Folsom Bridge

Structural Design & Analysis

The Folsom Bridge in Folsom, California is a 970 feet long, three-span, cast-in-place segmental bridge with two-cell box girder superstructure, supported by concrete piers.  The bridge will be constructed from the two piers using balanced cantilever construction.  Since engineering beam theory is not applicable to the design of the pier table and pier transition due to the complicated geometry, the strut-and-tie method was used as an alternative design method.

SC Solutions’ scope for this project included the following activities:

• Validated the design of the pier table and pier transition based on the strut-and-tie method,
• Performed nonlinear finite element analysis for the load cases,
• Validated assumptions and adjusted the simplified strut-and-tie models used by designers to more accurately characterize the behavior of this complex bridge component,
• Evaluated the shear force distribution in the webs of the superstructure by applying superstructure dead load and live loads to a 3D model of the bridge.