The Harry S. Truman Parkway - Phase V project in Savannah, Ga., comprised 2.1 miles of roadway construction along with six bridges and approaches. The project's most challenging component was the construction of the Vernon River Bridge. Balfour Beatty's contract originally specified that the firm use barges for construction of bents 50 through 60 within the limits of the Vernon River. However, after it became apparent that a heavily silted channel and fluctuating tides would make that plan impossible, the Georgia Dept. of Transportation and the contractor switched to the trestle method. The existing permits were modified to allow crews to utilize the method for the length of the bridge. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure positioned the 840-ft-long movable temporary erection platform between the twin bridges, resting it upon caps supported by five 24-in.-dia pipe piles driven 50 ft into the dense, silty sand. As construction of the six permanent bridges progressed, the cranes advanced the trestle by extracting the pipe piling, moving it forward and driving it into the sand again. Crews extracted and reused each pipe pile six times for a total of 21,000 linear ft of driven piling. The April 2014 completion of the Phase V contract delivered the last piece of Savannah's inner loop, which first underwent construction nearly 20 years ago.

Award of Merit, Highways and Bridges — Harry S. Truman Parkway, Phase V, Savannah, Ga.

Key Players

Contractor Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Wilmington, N.C.

Owner Georgia Dept. of Transportation, Atlanta

Structural and Civil Engineer JJ&G (Jacobs Engineering), Atlanta