Project Highlights

S&ME was retained to perform quality assurance testing of construction materials for the Charlotte Douglas International Airport Taxiway bridges November and Sierra.  Our services include installation monitoring and PDA testing for driven piles on Taxiway Sierra Bridge; foundation bearing material evaluation for Taxiway November Bridge; concrete sampling and testing; structural steel inspection and associated nondestructive testing at the project site for the bridge girders; field tests of compacted earth fill.  Testing procedures are in accordance with specified industry standards such as ASTM, AASHTO and North Carolina DOT.

Runway 18R/36L Taxiway Bridges (Third Runway) Maintaining Charlotte Douglas International Airport as one of the country’s leading airports a fourth 9,000-foot runway and existing airfield improvement will provide additional capacity, strengthen the hub operation and reduce flight delays.

This project consists of two steel aircraft bridges supporting structural cast in place concrete decking.  The steel bridges are supported on cast in place concrete abutments. Taxiway N bridges is approximately 77.5 feet long, and is supported on concrete spread footings.  Taxiway S bridge is approximately 91.5 feet long, and is supported on 316 steel H-piles.  The abutment wall heights are approximately 40 feet for each bridge.

S&ME senior engineering technician and or staff professional observed the installation of the 316 steel H-piles to there termination criteria.

S&ME’s engineering technicians performed soil density testing to confirm required compaction, visual soil classifications to confirm suitability of fill material, laboratory proctor tests for maximum dry density and optimum moisture content.

S&ME’s engineering technicians performed the following activites for the concrete construction: monitorted the placement of concrete, performed slump testing, air content testing, unit weight testing, fabricated concrete cylinders, monitored concrete temperature and batch times, and compressive strength testing of concrete cylinders.

S&ME performed the following services on the structural steel: observation and visual weld inspections to verify torque on high strength bolt, nuts, and washer connections and observation of reinforcing steel.