Foundation Characterization Program

completed

The characterization of bridge foundations is complex. Bridges can be supported by shallow or deep foundations of varying footing geometries and materials. Footings can be square, circular, or rectangular. Foundations can be pedestal masonry stone footings or massive cofferdam footings. Piles can be present with or without pile caps and may be battered or vertical. Piles can be made of concrete (round, square, cylinder, or octagonal), steel (H-piles or round pipe sections), or timber. Deep foundations can be precast concrete piles, drilled shafts, or auger-cast concrete piles. The top of footings or pile caps can be buried underneath riprap, backfill mud, or channel soils. Additionally, design or as-built drawings of foundations are sometimes not available and technologies for determining foundation condition are expensive and sometimes unreliable. The goal of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is to identify methods to quantify and clarify these unknowns. Goals: The objective of the FHWA's Foundation Characterization Program is to develop and evaluate new and existing technologies and methodologies for characterizing existing bridge foundations for the determination of unknown geometry, material properties, integrity, and load-carrying capacity. The emphasis is on developing guidance and best practices for foundation reuse. Many foundation characterization decisions will likely be made in the framework of lifecycle cost and risk-management analysis.