Fall River, MA

Brightman Street Bridge

Scope/Solutions

During the six-year rehabilitation of the Brightman Street Bridge, SGH provided investigation and concrete design services and performed testing, analysis, and thermal modeling of mass concrete placements.

SGH helped evaluate the following:

  • Issues with tremie placement for an underwater cofferdam seal that compromised concrete quality
  • Contractor concerns about a concrete mix for approach span pier pile caps and bascule span fender beams
  • Plugged concrete pumplines during placement of the east bascule pier pile cap in cold weather
  • Mass concrete placements

 

Over the course of these projects, SGH completed the following:

  • Investigated tremie failure and blocked pumplines
  • Determined the cause of the failed mass concrete placement in the cofferdam seal
  • Performed petrographic analysis, adiabatic heat signature testing, and thermal simulations at varying placement temperatures, weather conditions, and curing periods
  • Modeled heat generation during curing
  • Retrieved and tested concrete core samples
  • Designed and tested physical properties of a replacement tremie concrete mix and monitored a trial placement
  • Proposed concrete aggregate and mixes to suit each project
  • Specified tremie and mass concrete sequencing and placement methodology
  • Recommended ways to avoid freezing pumplines, including increasing the concrete temperature, insulating pumplines, and filling the pumplines with hot water prior to pumping the concrete
  • Monitored concrete placements for the 2002 and 2004 projects

Project Summary

completion-date

2009

Completion Date
Solutions
Repair & Rehabilitation
Services
Structures | Advanced Analysis | Applied Science & Research
Markets
Infrastructure & Transportation
Client(s)
Modern Continental Construction
Specialized Capabilities
Temporary Construction | Marine & Civil Works | Computational Mechanics | Physical Testing | Materials Science | Microscopy

Key team members

Paul Kelley
Paul Kelley
Senior Principal
William Konicki
William Konicki
Senior Principal