NCS Consultants, LLC Projects - I10: St. Mary's to 29th
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This project is currently under construction.

The front of a drill rig drilling a deep boring at the pier location of the proposed new Congress St. Overpass. Many of the borings on the I10: St. Mary's to 29th project were performed at night because of traffic control considerations. The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is proposing to widen the existing Interstate 10 (I-10) going through Tucson from six to eight lanes to cope with the increased traffic demand of a growing Tucson. ADOT retained HDR, Inc. to perform the design for section of I-10 between St. Mary's Road and 29 th Street in Downtown Tucson. NCS performed the geotechnical investigations under subcontract to HDR.

Aerial view of the 22nd St. TI at the end of October, 2007. Photo courtesy of ADOT. Update 5/19/08: Construction began on the $200 million consolidated I-10 Widening: Prince Rd. to 29th St. project in January of 2007. To shorten an estimated 10-year construction period to 3.5-years, three design projects, including our portion from St. Mary's Rd. to 29th St., were combined into one massive construction project, the largest project undertaken by ADOT to date. The project is expected to be completed by Spring/Summer of 2010.

Topped out MSE wall awaiting coping. Photo courtesy of Antonio Conte. The contractor is Kiewit/Sundt Joint Venture (KSJV). The drilled shaft contractor is Case Foundations, AMEC Earth and Environmental is performing the integrity testing of the drilled shafts under contract to KSJV, and the Reinforced Earth Company (RECo) is supplying their Retained Earth™ system for the Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining walls. Their system consists of 5-ft by 5-ft precast concrete panels with galvanized steel bar mat reinforcement. End of 5/19/08 Update

The limited access drill rig used for several borings on the sides of steep embankment slopes on the I10: St. Mary's to 29th project. The complete reconstruction of mainline I-10 for this segment will include 6 new bridges, 17 retaining walls totaling nearly 14,000 linear feet of walls, drainage structures paralleling the corridor, and pavement design. The field investigation program conducted by NCS included 122 borings for the various structures. A combination of drill rigs was required, including conventional truck mounted, track mounted for drilling on slopes, and difficult access rigs for the sides of steep embankment slopes.

Architects concept of Clark St. overpass for I-10: St. Mary's to 29th St. project. Image courtesy of HDR Engineering, Inc. and Gresham & Beach Architects, Inc. Drawing by James A. Gresham, FAIA. Used with permission. <strong><a href='/photos/index.php?a=i10sm29'>Click here for more photos in this album.</a></strong> The proximity of the project corridor to the Santa Cruz River had a strong influence on the soil stratigraphy, and corresponding weaker fluvial (river deposited) soils located near the surface creating significant design challenges. Additionally, perched groundwater was encountered in some of the deep bridge borings, which required careful consideration during the design of the deep foundations for the bridge structures.

Drilling through the bottom of drilled shaft integrity testing tubes in areas of possible anomalies. <strong><a href='/photos/index.php?a=i10sm29'>Click here for more photos in this album.</a></strong> Updated 5/19/08: This project is currently in the construction phase. NCS is heavily involved during the contruction phase assisting HDR and ADOT in the review of MSE-wall shop drawings and calculations, review of drilled shaft integrity testing data, recommendations for fixes of defective drilled shafts, and troubleshooting issues related to retaining walls, drilled shaft foundations and other geotechnical aspects of the project.

Photo Credits: Some photos during the construction phase are courtesy of ADOT, in particular Antonio Conte. Several others are courtesy of Ted Buell with HDR, Inc.

Major freeway reconstruction project through the heart of downtown Tucson.

14,000 linear feet of retaining walls and 6 bridges.

Mr. Post of NCS classifying a soil sample in the field on the I10: St. Mary's to 29th project.

A view of the existing pedestrian portal at 18th St. and the track-mounted drill rig performing a deep boring for the proposed 18th St. bridge. The project team plans to save this unique artwork and incorporate it into the new construction.

A typical setup for a boring performed from the I10 mainline for the I10: St. Mary's to 29th project.

An example of the pavement coring required to perform a boring from the I10 mainline on the I10: St. Mary's to 29th project.

Mr. Lopez of NCS working with the split spoon sampler on the I-10: St. Mary's to 29th project.

Photos
Architects concept of 18th St. overpass for I-10: St. Mary's to 29th St. project. Image courtesy of HDR Engineering, Inc. and Gresham & Beach Architects, Inc. Drawing by James A. Gresham, FAIA. Used with permission. Architects concept of 22nd St. traffic interchange for I-10: St. Mary's to 29th St. project. Image courtesy of HDR Engineering, Inc. and Gresham & Beach Architects, Inc. Drawing by James A. Gresham, FAIA. Used with permission. Casting yard for MSE wall panels used on the I-10 widening project. Overexcavation zone for one of the MSE retaining walls. Randy Post from NCS inspectiong one of the first pallets of MSE wall panels. Leveling pad for one of the MSE retaining walls. Leveling pad for one of the MSE retaining walls. Stockpile of MSE retaining wall panels. Bar mat reinforcement used for MSE walls on the I-10 wideing project. Note the different spacing of the transverse elements. Demolition of one of the bridges on the I-10 widening project. Case crawler drill rig used on the I-10 widening project. Localized problems with MSE wall subgrade after a rain storm. Demolition of half of the Clark St. Overpass. Demolition of half of the Clark St. Overpass. Drilled shaft for the 22nd St. TI. The concrete construction joing, rebar, and integrity testing tubes are visible. Pouring concrete for an abutment shaft at the 22nd St. TI using the free-fall method. Most of the other bridges on the project required slurry so the tremie method was used. Drill rig used at the 22nd St. TI. Drill rig used at the 22nd St. TI. Soil nail retaining wall and anchored soldier pile lagging wall used as temporary shoring to retain the existing I-10 embankment during construction of a new box culvert. MSE wall under construction. Placing the geotextile fabric over the joints in the MSE wall panels. The first few MSE wall panels for a long wall along the westbound frontage road. Galvanized bar mat reinforcement for the MSE walls on the I-10 widening project. Galvanized bar mat reinforcement for the MSE walls on the I-10 widening project. Placing panels on an MSE retaining wall along the WB I-10 frontage road. Coring the top of a drilled shaft at Congress St. to determine the condition of the concrete in areas of integrity testing anomalies. Aerial view of one of the MSE walls under construction at the end of October, 2007. Photo courtesy of ADOT. Drill rig preparing to punch through the bottom of the PVC integrity testing tubes of a shaft at Congress St. to check for possible soft bottom condition based on integrity testing results. Tricone bit used to punch through the bottom of drilled shaft integrity testing tubes in areas of possible anomalies. Drilling through the bottom of drilled shaft integrity testing tubes in areas of possible anomalies. Placing MSE Wall panels. Closeup of the aesthetic treatment of the MSE wall panels. A car hit one of the MSE walls before it was even completed. A car hit one of the MSE walls before it was even completed. One of the drilled shafts at Clark St. encountered a conflict with piles. Some of the piles from the existing I-10 bridges were pulled out, others were cut off depending on whether they conflicted with the new facilities. Dowels used as a construction aid to line up MSE wall panels on the leveling pad. Dowels used as a construction aid to line up MSE wall panels on the leveling pad. Temporary MSE wall used to retain the fill on one side of the bridge until traffic can be shifted onto it and the other side of the bridge can be constructed. Cast in place walls that will be staggered in height and used as planters in front of MSE wall at 22nd St. TI. Geogrid reinforcement used in area of bad subgrade identified during the geotechnical investigatin. Geogrid reinforcement used in area of bad subgrade identified during the geotechnical investigatin. CIP retaining wall butting up against existing CIP retaining wall. In this area the existing wall will be raised by several feet and lighweight concrete fill will be used to ensure no increased stresses will be felt by the wall since it was not designed for that increased height. MSE walls at Clark St. OP abutment in late February of 2008. Topped out MSE wall awaiting coping. CIP planter wall at 22nd St. Photo courtesy of Antonio Conte. 22nd St. Bridge nearing completion. Abutment of the Clark St. Bridge under construction. Pier of the Clark St. Bridge under construction. Clark St. Bridge under construction. View of Wall WB-8 where there are three different wall types. On the left is the existing CIP retaining wall that will be raised by several feet. That wall will have lighweight concrete fill placed behind it. Next to that is a new CIP concrete retaining wall. And on the right side is a MSE retaining wall.
 
 

Page Last Updated on 05/19/08 08:46 am MST (-07:00)

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