Recent developments in the design and construction of substructures for over-water bridges

Paralleling the recent advances in bridge superstructures such as cantilevered segmental box girders, cable-stayed bridges, and composite trusses, are the innovative solutions for bridge foundations and substructures. Deeper water, more adverse environments and soils, and considerations of ship collision have demanded improved designs. At the same time, the concerns of initial and life-cycle costs, schedule, environmental and worker safety and reliability have challenged the conventional solutions. Fortunately, concurrent advances in construction equipment and technology have been joined by improvements in materials technology and in our design and analytical capability. The confluence of these has resulted in several important new concepts which will enable our profession to design and build better bridge substructures.