Bridge Case Study

Wildcat Road Bridge -  Livingston County, NY

(Note: the following is reprinted with permission from the engineering firm, C & S Companies. This particular structure was designed out of their Rochester office for Livingston County, New York. .  Visit http://www.cscos.com or call (585) 325-9040 for further information.)

C&S designed a replacement to the historic Wildcat Road bridge over Wildcat Gully, which received an ACEC New York Platinum Award for Engineering Excellence and an APWA–Monroe County/Genesee Valley Branch Structures Project of the Year award. The steel Pratt Truss bridge was built in 1910, and had been closed to traffic for nearly a decade. It was initially scoped and budgeted for rehabilitation. Because it was a historic structure, C&S provided sound engineering arguments to SHPO for replacement, proving that rehabilitation was not an option.  The challenge was to design a superstructure with adequate strength, while ensuring the stability of the foundations on the erodible shale streambanks, all within a budget set for rehabilitation only.  The existing 88-foot, single-lane truss was replaced with a 100-foot, steel superstructure with timber decking. Perched abutments were founded on drilled shafts to address the erodible shale concerns. While traffic volumes justified a one-lane bridge, the clear width was doubled to 20 feet to allow access for large farming equipment.