NCDOT Pasquotank River Bridge Replacement

Known as the harbor of hospitality, Elizabeth City embarked upon the most extensive road project in its history with highway improvements and the replacement of the Pasquotank River Bridge. The removal and replacement of driven piles beneath the roadway as well as demolition of the bridge were a concern to all stakeholders. And so NCDOT called in Schnabel to perform surveys and monitor vibrations during construction.

Our work on the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s $100 million project occurred over a period of four years during the most disruptive portions of construction. We monitored all construction activities related to utility replacement, roadway construction, and bridge demolition/construction in and around downtown Elizabeth City with engineering seismographs. This work was performed under an NCDOT on-call contract. The contractor installed new sewer, water, and stormwater drainage lines under the streets near the bridges.

We performed vibration monitoring to help contractors manage vibration impacts during the work and assess the validity of any damage claims based on the measured vibration levels and pre- and post-construction crack surveys. We initially monitored construction activities with mobile seismographs based at the location of construction activity. We also installed remote seismograph stations to provide ongoing monitoring of construction along East Elizabeth Street and construction related to the eastbound Bridge No. 19 replacement.