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
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


Additional Projects
Northeast
Development of Locomotive Crashworthy Components
Train collisions involving locomotives can result in serious damage and occupant injury due to the larger size and stiffness of the locomotive. SGH assisted TIAX, LLC and the Volpe Center with designing a crash energy management system for a locomotive along with material and component testing.
Northeast
ITC Crossing
During construction of the ITC Crossing development, sections of corrugated metal pipe (CMP) and reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) in the storm drainage system were found to be structurally distressed and damaged. SGH investigated the extent and cause of the problems and developed repairs.