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2014 December - ASCE Richmond Newsletter
2014 December - ASCE Richmond Newsletter
Volume 6 Issue 10
December 2014
In This Issue
President's Message
December Event at The Science Museum of Virginia Indian River Inlet Bridge Replacement Discussion
Location: Virginia Science Museum, 2500 West
Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220
When: Tuesday, December 9th, 2014. Food
served at 6:00 PM, Program to start at 6:30 PM,
Networking time to follow.
Cost: $20 (Light dinner will be included)
PDH: 1 credit
Speaker: Nathan Porter, P.E.
Nathan is a graduate of Auburn University. He
has over 17 years of experience in the bridge industry, in both design
and construction inspection. He has worked on the design of a variety of
bridge structures, including conventional beam bridges as well as
moveable and cable-supported structures. Nathan currently lives in
Richmond, Virginia and works for AECOM.
Exciting Upcoming
Events and PDH
Opportunities
Past Richmond ASCE
Events
Job Posting
Connect with
ASCE Richmond
on our
LinkedIN Page!
Project Overview
Delaware's Route 1 highway runs north-south along a narrow barrier
island that hugs the state's mainland. The road's critical link is a bridge
across the Indian River Inlet - a man-made channel constructed in 1928
to confine the meandering river. The first bridge was built in 1934.
Strong tidal currents between the Atlantic Ocean, Indian River Bay, and
Rehoboth Bay quickly weakened the support piers. That bridge was
replaced in 1940 after suffering storm damage and lasted only eight
years before ice flows and extreme tides brought it down. A similar
swing bridge opened in 1952, only to be closed by severe storm damage
a decade later. A two-lane, steel girder bridge was built across the inlet
in 1965, and a twin span was added in 1976. By that time tidal scour had
created holes up to 40 feet deep in the channel, and the scour rate
escalated to a foot per year. By 1991, the entire channel was at least 40
feet deep, and certain holes were more than 100 feet deep. As the extra
channel depth threatened to undermine the bridge's two support piers,
the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) installed a blanket
of riprap across the entire channel. Although the riprap helped protect
the piers, erosion continued along the channel bottom, and the
stabilization material began to shift. Steel H-piles exposed by the
erosion were being weakened by corrosion, and a cathodic protection
system was installed to slow the deterioration.
Designated a hurricane emergency evacuation route by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Route 1 is a vital transportation
corridor in Delaware, and DelDOT decided to devise a more permanent
solution to the challenge posed by the Indian River Inlet Bridge. In 2008,
it awarded a $150-million design/build contract to the team of Skanska
USA Civil Southeast, Inc. and AECOM Technology Corporation to build a
bridge that would have a 100-year service life in the corrosive, stormprone environment. To prevent the relentless scour from undermining
the bridge, the structure could have no piers in the water, and it's clear
span had to be at least 900 feet to accommodate possible future
widening of the inlet to 800 feet. The design team decided that a cablestayed bridge would be the most economical solution.
The new Indian River Inlet is 2,600 ft long with a cable stayed main span
of 950 ft. This award was based on Best Value for Technical Proposal,
Price and Schedule. There are several innovative design-build features
which ultimately led to the successful award of this project to Skanska
and AECOM. Some of these features include:
Single mast pylons with no cross struts above or below the deck,
which significantly improves the aesthetic value of the bridge
as well as improving the overall constructability and
maintainability
Innovative edge girder transitions which allows the cable stays to
remain in plane with the pylons by deviating the edge girders
between the pylons
Cast-in-place and pre-cast concrete components optimize the
design and construction
Innovative and highly economical deep foundation system that
also reduced the overall construction schedule;
Unique transition pier design that uses approach span dead loads
as a counterweight to help offset the weight from the 950-ft
long main span
Use of low maintenance & durable materials in the design and
construction
The bridge was opened to traffic in January 2012 and dedicated in May
2012.
Contact Jon Oliver by phone at 804-672-4723 or by email
atjonathan.oliver@kimley-horn.com for more information. Please
register on our website.
President's Message
I hope everyone had a delicious Thanksgiving,
and safe travels for those who traveled across
the state and country. As we roll into
December, it takes us to the last PDH
opportunity of the year. Please join us for
another evening meeting at the Science
Museum of Virginia on December 9th. We will
be hosting Ken Butler,P.E. who is the North
America Director of Bridge Services at AECOM.
ASCE's bridge event discussion ties very well with some recent national
attention that ASCE received on 60 Minutes discussing failing
infrastructure in our country, which featured ASCE Past
President Andrew Herrmann, P.E. on the November 23rd released
episode. If you are interested in learning more or watching the segment,
you can check out the links in the most recent ASCE SmartBrief
athttp://www.smartbrief.com/11/24/14/60-minutes-lookinfrastructure-features-asces-2012-president#.VH3plFUo672. A lot of the
discussions in the 60 Minutes segment stem from the National and
Section Report Cards that get released to the public.Speaking of Report
Cards, the Virginia Section of ASCE is planning on releasing the next
installment in January 2015.
As the Virginia Infrastructure Report Card gears up for a 2015 release,
we will be again hosting the Virginia General Assembly Meet and Greet
at the Jefferson Hotel on January 20th from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. We did
not have the event last, and we are excited to bring back the event this
year.
On both a national and local level ASCE is very involved in government
relations, and the report cards help to identify the greatest needs across
our country. Our national government relations have many advocacy
programs that identify where you as an individual can participate in our
national and local causes. If you would like to learn more, check
outhttp://www.asce.org/advocacy_programs/.Another great place to
start is the ASCE Virginia General Assembly Meet and Greet! If you would
like to become more involved in government relations and ASCE's
involvement, or have any questions on any of these matters, please
contact our government relations chair, Loai ElGazairly atelgazairly@wrallp.com.
On behalf of the Richmond Branch of ASCE, we wish you a wonderful
holiday season!
Job Posting
Since our founding in 1923, the RK&K team has satisfied both public and
private sector clients by providing multi-discipline planning, engineering,
environmental, and construction services. RK&K's technical expertise
places us 84th on the Engineering News Record's 2013 listing of the Top
500 Design Firms. Our award-winning and diversified staff is experienced
in an array of planning and design disciplines. Every one of our 950 team
members understands what it takes to deliver success to our clients:
Responsive People and Creative Solutions.
RK&K is seeking a highly motivated Traffic Engineer with a 0-5 years of
experience ready to take on new challenges. The position is located in
our Richmond, VA office. The ideal candidate is an individual who has
Virginia Department of Transportation project experience, is highly
proactive and creative, understands traffic operations, has excellent
technical writing skills, and has experience performing a traffic
operations modeling.
Specific duties will likely include traffic operational analyses using
Synchro, CORSIM, VISSIM, HCS and SIDRA; the development and
evaluation of creative alternatives to address operational and safety
deficiencies; the documentation of all analyses, assumptions and
methodology into engineering reports; and the design of traffic signals,
pavement markings, temporary traffic control plans, and ITS devices.
Projects are likely to range from small-scale studies and/or designs for
rural or isolated intersections to the development of complex solutions
for urban arterial networks and major freeway systems. This position
requires a BS in Civil Engineering. An EIT certification and/or a MS
Degree are desirable but not required.
For consideration, please submit your resume to Stuart Samberg
atssamberg@rkk.com
RK&K offers an attractive salary package commensurate with
experience, and a comprehensive benefits package including 401(k),
paid time off, company medical/dental plans, and tuition
reimbursement. For more information visit our website
at www.rkk.com. RK&K is an Equal Opportunity Employer.