Geofoam Bridge Widening Project: I-680 & Pacific St. Omaha NE

Typical methods for widening existing bridges involves tearing down the abutment wall. This is usually necessary because the walls are only designed to hold the lateral earth pressures of a given amount of soil backfill. In order to decrease the construction timeframe, the Nebraska Department of Roads decided to excavate the area in between the abutment wall and the soldier piles. The void was then back filled with InsulFoam GF EPS15. Geofoam exerts no lateral load against the abutment wall. This allowed the existing wall to be extended to accommodate the additional traffic lanes added to the bridge. This particular bridge also employed a steel pan superstructure in between the concrete beams. Insulfoam provided profile cut Geofoam strips to act as a flute filler in the steel pans which further reduced the weight and cost of the bridge. This project was completed and opened back to traffic in only 3 months.

If you would like to discuss how Geofoam can benefit your project, please contact us by email geofoam@insulfoam.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Geofoam
• Bridges
• retaining wall
• lateral loads
• roads