COPANO BAY BRIDGE REPLACEMENT

William H. Reitmann, P.E. Sinton Area Engineer

Copano Bridge Location

Located in Aransas County 45 miles North of Corpus Christi Upgrade a 2 mile bridge over

Copano Bay from a two lane roadway to a four lane roadway.

Cost $98,162,587 Contractor Williams Brothers

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Existing Bridge Constructed 1967

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Existing Bridge

9,232 ft. 229 spans 40 ft. average span length 2-13 ft. lanes with 2 ft. shoulders Outdated bridge rail 46 year old bridge

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2001 94 piles encased. October 2009 Emergency Structure

repair.

Proposed Project

Construction began August 2011 4 years to complete Project Length 16,129 ft. or 3.054 mi. Bridge Length 11,010 ft. or 2.085 mi. Center Line of new bridge 40 ft. east of existing 93 Spans

– 92 spans of Tx54 in 120’ and 100’ lengths – 1 span of Tx70 at 150’ channel crossing

Girder Type TX54 (129,785 LF), TX70 (1,794 LF) 94 bents 460 round piles 54 in. (50,591 LF) 330 square piles 24 in. (27,844 LF) TY T223 Rail (22,665 LF) 42 in. Single Slope Concrete Barrier Type 1 (10655 LF) 42 in. Single Slope Concrete Barrier Type 4 (510 LF) 3% bridge grade over channel Maximum vertical clearance at channel 75 ft.

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Typical Sections

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Construction Phasing and Time Line

Phase I – 62 ft. – 3 years Demo Existing Bridge – 3 months Phase II – 18 ft. – 1 year

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CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

54 in. Cylindrical Concrete Piles

First time used in Texas. Range in length from 83 ft. – 157 ft.

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Curing the Piles

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54 in. cylindrical pile 46 – ½ in dia prestressing

strands W11 spiral wrap CL “H” Concrete (HPC) Compressive Strength 7000 psi

6 in. wall thickness 2 ⅜ in. clear cover

Initial Inspection of the Piles

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Transporting the Piles

54 in. Cylindrical Pile Eagle Lake to Rockport (147 mi.)

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Inspecting the Piles at the Job Site

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Setting the Piles

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The Hammer

Made by Pileco, Inc Cost $750,000 68,785 lbs

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Cushion Blocks

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15 in. thick

Vent Holes

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3 in. vent holes Spaced at 3’-0”, 9’-9”, and 21’-0”

Preparing to Drive Test Piles

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Test Pile Program

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13 test piles Dynamic Monitoring and Analysis of Driven Piling

Special Spec 4586 – Conduct the Dynamic Pile Monitoring during initial

driving and any restrikes. – Use the Case Pile Wave Analysis Program and Wave

Equation analysis program to determine • Ultimate Pile Bearing Capacity • Pile stresses • Pile integrity • Pile driving system efficiency • Pile length

Test Piles

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Concrete Plant

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Concrete on Barge

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High Performance Concrete

Type C HPC – Design Strength Min 28 day 3600 psi – Used for

• Bridge abutments • Bridge bents • Bridge footings

Type S HPC – Design Strength Min 28 day 4000 psi – Used for

• Bridge slab

Type H HPC – Design Strength Min 28 day 7000 psi – Used for

• Beams • Piles

Corrosion inhibiting admixtures – Calcium nitrate 3 gals/cy

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Epoxy-Coated Reinforcing (ECR) Steel

Used in – Deck – Rail – Abutments – Bent caps and tie-beams – Columns

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Stainless Reinforcing Steel

“Splash Zone” below El 13 ft. – MHW = El 1 ft. – Plus 12 ft. wave height

Cost stainless $2.47/lb compare to black $0.35/ lb Use stainless reinforcing steel

in CIP elements – Columns – Footings – Pile-footing connections

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Connecting Piles to Caps

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Cap Connection

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Forming the Caps

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Finished Caps

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Cracked Piles

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Currently working on Phase 1 85899 SF slab complete to date 17% complete (16 spans)

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20 completed bent caps

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The Piles So Far in Phase 1

100% of 24 in piles completed 91% of 54 in piles completed

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Footing Pile Connections

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Footing Pile Connections

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Footing Pile Connections

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Footing Pile Connections

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Footing Pile Connections

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Footing Pile Connections

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Construction Continues

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