Located in a scenic, environmentally sensitive area with limited access near the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Bridge No. 2 is the last significant bridge needed to complete the 1.6-mile “missing link” for the Foothills Parkway along the Blount and Sevier County line in Tennessee. The owner of the $25 million design-build project is the National Park Service. The project was led by the Eastern Federal Lands Division of the National Highway Administration. The Bell & Associates Construction/VSL/ Corven Engineering team was awarded the design-build project based on best value. The precast segmental concrete bridge is 790′ long with a maximum span length of 180′. The alignment consists of a reverse curve with radii as small as 262′. The precast superstructure segments are 36′-10″ wide and 8′-8″ long and are prefabricated at a local precasting plant. Precast hollow segmental concrete box pier columns are used for the substructure. To limit the impact on the environment, the precast segments were erected in balanced cantilever “top-down” using a specially designed straddle carrier mounted on a temporary work bridge.

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Corven Engineering was the prime consultant for the project, designer, and engineer of record for the precast segmental concrete bridge design. This work included overall design management, initial design and bid quantities, final design, contract drawings, and specifications.

 

During construction, Corven Engineering provided construction engineering services to the design/build team. This work included integrated shop drawings for the precast substructure and superstructure segments, construction analysis, post-tensioning stressing data, step-by-step erection procedures, development and design of cantilever stability system, geometry control manual, three-dimensional casting geometry, and casting software; engineering support during construction; and on-site technical support.