600-TON PILES SUPPORT WEST SEATTLE FREEWAY BRIDGE

Sixty 600-ton design load capacity steel pipe piles support a six-lane segmented concrete box girder main span crossing over the West Waterway in Seattle, Washington. The high level balanced cantilever bridge has a clearance of 140 feet overwater and spans 290 feet on each side of the main columns. This is part of the $150 million, 5,700-foot-long, elevated structure for the West Seattle Freeway Bridge Replacement Project presently under construction. The 600-ton design load and the 1,200-ton earthquake loading comprise one of the heaviest individual pile loads supporting a highway bridge structure in the United States. The 600-ton capacity was verified during the design stage by a state-of-the-art testing program. A 36-inch diameter pipe pile was selected by the design engineer as being the most cost-effective pile foundation. The pile test program provided the information necessary for development of pile installation specifications. Test pile driving records are believed to have assisted the contractors in preparing their bids, resulting in the overall project costs to be below the Engineer's estimate.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was presented at the Twentieth Annual Engineering Geology & Soils Engineering Symposium, Boise, Idaho April 7&8, 1983.
• Corporate Authors:

  Idaho Department of Highways

  P.O. Box 7129
  Boise, ID  United States  83707
• Authors:
  • Yamane, G
  • Wu, M-J
• Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: p. 223-237
• Serial:
  • Engineering Geology & Soils Engineering Symp Proc
  • Publisher: Idaho Department of Highways

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Box girders; Bridges; Cantilevers; Clearances (Navigation); Costs; Design load; Earthquake resistant design; Earthquake resistant structures; Freeways; Girder bridges; Pile driving; Pipe; Steel; Steel pipe; Support piles
• Uncontrolled Terms: Pipe piles; Steel piling
• Old TRIS Terms: Bridge clearance
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Finance; Geotechnology; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls; I42: Soil Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00380620
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Mar 30 1984 12:00AM