Static load test, up to 6000 kN, carried out on a bridge under construction over the Araguaia River

Abstract

Static Load Tests are foundation control tools used to assess the load capacity versus displacement behavior of piles. This article a challenging Static Load Test on the foundations of the new bridge under construction over the Araguaia River, in São Miguel do Araguaia-GO. The bridge has a total length of more than 1.1 km and during the load test, almost all of its structure was already executed in the central region of the river channel - place where one of the masts with 104m free span is located. To assess the load capacity and safety of the piles, a static load test was carried out, where the biggest challenge was the need to run it underneath the structure of the bridge, using it as a reaction system. There were 15 tubular steel piles in the reaction/foundation block, and the load test was successfully performed to 6000 kN. That test represented a significant challenge and required a high level engineering work. The paper presents all the work constraints, along with assembly and executive challenges to the achieved results.