Location: Natchez, Mississippi

Description: This section of the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway in Natchez, Mississippi crosses Catherine’s Creek and Melvin's Bayou. A. H. Beck Foundation Co., Inc. and Applied Foundation Testing offered an alternate foundation design utilizing Beck’s patented post grouting process, “Post Stressed Pier” US Patent No. 6,371,698, which significantly reduced the depths of the drilled shafts to the minimum tip elevation for lateral design limits and helped to bring the project back into budget. The final design called for the installation of 26 post grouted shafts 72” in diameter ranging from 75 to 100 feet deep. One full scale test shaft was also installed and tested using AFT’s 2000 ton Statnamic testing device. The test shaft was constructed with 40 feet of permanent casing to simulate the scoured condition when the test was run.

General Contractor: Hill Bros. Construction, Inc. Engineer: Wilbur Smith Associates

Owner: FHWA Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division

Post Grouting and Testing: Applied Foundation Testing, Inc.