Interstate Route 95 Safety Improvements 

Cranston, Providence & Pawtucket, Rhode Island

KEY DESIGN ELEMENT:

Bridge Rehabilitation & Seismic Retrofitting

Project Description:

Included as part of the Interstate Route 95 safety improvement project, 45 bridges have been, or are under design for rehabilitation work.  The work consists of minor repair work to major rehabilitation, including deck repair and/or replacement, partial superstructure replacement, substructure repair and/or replacement, fatigue retrofitting, seismic retrofitting and expansion joint elimination.  With Interstate Route 95 carrying in excess of an average of 144,000 vehicles a day, and at locations carrying traffic over Amtrak mainline rail facility, the project had to be designed within specific constraints.

Seismic retrofitting for the various bridges consisted of one or a combination of:  column jacketing, beam seat retrofitting, removal of existing rocker bearings and replacement with seismic isolation bearings and removal of existing bearings and replacement with elastomeric type bearings.

Commonwealth Engineers & Consultants, Inc.  was retained to conduct an in-depth field inspection and evaluation, coordinate field testing activity, perform preliminary retrofitting assessment and cost evaluation and to prepare final contract documents for the rehabilitation of these bridge structures.

Seismic retrofitted column (steel jacket)