Resource Center Goes National

摘要

The challenge was a section of I-10 through San Antonio, TX, where the highway was to be widened over an existing culvert that was structurally unable to support the weight of traditional embankment fills. The Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) was dissatisfied with the identified solution-using a reinforced concrete mat supported on drilled shafts to span the culvert and support the embankment fill. So the agency approached the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Texas Division Office, which turned to the FHWA Resource Center's geotechnical engineering and hydraulics technical service team for an innovative solution. The team suggested constructing an embankment using expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam blocks as a lightweight alternative. With about 1/100th of the weight of soil, the geofoam fill could be easily supported by the existing culvert. State and Federal engineers estimated significant project savings in time, money and manpower. Cost savings alone were estimated to be more than half of the $8 million for the original design.