Marine design and construction methods are presented on the caisson
foundations for the tower piers at the Brooklyn, Ben Franklin, Delaware Memorial
1st, Tappan Zee, Walt Whitman, Throgs Neck, Verrazano Narrows, Delaware
Memorial 2nd, and Newport Bridges. All of the bridges are founded on caissons,
bearing on bedrock, soil, or piling. Caissons at the Tappan Zee Bridge are
partially supported by piling and partially by buoyant forces. General subsurface
conditions for each are provided.
The purpose of this paper is inform engineers how bridge foundations using
caissons were built over major waterways in the Northeastern USA in the past,
anticipating a surge of new bridge construction in the near future.
Author: James S. Graham, Norwalk Marine Contractors & Joel Moskowitz, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers
Publisher: DFI