I-395 Signature Bridge / Segmental Bridges / SR-836 Miami River Bridge

Project Location: Miami, FL

Signature Bridge rendering

Overview: Put a bow on it! LTC recently completed lateral and bi-directional axial static load testing (BDSLT) for phase 1 of the Florida DOT‘s I-395 reconstruction (“Signature Bridge”) in Miami, FL, working alongside Archer-Western/de Moya Group JV, HJ Foundations (now Keller North America), Universal Engineering Sciences, Inc. and and GEO-Instruments.

The project is significant not only for its very distinctive architectural design, but because it is also one of the first applications of augered-cast-in-place (ACIP) piles for a roadway bridge structure in the United States. By the numbers, the test program encompassed 7 axial and 3 lateral test piles with a combined installed length of 1,073 feet (327 m), instrumented with a total of 512 vibrating wire strain gages and a combined total of 32,973 kips (146,671 kN) of applied test load.

LTC is very proud to have been selected for this high-profile, first-of-its-kind project.

LTA assembly welded in test pile cage
Preparing to install the assembly into the wet grout.

Update: LTC completed additional bi-directional axial static load testing (BDSLT) for phase 2 of the project with four additional test piles at the I-95 interchange and SR-836 Miami River Bridge locations. The overall test program included 11 axial and 3 lateral test piles with a combined installed length of 1,432 feet (436 m), instrumented with a total of 695 vibrating wire strain gages and a combined total of 50,959 kips (226,677 kN) of applied test load.

Over 4,000 kips of applied load in the heart of the I-95 / I-395 / SR-836 interchange

Update 2: In late 2022, LTC completed a drilled shaft bi-directional axial static load test (BDSLT) for the in-water pylons at the SR-836 Miami River Bridge location, in partnership with A. H. Beck Foundation Company, Archer-Western/de Moya Group JV, Universal Engineering Sciences, Inc. and GEO-Instruments. The nominal 48-inch diameter test shaft was loaded in excess of 10,000 kips (44,480 kN) of applied test load.

Preparing the test shaft cage
Testing underway off trestle

Projects Home