stages of installation to reduce the required resistance factor. The innovative pipe pile design and construction quality control process resulted in a significant cost savings for the overall bridge foundation construction.