April 2001 - Vol. 14, No.

Eight Concrete Bridges Selected for Awards of Excellence

Eight winners have been named in PCAs Seventh Biennial Bridge Awards Competition. This program was instituted in 1988 to recognize excellence in design and construction of concrete bridges. The 2000 program attracted 78 outstanding entries from Canada and the United States. All structures were essentially completed between October 1998 and October 2000. The entries covered a variety of structure types and construction methods with spans ranging from short to long. The winners were selected by a jury of three prominent bridge engineers: Myint Lwin, Structural Design Engineer, Federal Highway Administration, Western Resource Center, San Francisco, CA; Loren Risch, State Bridge Design Engineer, Kansas Department of Transportation, Topeka, KS; and Muthiah Kasi, Senior Vice President, Alfred Benesch and Company, Chicago, IL.
Project Principals: Oregon Department of Transportation, owner; David Goodyear Engineering Services, engineer; Kiewit Pacific, contractor; and Quality Materials Inc., concrete supplier.

(2 m) depth at the springing, tapering to 4 ft (1.2 m) at the crown. The width of the arch is 43 ft (13.1 m), whereas the roadway deck is 79 ft (24.1 m) wide. Each of the large deck overhangs is supported by tapering the outside cell of the boxgirder deck.

I-15 Highway Reconstruction

All winning entries received an Award of Excellence at the American Concrete Institute Awards Breakfast in March 2001 in Philadelphia, PA. This bridge demonstrates the superior The award winning entries are listed below without regard to ranking or category. structural efficiency of the Utah Metric Segmental Post Tensioned Girders used for a single point urban interchange with a clear span requirement of 230 ft (70.1 m).
Salt Lake City, Utah

Crooked River Gorge Bridge

Ogden Scenic Wayside, Terrebonne, Oregon

The selection of the precast system over other options was based on the advantages it afforded: design freedom, longer spans, higher quality, speed of construction, and economy.

The visual profile of the bridge was a primary element of design for this 410-ft (125 m) arch bridge spanning a 300-ft (91.4 m) deep scenic Crooked River gorge. Spanning the deep gorge was accomplished by utilizing a unique method of construction, employed for the first time in the United States. The deck-stiffened arch was constructed using a cast-in-place segmental method while the already completed portions of the arch were supported by temporary towers and stay cables. The slender archs rib begins with 6 ft 6 in.

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Project Principals: Utah Department of Transportation, owner; Sverdrup Civil and Parsons Transportation Group, engineers; Wasatch Constructors, contractor; Basic Precast Company, concrete supplier; and Basic Precast Company, precaster.

curvatures, minimal disruption to traffic during construction, and economy were the reasons for selecting the concrete precast segmental construction, the first for NDOT. Employing innovative management techniques, the project was completed six months ahead of schedule and within budget.
Project Principals: Nevada Department of Transportation, owner; Parsons, Brinkerhoff, Quade and Douglas, Inc., Figg Engineers, and Finley-McNary Engineers, Inc., engineers; Meadow Valley, and Walter SCI, contractors; Ready Mix Inc., CSR, and Nevada Ready Mix, concrete suppliers; and Walter SCI, precaster.

King Avenue Bridge

Columbus, Ohio

Community involvement and careful attention to architectural details were very important considerations in this bridge project. The five elegant precast, prestressed skipping arches mimic the historic, earth-filled, concrete arch bridge being replaced. Use of concrete played a vital role in achieving the desired aesthetic appeal. Architectural treatments included formliners for the superstructure and substructure elements to replicate stone appearance and texture, light posts, handrail posts, and traffic barriers. To preserve the investment of the valuable community involvement, the bridge was designed for a service life in excess of 100 years.
Project Principals: Franklin County, Ohio, owner; HNTB Corporation, and Eriksson Engineering, engineers; HNTB Corporation, architect; C.J. Mahan Construction, contractor; Anderson Concrete Corporation, concrete supplier; and Tecspan Concrete Structures, Inc., precaster.

Lower Screwtail Bridge

Sunflower, Arizona

This concrete site-cast, post-tensioned, balanced cantilever segmental bridge is the first of its kind for Arizona. The structure type was chosen because it would have the least impact on the environmentally sensitive riparian area and the historic pioneer roads located within the footprint of the bridge. Designers of this four-span structure with a maximum span of 405 ft (123.4) paid particular attention to various structural and architectural issues. High performance concrete was specifically designed to combat the harsh desert environment. By using structural concrete, the team was able to design a bridge with long spans, slender piers, parabolic geometry, and a subtle color so that the bridge blends seamlessly with the surrounding desert; while being economical at the same time.
Project Principals: Arizona Department of Transportation, owner; T.Y. Lin International, engineer; Ames/Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc., contractor; and United Metro, concrete supplier.

Las Vegas Spaghetti Bowl

Las Vegas, Nevada

This is the largest highway project in Nevadas history. The $93 million Spaghetti Bowl Interchange contract was the largest single construction contract ever let by NDOT. The project includes four segmental bridge ramps, worth $43 million, with spans ranging from 100 ft (30.5 m) to 212 ft (64.6 m). The tight spiraling geometry of the ramps with radii as small as 427 ft (130.1 m), quickly earned the name Spaghetti Bowl for this urban interchange. Fast construction, ability to handle tight

Engineered Concrete Structures / April 2001

Pagoda Circle West Vehicular Bridge

Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri

els. This innovative construction technique was chosen to reduce cost, save construction time, and minimize impact in an environmentally sensitive area. The challenge for the design of this simple 44-ft (13.4 m) span crossing a river was to create a formal look complementing the English garden landscaping and the elegant look of the music bandProject Principals: Lennar Communities, Inc., owner; T.Y. Lin International and AGRA Earth & Environmental, engineers; FCI Constructors, Inc., contractor; Palomar Transit Mix, concrete sup-

plier, and San Diego Precast, precaster.

Whittier Access Project, Portage Creek Bridge

Portage, Alaska

This 3-span, precast, prestressed, decked bulb-tee bridge provides the first highway access for travel, tourism, commerce, and emergency services to the City of Whittier, and the majestic Prince William Sound. The bridge was designed to meet a broad range of architectural, engineering, and environmental criteria including seismic, soil liquefaction, aesthetics, constructability, environmental sensitivity, and cost. With the help of a computer, a visual impact analysis was performed regarding the near-view and far-view of various design options. When this was coupled with structural design requirements for very high seismic loads, single-column hammerhead piers was the solution. To deal with a short construction season and the ambitious project schedule, the owner used an innovative contracting arrangement and awarded a separate contract for the design and fabrication of the prestressed girders, well in advance of the main construction contract.
Project Principals: Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, owner; CH2M Hill, engineer; Land Design North, architect; Herndon and Thompson, Inc., Sandstrom & Son, Inc., and Agra Foundations, Inc., contractors; Davis Concrete, concrete supplier; and Aggregate Products, Inc., precaster.

stand located in the famous Forest Park in St. Louis. The architects vision of the bridge coming out of the water, was achieved by clever use of curved precast infill wall panels for this simple, 44-ft 4-in long, precast, modular, arch bridge. All exposed concrete was pigmented to match the Indiana limestone that is used on adjacent structures.
Project Principals: City of St. Louis, Board of Public Service, owner; David Mason & Associates, St. Louis Development Corporation, URS/OBrien-Kreitzberg, and CON/SPAN Bridge Systems, engineers; David Mason & Associates, architect; Schuster Engineering, Inc., contractor; Egyptian Concrete Co., concrete supplier; and Egyptian Concrete Co., precaster.

The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Cart Bridges

Rancho Santa Fe, California

Designed to span two 285-ft (86.9 m) wide and 75-ft (22.9 m) deep canyons, these two stressedribbon bridges are on the most exclusive golf course in San Diego county. The bridges sag-vertical curve and unusually thin section depth are striking to the viewer. The upside-down fixed arch structures construction begins with stringing bare prestressing cables from one abutment to the other. Next, precast deck panels are hung creating a structure similar to a string of beads. Cast-in-place closure pours between panels forms a continuous deck. The tension caused by applied loads in this catenary-shaped structure, is offset by introducing a pre-compression by stressing a second set of prestressing strands placed within the deck pan-

Engineered Concrete Structures / April 2001

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A S S O C I A T I O N

New PCA Regional Engineer

Dr. Attila Beres, P.E. joined PCA on February 5, 2001 as Regional Engineer. Attilas primary responsibility is to provide technical information and assistance to structural engineering firms, architecture firms, contractors, owners, and universities primarily in the western portion of the United States. Prior to joining PCA, Attila was a project engineer at Englekirk & Sabol Consulting Engineers, a major design firm in Los Angeles, where he was involved in the seismic design of many major commercial and institutional structures. In addition, he has lectured at 3 universities in California where he taught senior/graduate level courses on analysis and design of reinforced and prestressed concrete structures. Dr. Beres is an active member of the Concrete Subcommittee of the Seismology Committee of the Structural Engineers Association of California, the American Concrete Institute, and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. He has also authored numerous technical papers on a wide variety of topics. Attila is available to provide technical support in all areas of building design, and to demonstrate the numerous PCA publications, computer software, and services that are available. He is also available to review different concrete framing schemes for building projects, and to recommend the most economical solution. To take advantage of this valuable resource, contact Attila at 310.479.1776 or aberes@portcement.org.
Direct all correspondence to: David A. Fanella, Editor Engineered Concrete Structures Portland Cement Association 5420 Old Orchard Road Skokie, Illinois 60077-1083 Telephone: 847.966.6200 Fax: 847.966.9781 e-mail: david_fanella@portcement.org Publishers Note Intended for decisionmakers associated with design, management, and construction of buildings, bridges, and special structures such as convention centers and stadiums, Engineered Concrete Structures is published three times a year by the Engineered Structures department of the Portland Cement Association. Our purpose is to disseminate information related to the uses of concrete in engineered structures. If there are topics or ideas you would like to have discussed in future issues, please let us know. Items from this newsletter may be reprinted without prior permission.

CONCRETE STRUCTURES

ENGINEERED

Upcoming Seminars
Economical Concrete Buildings PCA will offer a half-day technical seminar on June 20 in Atlanta, GA that focuses on designing economical concrete buildings. Included will be basic information on cast-in-place concrete floor systems (including longspan systems), practical framing layouts and formwork, and factors that influence costs. Guidelines and design aids will be provided that can be used in estimating material quantities and selecting a cost-effective system for various span and loading conditions. For more information or to register, visit www.portcement.org/bld/seminar.htm or call 847.966.6200, ext. 299. 3rd International Conference on Concrete under Severe Conditions The third and last meeting in the series of CONSEC conferences addressing the performance of concrete under severe environments and loading will be held on June 18-20 in Vancouver, BC. Featured will be nearly 300 peerreviewed papers from 42 countries, and will include 6 keynote addresses and contributions from 25 invited experts. For more information, visit the conference website at www.civil.ubc.ca/consec01.
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