Permanent Sheet Piling Design with NO soil information. 2

[Bridgegirl67]

I am new to the design side of things and was just assigned a permanent sheet piling wing-wall design, but I do not have any soil information.
It is at all possible to design it? My first thought is no, but seeing as how I have limited experience in this arena (of design) I am hoping someone out there will have some advice/good direction for me to go.
Thank you in advance
"Desperate to Learn"

 

[PEinc]

Yes, you can add the cost of some borings into your design price. If someone needs to build new wing walls, I assume there must be an adjacent bridge(?) structure. Are there any borings available for any new or existing adjacent or close structures? Just because someone didn't want to spend for borings, it doesn't mean the borings aren't necessary. How would you like the contractor to show up with 30' sheets for a 10' cut and have them hit rock 2' below subgrade? Frequently, when someone says there are no borings available, it means they haven't looked at them and don't feel like taking the time to find them and send them to you. If that's the case, beware of your client.

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com

 

[Ltwine]

Stand by your first thought. Your task wasn't well defined until you have all relevant information on hand.

 

[Bridgegirl67]

Thank you for your feedback.
To be more detailed here is what I have.
I have an existing bridge and the wingwalls are failing. The owner (state) would like to obviously replace the wingwalls while maintaining the structure and it was suggested that they could be replaced with permanent sheet piling. This would minimize the efforts to replace them. (i.e. - no/temporary lane closures, little if any excavation, etc...)
An additional challenge with this structure is that it is already experiencing significant scour at one end.
I don not feel comfortable at all even attempting to start this design without soil information. However, I want to exhaust any efforts to make sure there isn't another approach I can take to get the design done!

 

[PEinc]

If you have significant scour, the eventual exposed design height of the sheet pile wing wall may be high enough that it needs to be tied back. If the sheet pile wing wall is placed in front of the existing wing wall, which will remain, then the tiebacks will need to be installed through the existing concrete wall (expensive? difficult?). You also could have access problems for installing the tieback anchors (expensive? difficult?).

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com

 

[TDAA]

Be sure your design, or the design of others provides protection against further scour as well.

 

[DirtMike]

There's a pretty good chance that the bridge as-builts will include the historical soil borings. If not, go with PEinc's suggestion and add borings to the design scope. You may need to do this anyway, since historical borings may not meet modern standards. I would advise retaining a geotechnical firm to supervise/perform the borings and develop your soil loads unless there's someone at your firm with the necessary experience.