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ACTT Workshop: Minnesota
June 14-16, 2004, Minneapolis, Minnesota

[Archived] Appendix C (continued): Skill Set Report Forms
Geotechnical/Materials

Geotechnical/Materials Team
Facilitator: Joe Korzilius, Mn/DOT
Note Taker: Bernard Izevbekhai, Mn/DOT
FHWA National Experts: Chris Dumas, FHWA, NRC, Baltimore
Bob Kimmerling, PanGEO, Inc.
Tom Pelnik, VDOT
Mn/DOT, Local FHWA, or Local Experts: Rich Lamb, Mn/DOT
Dan Hayne, Mn/DOT
Gary Person, Mn/DOT
Chuck Howe, Mn/DOT
Stan Graczyk, FHWA
Dan Penn, Mn/DOT
Jeff Voyen, American Engineering and Testing
Idea (Short Name) Idea (Detailed Description) Implementation Details (Barriers, Skill Set Coordination, etc.)
General soils.
  • Groundwater generally > 10 ft below.
  • Granular below existing pavements.
  • Organics found around Portland Avenue, but nominal.
  • Principally granular soils encountered so far.
  • Build subgrades with select granular material for constructability.
Minimizing bridge spans.
  • Reduce and avoid spanning over end slopes on embankments.
  • Investigate MSE walls as tall abutments considering the total deck area over the end slope. The cost of tall abutment is significant cost saving. Bridge can be supported on separate foundation. This removes wall from critical path. Use Approach panel as transition.
Concrete versus asphalt pavement.
  • ESALs are comparable to projects in which bituminous has been used.
  • Revisit the pavement selection process.
  • Consider reconstruction and future maintenance and life-cycle costs.
  • Do ESALs and R-Value necessarily imply concrete pavement?
  • Consider Bituminous. Many layers.
Staging Stage 1 temporary bridge temporary pavement.  
  • No issues. Temporary shoe fly are close to permanent. Good idea.
Stage 2.
  • Bridges identified as critical paths RR Bridge and Short and wide bridges Lyndale and Nicollet.
  • Investigate reducing steps.
    Consider pile bents and slab spans for these short span bridge extensions
Pavement construction.
  • Pavement subgrade material as part of the wall construction. Saves on step of the process.
  • Accelerate pavement construction in stage 1 MSE walls at the edge of pavement.
  • Identified access for haulage as critical. Haulage of materials in and out quickly considering volume of fill involved.
  • Construction season April to November may be an obstacle to rapid construction.
Stainless steel-clad dowel bars.
  • Bottleneck issue. Availability.
  • Identified early as potential material shortage though pavement surfacing is not a critical path, avoid project delays due to non-availability of sufficient dowels. Explore alternates: Hollow tube, FRP etc.
Specification changes.
  • Maturity method of determining concrete strength.
  • Density of fill.
  • High early strength.
  • Try maturity methods for bridge and concrete pavement.
  • Thick lift construction from 8-12 in. to up to 2 ft to accelerate process (fill compaction).
Spread footings.
  • Spread footings to reduce or eliminate the process of deep foundations.
  • 15 percent savings.
  • Increase in foundation area due to spread footing may significantly impact ROW.
  • There is 15 percent savings in cost for bridge abutments.
  • Investigate use of ground improvement methods.
Piling.
  • Use high capacity piles to reduce number of piles.
  • Fewer piles smaller caps.
  • Use high capacity piles.
  • Fewer number of piles and smaller caps.
Concrete piles.
  • Augered piles can be installed quickly and at a lower cost.
 
Alternate wall types.
  • Look at alternate wall types.
  • MSE Fast and less expensive.
  • Cut walls.
  • Soldier piles.
  • Soil nails. Evaluate stand-up time for test cuts.
  • Slurry Walls.
Walls.
  • Sta.602.
  • Retaining wall appear redundant where a 2:1 slope is possible.
  • Eliminate retaining wall in these areas.
Contract for design and construction of walls.  
  • Performance specs for walls. List acceptable wall types. Allow contractor to choose.
  • Tee walls can also be considered.
  • Soldier pile lagging wall.
Scenarios for support in lieu of spanning in-slope.  
  • Scenario for MSE wall:
    • MSE walls, columns on piles.
    • MSE walls, pile bents to the beams.
    • MSE extends beyond the Gap and slightly under deck.
Reduce haulage.
Especially for temporary construction.
  • Consider alternate material geofoam.
  • Use Styrofoam for temporary embankment.
  • Reduces slope and construction time.
Construction specs.  
  • Select Granular (Modified) down to 5-ft. directly below and in reinforced zone behind walls.
What do we need 12 percent spec for granular backfilling?
Staging for utilities. Is a lateral drain feasible?
  • Reuse of onsite soils will speed up grading operation.
  • Maintain transverse utilities alignment as much as feasible.
  • Get these to manufacturers at early stage.
How far from reinforced soil zone can utilities go?
Utility locations.
  • Maintain minimum setback behind reinforced zone.
  • These need to be done early so that foundation design will accommodate them.
  • Recommend working some more details.
Where do fiber optics go?
  • 250 ft.
  • Cannot run conduits on the side of the wall due to esthetics.
  • Conduits are better in the barrier.
  • Directional borings probably.
  • Install conduits for future use.
Precast concrete pavements at critical location around ramps.
  • Precast panels may help accelerate schedule when critical.
 
Can the materials be reused?
  • Reuse of onsite soils will speed up grading operation and reduce haul-in-phase.
  • Still drilling in the area . Still need to know if cut is reusable.
Do we have to subcut in areas where we potentially have granular material?
  • Reuse when on site material is adequate.
  • Uniformity is required.
Can we eliminate joint sealing?    
Pile capacity (what do we need).
  • Allow higher capacity piles and higher load per pile if and when soils can support it.
  • 16-24 in verify with a PDA monitoring.
Precast concrete piles.
  • Precast concrete pile may be a less expensive alternative.
  • Precast concrete piles can be considered.
  • Need to evaluate and take advantage of set-up.
  • Pre-design load test needed.
Walls.  
  • Tee walls. Do not need deep foundation.
  • Can compaction be achieved under these units. They are subsequently post tensioned for fixity. Good option.
  • MSE and alternate wall types.
Use of GPS equipped grading equipment.
  • Rollers and compactors equipped with GPS.
  • Intelligent grading and compaction.
  • Review literature from other states and manufacturers.
Continuous update.
  • 3 monthly Geotech progress meetings required.
  • MSE wall training required.
 
General notes.  
  • Structural loads need to be done early.
  • Coordination with local authorities on utilities, need to be done early.
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Updated: 02/20/2020
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000