PROJECT EXPERIENCE

I-520 Palmetto Parkway Bridge over the Savannah River Aiken, SC

Client Name / Address:
SCDOT, PO Box 191,
Columbia, SC 29202-0191

Project Description:

The I-520 Bridge over the Savannah River is part of the $42 million Palmetto Parkway Phase I project in Aiken County, South Carolina. Phase I for the Palmetto Parkway project includes the construction of 4 miles of roadway and 6 bridge structures on a new alignment from Sandbar Ferry Road in Augusta, Georgia to US 1 in Aiken, South Carolina. The project was awarded to the design build team assembled by United Contractors of which Triplett-King provided the structure design management for all of the bridges on the project. As the structure design management entity for the team, Triplett-King was responsible for the coordination between all of the subconsultants for geotechnical, hydrology and bridge design and with the SCDOT Project Manager for submittals and approvals. In addition to design management for the project, Triplett-King was also responsible for producing the design and construction plan details for the bridge over the Savannah River. The bridge over the Savannah River is a 14 span, 1890 ft. bridge consisting of 74 inch prestressed concrete bulb-tee beams with spans up to 139 feet. The bridge superstructure is supported by 20 inch diameter pipe piles at the end bents and 72 in diameter drilled shaft piers with crash wall struts in the navigable channel as required by the vessel impact loading study. The bridge geometry includes two tapers on the bridge deck for acceleration and deceleration lanes in combination with horizontal and vertical curve alignments, all of which added complexity to the seismic design and detailing requirements of the SCDOT’s Seismic Design Specifications for Highway Bridges, 2001. The design of the structures was on the critical path of the design-build project and therefore required an accelerated schedule of completion in order to meet the construction deadlines. In order to facilitate construction of the bridge over the Savannah River, the substructure plans were developed and approved by the SCDOT to permit drilled shaft installation prior to completion of the final plans. Under the accelerated schedule demands, Triplett-King was able to provide final design and plan details for the bridge over the Savannah River in only 5 months and provided responsive contractor support during construction to ensure that the project was completed ahead of schedule.