Case History: Pile Driving and Vibration Monitoring for Avenue P Bridge in Brooklyn, New York

The case history presented in this paper deals with the concrete-filled steel pipe pile installation for an Integral Abutment Bridge in Brooklyn, New York, and vibration monitoring to minimize the impacts to the adjacent residential buildings. Integral Abutment Bridges do not incorporate deck joints but instead rely on flexible piles to accommodate the bridge deck movements. The project site is underlain by medium to dense fine silty sand. Groundwater is approximately 7.6 m below the ground surface. The piles were driven by an impact hammer to a depth of 13.7 m to 18.3 m to achieve the required capacity. The residential buildings, located as close as 3 m from the pile driving activity were typically two-story masonry/timber framed structures with basements and were approximately 50 to 70 years old. Pile load tests, vibration-monitoring using three-component seismographs, monitoring of the existing cracks with crack gages, and field surveys to monitor settlements of the nearby structures were performed during the pile driving operation. Field measured Peak Particle Velocities were plotted against distance to obtain an Attenuation Graph for the specific hammer energy. This data may be applicable for other projects with similar conditions. This paper provides the summary of the results obtained from the above tests, as well as pile driving and vibration control criteria, to minimize the probability of damages to the nearby structures.