Articles

Technical Sessions - March 2016

MORNING SESSION - Hosted by GeoInstitute @ 11:15 AM 

Topic: Filling in the Gaps – What Voids a Retaining Wall’s Stability?

Speaker: Genevieve Sollenberger, P.E., Kleinfelder 

The project’s objective was to investigate and remediate distressed MSE walls at a highway interchange system with multiple direct connectors supported by MSE Walls.  The contract scope was to develop the construction plans, specifications and engineer’s estimate and provide engineering support during construction.  The investigation utilized advanced in-situ testing, laboratory testing, and detailed modeling/analysis to determine the root cause of distress for walls as well as secondary distress features that have contributed to the walls degraded performance.   Remediation alternatives presented to the client with their cost and value helped develop the comprehensive repair plans. The holistic design approach addressed structural, drainage, paving, geotechnical, roadway, and environmental problem areas.  This presentation will discuss major design items such as void remediation within the reinforced zone of the MSE wall, installation of underdrains in an existing wall, and restoration of flexibility to the MSE wall system.  Additionally, the presentation will highlight construction issues encountered and lessons learned for construction plan development and communication with the different teams involved in the construction.

Ms. Genevieve Sollenberger currently serves as a project engineer for Kleinfelder. She received her Bachelors from Florida Institute of Technology in 2008 and Masters from University of Central Florida in 2013. Prior to her work as a geotechnical engineer at Kleinfelder, she held internships at various land development civil design and construction management firms. She is a member of American Society of Civil Engineers and Society of Women Engineers. Ms. Sollenberger currently manages traditional geotechnical projects as well as cross disciplinary projects that utilize her civil design background. 

AFTERNOON TECHNICAL SESSION - Hosted by SEI @ 1:15 PM

Topic: Ohio River Bridges – East End Crossing

Speaker: James T. Brown, P.E., Jacobs 

Two new crossings of the Ohio River are currently under construction in Louisville, Kentucky.  The first is located in Downtown Louisville, KY adjacent to the existing I-65 John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge and the second is located about 8 miles upstream near Prospect, Kentucky.  This second East End crossing provides a connection between state highway 841 on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River and state route 265 on the Indiana side of the river linking I-265.  Both crossings will provide additional regional redundancy for the limited number of Ohio River crossings.  The East End project provides a by-pass around downtown Louisville for I-65 to the north and I-71 to the east and includes a new cable stay signature bridge over the Ohio River, a tunnel under the historic Drumanard Estate and a new Greenfield roadway section in Indiana.  This presentation will provide a summary of tunnel and bridge structures designed for the Kentucky and Indiana approaches and the main crossing of the Ohio River of the East End Crossing.

Mr. James Brown currently serves as a senior structural engineer for Jacobs in the Buildings and Infrastructure division. He received his Bachelors in Civil Engineering in 1997 and his Masters of Engineering in Civil Engineering in 2000, both from the University of Texas at Arlington. Mr. Brown’s 19 years of diverse experience includes the design of concrete and steel bridges, retaining walls, drainage structures, concrete volute storm water pump stations and other public infrastructure projects.  He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and currently serves as a State Board Member for the Texas Chapter of the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute.  Mr. Brown has served as lead structural engineer on multiple projects throughout Texas as well as Design Build projects in Kentucky and Florida.  He is a Licensed Engineer in the states of TX, OK, KY, IN and FL.