Modified Sheet Pile Abutments for Low Volume Bridges (TR-568)

Principal Investigator:

David White, djwhite@iastate.edu (other projects)

Co-Principal Investigator:

• Wayne Klaiber, klaiber@iastate.edu (other projects)

Project Status: In Progress

Start Date: 01/01/2007
End Date: 12/31/2009


Research Objective: To date there have been few investigations of the substructures in low volume road bridges. Steel sheet piling has potential for providing an economical alternative to concrete bridge abutments, but it needs investigation with regard to vertical and lateral load resistance, construction methods, and performance monitoring.

The objectives of this project are to
1) Develop a design approach for sheet pile bridge abutments for short span, low volume bridges.
2) Formulate an instrumentation and monitoring plan to evaluate performance of sheet pile abutment systems.
3) Understand the cost and construction effort associated with building the sheet pile bridge abutment demonstration project.

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