Fall River, MA
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
