I-40 MISSISSIPPI RIVER BRIDGE SEISMIC RETROFIT

Memphis, Tennessee

Massman provided seismic retrofitting of the existing I-40, six-lane bridge over the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee. 

The essence of this project was to enlarge the footings and caps of the river piers and to install new 11-foot-diameter bearings under the structural steel without closing the bridge to traffic. A significant amount of heavy-lift work was required to devise custom hoisting mechanisms and schemes to enlarge the pier caps, replace the bridge bearings at the top of each pier, and drive pile and install cofferdams at the bottom of the piers.

Massman lifted the bridge superstructure twelve times for the installation of new seismic bearings and installed over 4,000 tons of piling and cofferdam bracing under the bridge. All work was done from major pieces of floating equipment stationed in the Mississippi River.

Massman was engaged throughout the projects in a highly successful partnership with the Tennessee DOT. Our joint effort to work through construction issues kept the projects on schedule. Massman was also able to save TDOT over $2,000,000 through a value engineering proposal that our team devised for a top-down footing strengthening technique.