Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Description: This project is one section of the Corps of Engineers Rio Puerto Nuevo Widening Project in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Rio Puerto Nuevo crosses under the De Diego Expressway Puerto Rico’s main east west through fare. To widen and deepen the Rio Puerto Nuevo channel new soldier pier retaining walls were constructed to protect the existing bridge abutments. A total of 67 - 50” diameter soldier piers 50’-0” deep were constructed under 13’-0” of overhead clearance. Each soldier pier had 24 - #18 vertical full length reinforcing bars that had to be spliced together in sections as it went into the shaft. To protect the existing abutment full length temporary segmental casing was osculated in place as the shafts were constructed. On many occasions the existing piling had to be cut out of the new shafts using cutting teeth on the bottom of the segmental casing. All of the channel wall work was constructed inside a levee at an elevation of –4 below sea level with the Puerto Nuevo river running at elevation +1 on the other side of the levee. Phase II of the project consists of installing 20 new shafts to support the existing bridge bents after the channel is deepened. These 50” diameter shafts ranged in depth from 70 to 90’-0” deep.

General Contractor: Rio Construction, Corp. Bruno Mazza, President 

Engineer: INCA Engineers Inc.

Owner: Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District