CSVT Bridge: Design and Construction Challenges

Presented by Jason DeFliltch, PE and Ahmad Ahmadi, PhD, PE of SAI Consulting, Inc. (1 PDH Provided)

5:15pm Social | 6:00pm Dinner | 6:45pm Presentation

The CSVT River Bridge is a key component to a new 13-mile stretch of highway near Selinsgrove and Northumberland, Pennsylvania. The bridge is a six-lane, 15-span, 7/8-mile-long multi-girder structure comprised of three independent 5-span steel superstructure units with a maximum span length of 350′.

The bridge substructure consists of hammerhead piers ranging from 70′ to 180′ above the footings. The height of the piers and the proposed pier stem cross-section places the piers outside AASHTO slenderness limits, which required advanced analyses of second-order effects in lieu of the typical approximate method used for estimating second-order effects.

This presentation covers the challenges of designing and optimizing long span steel multi-girders, lateral bracing, diaphragms, and slender piers, as well as the consideration of substructure system interaction. Construction challenges and issues will be discussed as well.