Oldcastle Infrastructure, A CRH Company and a leading provider of precast concrete engineered product solutions in the U.S., has been recognized in the 53rd Annual Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Design Awards Competition for precast design excellence and quality construction.
Oldcastle Infrasructure’s Perris, California Company received the 2015 Precast Concrete Institute’s 2015 Design Award in the Best Rehabilitation Bridge Category for the North Torrey Pines Road Bridge Project in Del Mar, California.
In the video below you can see the bridge, before and after the restoration, and hear from the selection committee why this project was chosen for the award.
PCI Design Awards is a long-standing program that recognizes design excellence and construction quality using precast concrete. The judges' panel consisted of some of the best industry leaders in building design, transportation, and architecture.
The award-winning project, North Torrey Pines Road Bridge Rehabilitation Project, a 550-foot long structure built-in 1933, suffered from severe corrosion and required major repairs. To preserve this historic structure, a specialized rehabilitation strategy was developed that would allow for minimal change to the visual character of the bridge while providing a far more seismically stable design.
Kleinfelder, the engineering firm for the project, chose a precast concrete system to meet the needs of the project because precast concrete would deliver the high-performance seismic and durability they needed, with the design flexibility to maintain the historic look and feel of the original bridge.
Construction of the bridge included replacing the superstructure with a precast, post-tensioned concrete replica, supplemental “hidden” abutments, ground improvements to mitigate seismic liquefaction, and shear retrofit of all columns. “The precast concrete bridge girders were pretensioned to introduce a compressive force in the units, but then were post-tensioned into continuous spans, thus providing a structure that should perform well in the aggressive marine environment,” says Jon Grafton of Oldcastle Infrastructure.
All the precast concrete pieces, supplied by Oldcastle Infrastructure Perris, featured complex geometry, including warped soffits, varying end bearing conditions, and multiple girder shapes, Grafton says. “The complex detailing of the skewed and haunched girders was nicely accomplished in the controlled environment of the precasting yard.” To replicate the historic board form finish on the original structure, a textured surface was added to the sides and bottom of all the precast concrete components.
“Oldcastle Infrastructure is proud to be recognized for this complex bridge project, which highlights precast concrete system adaptability. Our skilled staff is to be commended for their continued dedication to producing superior quality products," said Grafton. “The collaboration and innovation involved in the precast design development, engineering, production, and erection of the North Torrey Pines Road Bridge Project components was impressive, and we are proud to have been a part of the T. Y. Lin International Group, Flatiron Construction Corp, and Kleinfelder team.”
For more innovative, award winning precast construction design visit our new projects library.
