Geotechnical design for the William R. Bennett Bridge, Kelowna, British Columbia

Uthaya M. Uthayakumar, Ernest Naesgaard

In the proceedings of: GEO2011: 64th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, 14th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 5th Pan-American Conference on Teaching and Learning of Geotechnical Engineering

Session: Transportation Geotechnics

ABSTRACT: The new five-lane William R. Bennett Bridge across the Okanagan Lake in British Columbia was constructed and opened to traffic in May 2008. Subsurface soils along the bridge alignment include very soft to soft silts and clays and loose to compact sands. Key components of this new crossing include the light-weight fill west approach embankment; the west abutment and five piers supporting the fixed section of the bridge; a transition span; the floating section of the bridge supported on pontoons; the east transition span; the east abutment; and, the east approach embankment. The west abutment, the five piers and the east abutment are supported on driven, 610mm and 914mm diameter steel pipe piles with embedment depths of 30m to 50m. This paper presents an overview of the subsurface soil conditions, geotechnical analyses, test results and post-construction settlement.

RÉSUMÉ: Le nouveau cinq voies pont William R. Bennett à travers le lac Okanagan, en Colombie-Britannique a été construit et ouvert à la circulation mai 2008. Sols sous-sol le long du tracé du pont comprennent très doux au limons et argiles mous et lâches de sables compacts. Les éléments clés de ce nouveau passage inclure le léger remblai approche ouest, la culée ouest et cinq piliers supportant la partie fixe du pont; une période de transition, la section du pont flottant pris en charge sur les pontons, la durée de transition est, les culée est, et le remblai approche est. La culée ouest, les cinq piliers et la culée est sont pris en charge sur entraîné, 610mm et 914mm de diamètre pieux tubulaires en acier avec des profondeurs d'ancrage de 30m à 50m. Cet article présente un aperçu des conditions du sous-sol, des analyses géotechniques, les résultats des tests et de règlement post-construction.

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Cite this article:
Uthaya M. Uthayakumar; Ernest Naesgaard (2011) Geotechnical design for the William R. Bennett Bridge, Kelowna, British Columbia in GEO2011. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{GEO11Paper1030,author = Uthaya M. Uthayakumar; Ernest Naesgaard ,title = Geotechnical design for the William R. Bennett Bridge, Kelowna, British Columbia,year = 2011}