The Job
This lightweight fill over waterline project is located north of Baltimore, Maryland, in Edgewood. It is part of a modernization and widening of I-95. This includes replacement of multiple bridges crossing I-95, including Clayton Road. Clayton Road is a rural, two lane roadway. However, I-95 in this area is a very heavily traveled, critical piece of the east coast megalopolis infrastructure.
About half of the City of Baltimore’s raw water supply parallels I-95 in this area. It runs through a 108″ PCCP raw water main that originates at the Susquehanna River, a few miles north of the project site.
The Challenge
As part of replacing the Clayton Road bridge over I-95, the bridge clearance was increased. To facilitate this, the approach/departure embankments had to come up a few feet. On the west end, this was not a problem; there are no underlying utilities or compressible soils.
On the east end of the bridge, however, the 108″ PCCP raw water main passes under the roadway embankment, in an area where grades needed to come up by an average of three feet. The pipe cannot see any additional load.
The Solution
Two potential solutions for this challenge are using lightweight fill to balance loads, or install a pile-supported load transfer slab bridging over the pipe. Lightweight fill was the fastest and most economical option.
CJGeo mobilized a single dry batch plant to the site. Over the course of six days onsite CJGeo poured 2,000 cubic yards of CJFill-Ultra Lightweight load reducing fill. The fill mass is roughly 10 feet thick at the deepest. At 25lb/cuft, this balances the loads within the zone of influence of the pipe. The pipe sees no increase in loads despite up to 4 feet of additional elevation over it.
Due to CJGeo’s exclusive use of high shear mixing, the contractor was able to place aggregate base on top of the CJFill-UL the following day.
Speak With An Expert
Facing a similar challenge to this lightweight fill over waterline project? Give us a shout or shoot us a text. Click the state marker for the location of your project for contact info for the appropriate rep.
