Galena Creek Arch Bridge (I-580)

Arch Rib Evaluation

Due to be completed in 2010, the I-580 and Galena Creek Arch Bridges are designed as parallel structures with a main arch span of 210m, each able to carry three lanes of traffic.  The western approach will have two spans, and the eastern approach will have four spans.  Upon completion, the Galena Creek Bridge will be the largest concrete-arch bridge in the United States and the second-largest in the world.  Its 1,722-foot length will be almost six football fields long. It is the largest of nine planned bridges of the I-580 Freeway Extension Project to complete a six-lane highway from the Mount Rose turnoff to Washoe Valley.

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

• Performed finite element analysis of an 18m piece (segment 5) of the proposed I-580 and Galena Creek main arch, with the pilot truss option,
• Investigated the long-term creep and shrinkage effects, and the degree of composite interaction between the steel pilot truss and the surrounding concrete,
• Investigated the shear loading on the studs between the pilot truss and the outer reinforced concrete,
• Investigated the moment curvature properties of the arch rib segment.