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GORDIE HOWE INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE
Geotechnical Engineering Client: AECOM / Bridging North America / Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority
Location: Detroit, Michigan Prime Consultant: AECOM Sub Consultant: NTH Consultants, Ltd. Total Project Budget: N/A Total NTH Budget: $4.1 Million (GHIB Design) Project Start: May 2005 Project Completion: Ongoing |
NTH’s Value Added NTH has participated in multiple phases in the planning for and ongoing design of the Gordie Howe International Bridge (originally the Detroit River International Crossing). Our experience with the initial studies as well as our significant experience with the very soft lacustrine clays beneath the project site, offered designers critical design and construction oversight for the proposed bridge and appurtenant facilities.
Project Overview
NTH Consultants, Ltd. (NTH) was originally retained by The Corradino Group (who was the prime consultant to the Michigan Department of Transportation) to collect relevant geotechnical data and evaluate design and construction concepts for a cable-stayed bridge, suspension bridge, or tunnel to provide a new river crossing from Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario.
Our original services identified the historic use of solution mining within the proposed crossing alignment and as a result, we were engaged by the Michigan Department of Transportation to conduct a Brine Well Cavity Investigation to identify potential risks. This work included deep rock borings to depths as great as 1,750 feet followed by cross-hole geophysical testing in order to perform a computerized tomographic analysis of the bedrock stratigraphy and identify any anomalies that could potentially be voids associated with the earlier mining activities. Upon approval of the study plan for the new bridge, the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) issued a request for qualifications for project teams for the new Gordie Howe International Bridge. The WDBA procurement was for teams to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new bridge spanning the Detroit River. NTH was selected as a geotechnical subconsultant to AECOM, the prime designer for Bridging North America (BNA), for U.S. project elements including the Michigan Interchanges, U.S. Port of Entry and U.S. Approach Span project components.
Project Scope
Brine Well Investigation:
Cross-well seismic imaging was used to delineate the size, locations, and shape of potential brine well cavities in two proposed crossing corridors on the U.S. side of the river.
The investigation plan included thirteen deep (1,750 feet) rock cores and borings, in combination with cross-well seismic imaging techniques that involved simultaneous and integrated data collection from multiple boreholes spread across the Delray neighborhood in Southwest Detroit. The cross-well seismic imaging was supplemented by an array of down-hole geophysical testing including sonic profiling, circumferential acoustic imaging (side-wall imaging of the boreholes), natural gamma surveys, compensated density, photo-electric logging, borehole gravity, and vertical seismic profiling.
Foundation Investigation:
Once the WDBA established the project requirements, NTH assisted the BNA team with evaluation and design of project elements during the proposal phase. Our services included the evaluation of existing geotechnical data and development of design and construction recommendations associated with U.S. project elements. This included the evaluation of pile foundation capacities, ground improvement requirements, consolidation impacts due to grade changes, time rates of settlement as well as mitigation measures that could be used to meet the project schedule, design of shallow foundation and impacts of embankment construction on the underlying soft clays.
BNA was selected as the preferred provider for the GHIB in July 2018. Since the selection, NTH mobilized immediately to initiate geotechnical investigations for the project segments. As field investigation efforts are ongoing, we are also actively developing data and design reports for submission as well as consulting on geotechnical design issue.
NTH Consultants, Ltd. (NTH) was originally retained by The Corradino Group (who was the prime consultant to the Michigan Department of Transportation) to collect relevant geotechnical data and evaluate design and construction concepts for a cable-stayed bridge, suspension bridge, or tunnel to provide a new river crossing from Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario.
Our original services identified the historic use of solution mining within the proposed crossing alignment and as a result, we were engaged by the Michigan Department of Transportation to conduct a Brine Well Cavity Investigation to identify potential risks. This work included deep rock borings to depths as great as 1,750 feet followed by cross-hole geophysical testing in order to perform a computerized tomographic analysis of the bedrock stratigraphy and identify any anomalies that could potentially be voids associated with the earlier mining activities. Upon approval of the study plan for the new bridge, the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) issued a request for qualifications for project teams for the new Gordie Howe International Bridge. The WDBA procurement was for teams to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new bridge spanning the Detroit River. NTH was selected as a geotechnical subconsultant to AECOM, the prime designer for Bridging North America (BNA), for U.S. project elements including the Michigan Interchanges, U.S. Port of Entry and U.S. Approach Span project components.
Project Scope
Brine Well Investigation:
Cross-well seismic imaging was used to delineate the size, locations, and shape of potential brine well cavities in two proposed crossing corridors on the U.S. side of the river.
The investigation plan included thirteen deep (1,750 feet) rock cores and borings, in combination with cross-well seismic imaging techniques that involved simultaneous and integrated data collection from multiple boreholes spread across the Delray neighborhood in Southwest Detroit. The cross-well seismic imaging was supplemented by an array of down-hole geophysical testing including sonic profiling, circumferential acoustic imaging (side-wall imaging of the boreholes), natural gamma surveys, compensated density, photo-electric logging, borehole gravity, and vertical seismic profiling.
Foundation Investigation:
Once the WDBA established the project requirements, NTH assisted the BNA team with evaluation and design of project elements during the proposal phase. Our services included the evaluation of existing geotechnical data and development of design and construction recommendations associated with U.S. project elements. This included the evaluation of pile foundation capacities, ground improvement requirements, consolidation impacts due to grade changes, time rates of settlement as well as mitigation measures that could be used to meet the project schedule, design of shallow foundation and impacts of embankment construction on the underlying soft clays.
BNA was selected as the preferred provider for the GHIB in July 2018. Since the selection, NTH mobilized immediately to initiate geotechnical investigations for the project segments. As field investigation efforts are ongoing, we are also actively developing data and design reports for submission as well as consulting on geotechnical design issue.