Truckee River Bridge—Tahoe City, CA: Trail Access below a River Bridge
Publication: Structures Congress 2017
Abstract
The Truckee River Bridge in Tahoe City, California, will provide bypass access around the city and facilitate trail access for bikers and pedestrians along the scenic Truckee River. The design incorporates many unique features to provide a cost effective and aesthetically appealing solution to carry highway traffic on the bridge and accommodate trail users below. The design features a simply supported main span using precast concrete deck bulb tee girders supported on cellular abutments. The cast in place concrete cellular abutments are innovatively designed to provide a top slab with minimal structural depth to support the roadway above and provide sufficient clearance for the trail below. The bottom slab of the cellular abutment was detailed to remain stable during the design scour and seismic events. The side of the cell adjacent to the channel contains large openings to provide unobstructed views of the river for trail users and provide natural light through the cell. Although torsionally eccentric, the cell was designed to remain elastic during the design seismic event and detailed to yield appropriately during an event that exceeds design levels. By understanding all the unique requirements of the project, the preliminary design was modified to provide the client with an ultimate solution that satisfies all required design codes while reducing the estimated design cost significantly. With a focus on speed of construction, the design was developed with modifications to streamline the structural geometry, simplify the superstructure type, and reduce foundation design requirements. This paper will discuss the iterative approach to transforming a complex preliminary design to an economical and constructable final design product. Also highlighted will be the design requirements and challenges as well as the innovative solutions that were successfully implemented during the final design of this project. These include the design of spread footing abutments for stability during the extreme scour event, the incorporation of cellular abutments and accelerated construction techniques to minimize project costs, and the seismic design of a torsionally eccentric cellular abutment.
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© 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Apr 4, 2017
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