Powder Point Bridge

I meant to post this before but it slipped my mind. Back in August my company inspected the Powder Point Bridge which gives a short cut to the Duxbury Beach. 

The bridge spans over Duxbury Bay and consists of 110 simply supported timber beam spans supported by two abutment pile bents and 109 pile bents. The bridge was built in 1987 and was designed by Universal Engineering Corp. for the town of Duxbury.

The bridge use to own the record for the Worlds oldest longest wooden bridge before being rebuilt and now it is currently 2200 feet long from abutment to abutment.

If you are from the South Shore of Mass you know if bridge very well. Ever since I was little I have crossed this bridge to get to the beach. If you are lucky enough to have a Duxbury Beach sticker you can drive right onto the beach, if not you are forced to make the walk from an expensive parking lot or a tiny free lot that never seems to be empty.



Culvert Rating

For the most part of today I have been busy trying to set up a check for a rating I worked on over the summer for a two concrete box cell culvert in Fitchburg MA. 

For analysis of the bridge I used BRASS Culvert which is a great tool to assist with the rating. Instead of using STAAD to create influence lines, locating axle locations for maximum stresses, creating interaction diagrams and calculating axial and bending capacities, BRASS Culvert allows engineers to input the culverts properties and receive an easy and quick analysis.

Anyone can make a mistake and even after double and triple checking inputs errors can still occur, so it is always a good idea to have someone check your analysis by using a different method. 

It's always fun to find random debris that makes you scratch your head

Not to sure how other consultants calculate the fill over arches and culverts but with my small amount of surveying experience I suggested we use an automatic level for quick accurate fill depths.

Being the youngest engineer in my office has its perks sometimes but usually it means doing the work others do not want to do, e.i. digging holes for pavement depths.

Thru Truss Demo

The thru truss I was inspecting today in Richmond RI is apparently being demolished soon, no more floorbeams and no deck makes for a quicker inspection.

EDIT: So today I found via Facebook that one of my friends noticed that this equipment looks like his companies and apparently they part of the force that will be demolishing the bridge

AMTRAK inspections before the snow

Down in RI inspecting the tops of AMTRAK bridges. Just finished three thru girders near Cranston. Stopped at Wein O Rama for some lunch and now down to Richmond for an other thru girder and then to Westerly for a thru truss.

Preparing for winter weather

Tomorrow I will be heading down to Pawtucket RI to inspect the tops of two AMTRAK bridges. Both bridges are fracture critical inspections with built up steel girders. Today I will be checking my equipment and making sure I have plenty of extra warm clothes, since the new is reporting a large storm to hit the Mass/RI area with up to 12" of snow  for the second time in less than a month.