Location
Arlington, Virginia
Date
15 Aug 2008, 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Abstract
The Chacao Channel bridge, a planned privatized/concession bridge project, is to link the island of Chiloé with continental Chile through the Chacao Channel. When completed, it will be the longest suspension bridge in South America (2,365 m) with two approximately equal spans linking three pylons. The location of the bridge presents a combination of unprecedented challenges in the design and construction making it very unique, including: extreme seismicity with the largest earthquake recorded to date anywhere in the world having occurred very close to the envisioned bridge location (the 1960 Valdivia Earthquake with a moment magnitude of 9.5!); extremely strong sea currents and tide fluctuations within the channel (up to 5-6 meters/sec and 6 meters, respectively); the general area being surrounded by active volcanoes; and a history of Tsunamis. The above extreme challenges resulted in construction cost escalations; inevitably, in 2006, after a significant portion of the investigations and design was completed, the Chilean ministry of Public Works put the project on hold. The above extreme physical challenges were the main reason for the cost escalation. This paper provides an overview of the design of the envisioned bridge, discusses the methodology to overcome the unique challenges of the bridge location and focuses on the geotechnical and seismic aspects of the design.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
6th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2008 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Syngros, Kostis; Dobry, Ricardo; and Leventis, George E., "Chacao Channel Bridge – the Design Challenges" (2008). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 3.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/6icchge/session13/3
Chacao Channel Bridge – the Design Challenges
Arlington, Virginia
The Chacao Channel bridge, a planned privatized/concession bridge project, is to link the island of Chiloé with continental Chile through the Chacao Channel. When completed, it will be the longest suspension bridge in South America (2,365 m) with two approximately equal spans linking three pylons. The location of the bridge presents a combination of unprecedented challenges in the design and construction making it very unique, including: extreme seismicity with the largest earthquake recorded to date anywhere in the world having occurred very close to the envisioned bridge location (the 1960 Valdivia Earthquake with a moment magnitude of 9.5!); extremely strong sea currents and tide fluctuations within the channel (up to 5-6 meters/sec and 6 meters, respectively); the general area being surrounded by active volcanoes; and a history of Tsunamis. The above extreme challenges resulted in construction cost escalations; inevitably, in 2006, after a significant portion of the investigations and design was completed, the Chilean ministry of Public Works put the project on hold. The above extreme physical challenges were the main reason for the cost escalation. This paper provides an overview of the design of the envisioned bridge, discusses the methodology to overcome the unique challenges of the bridge location and focuses on the geotechnical and seismic aspects of the design.
