Rail Bridge Pier Stabilization
The Job
This rail bridge pier stabilization project is located adjacent to the Congaree National Park. This project was a capital repair to a bridge pier for a Class I railroad. The rail line serves the Port of Charleston, SC.
The Challenge
The Congaree River south east of Columbia, South Carolina frequently sees high flow events, inundating the surrounding low country. At the transition from timber trestle to a bridge, the first bridge pier was originally constructed of stone. The pier bears on a timber mat with timber pile supports. Over time, the river channel migrated and began to expose the timber substructure and scour below the pier.
The nearest road was more than four miles away through impassible swamp. So, all work had to be performed from the river. All material had to be pumped across the bridge, a distance of approximately 600 feet. Due to the compressive nature of the underlying materials, any backfill material needed to be as light as possible. But, due to the high likelihood of flooding, couldn’t contribute significant potential uplift.
The Solution
To address the scour, minimize additional load to the underlying soils, and ensure long term stability of the structure, a third party consultant designed a two tier sheet pile jacket for the structure. They specified the backfill material as 65lb/cuft cellular concrete for the lower segment. And, approximately 45lb/cuft cellular concrete for the upper segment.
CJGeo designed mixes which would meet these requirements:
- be pumpable 600LF,
- tolerate the high vibration environment from the more than 12 trains per day, and
- facilitate a short installation timeframe.
After the general contractor installed the first level of sheet piling and dewatered the area, CJGeo placed approximately 150CY of 65lb/cuft CJFill-Under Water material. Next came installation of the second, smaller diameter sheeting ring. CJGeo then filled the annular space between it and the necked down pier with 45lb/cuft CJFill-Standard material.
CJGeo generated and placed all of the CJFill low density controlled low strength material over a period of four days onsite.
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MSE Wall Lightweight Backfill
The Job
This MSE wall lightweight backfill project is located near Richmond, Virginia. The geotechnical investigation for a double bridge replacement in Amelia County, Virginia found a layer of compressible soils below four proposed abutments.
Anticipated settlement exceeded allowable settlement, so the abutments were designed to be backfilled with expanded shale lightweight aggregate.
The two parallel bridges have an AAWDT of 14,000. They carry a rural divided highway (US-360) over Norfolk Southern Railway & Business 360 in Amelia Courthouse, Virginia.
The Challenge
Lightweight fill placement had to be unaffected by frequent rail traffic, have a limited footprint, and be economical. The anticipated settlement at design was 2.5 inches. A challenge arose during construction mobilization due to Covid-related issues. There was nowhere to stockpile the lightweight aggregate onsite. But the trucking market was so unreliable, that the material needed to be staged onsite. This was to ensure continuous MSE wall construction.
The Solution
CJGeo provided a value engineering proposal to utilize 30lb/cuft CJFill-Ultra Lightweight cellular concrete in place of the expanded shale lightweight aggregate. This significantly reduced the unit weight of the lightweight fill. Given the 70lb/cuft density used in the design, further reducing the anticipated settlement.
CJGeo mobilized a 200CY/hour low density controlled low strength material (LD-CLSM) plant to the site and placed lifts ranging in size from 35 to 300CY. Wall erection crews were able to walk on the in-place cellular concrete without leaving footprints as quickly as 4 hours after each placement.
The total project volume was approximately 7200CY.
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Stone Arch Lightweight Backfill
The Job
This stone arch lightweight backfill project is located in Somerset, New Jersey. The stone arch bridge, constructed in the 1800s, was experiencing significant scour at the bases of the arch. This caused differential settlement of the structure, and deterioration of the wing walls.
The bridge is adjacent to a historic mill structure. Due to historic preservation requirements, the structure had to be maintained in kind, as opposed to replaced.
The bridge was originally bearing on shallow stone foundations.
The Challenge
As part of rehabilitating the structure, structural engineers designed two new mass footings in the stream bed to underpin the edges of the stone arch. Then, to strengthen the arch designed a 12″ thick reinforced concrete arch overlay on top of the stone arch for the full length/width of the bridge.
In order to compensate for this additional weight, designers determined that a lightweight fill material was needed to reduce the chances of inducing settlement.
Designers also evaluated remedial deep foundations but determined that lightweight fill was the fastest and most economical solution.
The Solution
After the structure had been rehabilitated, CJGeo installed 325CY of 30lb/cuft CJFill-Ultra Lightweight to complete the stone arch lightweight backfill installation. Placed in lifts up to 4 feet thick, the work was took just three days.
By using 30lb/cuft non-permeable cellular concrete, the dead load on the underlying soil decreased by up to 935lbs/sqft relative to compacted soil backfill.
Cellular concrete is self-consolidating and pumpable hundreds of feet. Therefore, single side access was not a problem, and no compaction equipment was necessary.
A crew of two workers completed the pour using continuous wet batch generation. CJGeo chose wet batch generation due to the relatively small daily volume of material placement.
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PA Turnpike Undersealing
The Job
This PA Turnpike undersealing project is located on the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Northeast Extension runs from Philadelphia to Scranton. As part of a 24 lane mile mill & pave rehabilitation on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, slab stabilization was required. The Turnpike’s specification for stabilization is either liquid asphalt or polyurethane.
In this work area, the turnpike has two northbound and two southbound lanes. A cast in place barrier wall separates the lanes. The pavement is an approximately nine inch thick rigid concrete with up to eight inches of asphalt overlay. Joint spacing ranges from twenty feet to eighty feet.
The Challenge
In order to keep MOT in place continuously, work had to be done 24 hours per day. Multiple mobilizations were used to work around bridge repairs at three different overpasses in the undersealing work area.
The Solution
CJGeo proposed undersealing with CJGrout 40NHL, a 4.0 lb/cuft free rise polyurethane grout formulated specifically for undersealing thick pavements in transportation environments. 40NHL is hydro insensitive, so performs well in wet environments, as confirmed with NYSDOT GTP-9 testing.
Using a double gang drill and single grout truck, CJGeo crews undersealed up to 1.8 lane miles per shift. Drilling operations happened overnight. Grouting during the day is safest, and allows for easy visualization of the entire zone of influence. By working continuously, the general contractor was able to keep MOT in place continuously, avoiding the cost of setting and pulling MOT each day.
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Bridge Approach Polymer Grouting
The Job
This bridge approach polymer grouting project is located just outside of Washington, DC. The George Washington Memorial Parkway connects Washington, DC with Fairfax and Alexandria Counties in Virginia. Originally designed as a scenic route, the road has transformed into a heavily used commuter route in and out of Washington. The road runs along the Potomac River, with bridges crossing deep ravines, including Windy Run.
The Challenge
Our biggest challenge with this project was making sure this heavily populated commuter route was completed in a timely fashion.
The Solution
CJGeo proposed polyurethane compaction grouting using CJGrout 30NHL. CJGrout 30NHL’s design is for improving the bearing capacity of loose soils similarly to cementitious compaction grouting. Grouting is done on 4’ centers, at 5’, 10’ & 15’ below grade. Top-down grouting ensured maximum densification of underlying soils. This grouting program was generally prescriptive, but with ground movement of 0.5 inches cutoff criteria.
CJGeo installed approximately 25,000 pounds of CJGrout 30NHL to increase the bearing capacity of the embankment soils. Due to polyurethane grout’s nearly immediate cure, CJGeo helped ensure that ground improvement stayed out of the critical path of this accelerated project. Pre & post grouting DCP testing showed improvement in soil density.
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MD 355 Lightweight Fill
THE JOB
As part of the construction of a pedestrian underpass at the Medical Center WMATA station, an open cut tunnel was installed. The tunnel crossed under MD-355, but over the underlying Metro Red Line tunnel. To maintain vehicular traffic during construction, a temporary bridge sat across two H-pile & lagging open cut walls.
After the tunnel was completed, the 7′ of space between the top of the new pedestrian tunnel and the bottom of the temporary bridge had to be filled. Numerous utilities, including:
- gas transmission mains,
- a power vault & duct bank,
- municipal water,
- gravity sewer,
- and numerous communication duct banks and lines,
all passed through the fill area. The tunnel designers needed lightweight fill material for the majority of the backfill to reduce loads on the new pedestrian tunnel.
The extensive utilities and limited working space made other lightweight fill materials. Alternates, such as EPS blocks and lightweight aggregate, were impractical to place. The Clark Foundations project team reached out to CJGeo to come up with a pumpable lightweight fill solution.
THE CHALLENGE
CJGeo proposed using 30lb/cuft CJFill-Ultra Lightweight cellular concrete for the lightweight backfill. Cellular concrete had a few distinct advantages:
- Unit weight: the 30lb/cuft density met the designer’s requirement for unit weight. Low density grout also significantly reduces encased utility buoyancy during placement.
- Strength: the 125psi at 28 days strength far exceeded the requirement, and allowed for nearly immediate final backfill & paving
- Safety: time in the tunnel to set the grout placement pipes is minimal. No personnel are in tunnel during placement.
- Constructibility: aside from being lightweight, the primary concern was ensuring that all utilities were fully encapsulated. The fill had to go to within 12″ of the bottom of the temporary bridge beams. This would have been exceptionally difficult with any type of non-pumped lightweight fill.
THE SOLUTION
CJGeo mobilized a single cellular concrete crew to the site, capable of producing up to 150CY/hour of cellular concrete. Over the course of three days, CJGeo placed 990CY of 30lb/cuft non-pervious cellular concrete, using Aerlite preformed foam.
7 day breaks on the cellular concrete exceeded the minimum strength for backfilling. This allowed the customer to stay on their targeted schedule.
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