Bridge Supported on Bike Trail in Sussex County

Challenge

For this project, we needed to support a pedestrian bridge that is part of the new Assawoman Canal Trail in Sussex County. The trail was built to provide a safer alternative for cyclists and pedestrians to travel.

Our job was to support a bridge on a trail to ensure safety and durability. There were several challenges involved with this job, starting with the location of the bridge. We were working on marshy conditions, which meant we had to be very careful while using our excavator. We also faced the challenge of working with engineers to meet all requirements and design custom brackets for the job. Geo Technical engineers were always onsite while the piers were being pushed into the ground.

Solution

Helical piers were the ideal solution for providing the support that this bridge needed. Helical piers are driven into the ground below the structure, at which point a bracket is attached to the footing to provide the support. Helical piers work well in poor soils, which made them effective for the marshy conditions we were working in.

The only way to solve this job was to meet all of the engineers' requirements. That mean that we had to design custom brackets and carefully adhere to all of the engineers' measurements. We were able to meet this challenge and create a custom solution that will provide long lasting support for this bridge, allowing many years of use.

Project Summary

Design Specialist : Heather Anderson

Primary Foreman: Kenny Sharpless

Geotechnical Engineer : Jeremy Boehm, P.E Hillis-Carnes Engineering Associates

Structural Engineer : Dean Holden P.E Becker Morgan Group

On Site Engineer: Michael Hooks, P.E Hillis-Carnes Engineering Associates