An innovative retaining wall design consisting of tangent drilled shafts withsupplementary seal piles was used to limit continuing bank erosion along the Brazos River inSoutheast Texas. The riverbank erosion had progressed to where it was threatening the stability ofboth the bridge abutment and corresponding approach embankment of the heavily travelledHighway 99 bridge at this location. A tangent pile design was selected because it was both muchfaster to install and more cost effective than a secant pile system. The design included both 5.5-ftand 10-ft diameter shafts with depths up to 130-ft and comprised both anchored and cantileveredsections. Supplementary seal shafts were also installed between the structural tangent drilled shaftsto help plug any gaps between the tangent shafts. The plumbness and diameter of the shafts weretested using a sonic caliper to make sure the shafts were installed within the specified tolerance.The initial design had to be revised when a record flood from Hurricane Harvey impacted the siteduring construction.
展开▼
