Replacement of Belt Parkway over Mill Basin

Replacement MSE Wall of Belt Parkway over Mill Basin

The permanent MSE walls supporting the roadway leading up to the bridge required temporary walls to pre-load the foundation soil, which can be very compressible in the New York and New Jersey area. The expected settlement was around 16 inches, but was later measured to be roughly 19 inches at the wall face and almost 2.5 feet in the middle of the embankment. Menard Group USA provided a design for wick drains to increase the rate of settlement. The walls were designed as a lower permanent portion with steel reinforcement, and an upper temporary surcharge constructed with GeoTrel™ to an elevation well above the final roadway, then removed after settlement was completed. The precast panel walls were initially constructed without the top row of panels. After the completion of settlement, the surcharge walls were deconstructed, and the upper precast panels were designed to fit the final roadway elevation.