Blanchetown Bridge Replacement – Geotechnical Investigation

Richard Herraman and Matthew Duthy

Site work has started for the construction of a new bridge at Blanchetown. This bridge will be one of the biggest built in the state in recent times. A seismic study to provide information for the alignment of the new bridge was performed by Coffey Partners International. The geotechnical investigation for the new bridge was done by the Department of Transport and Rust PPK. In theory, getting information for the design of footings and earthworks is relatively straightforward, as is the design of such items. In practice things are more interesting. The speakers will address such topics as:

• the public and private sectors working together on geotechnical investigations
• how to design and construct an efficient and effective pile group
• how to predict embankment settlement
• what to do about embankment settlement (as well as Mr Terzaghi)
• interaction between the new bridge and the existing bridge.

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