Emergency Inspection and Monitoring of Bridge 1-813, I-495 Over the Christina River

Bridge 1-813 carries approximately 90,000 vehicles a day on northbound and southbound Interstate 495 in Wilmington, Delaware. After transverse rotations were observed causing median barriers to be out of alignment by as much as 17 inches, Pennoni’s Intelligent Infrastructure Systems (IIS) provided emergency inspection and monitoring to determine the cause. It was determined that a large earth embankment placed adjacent to the structure, caused compression of the underlying soft soils and lateral pressure on the bridge foundations. Tilt sensors were installed to continuously monitor rotations via real-time data collection. The bridge was re-opened to traffic within two months.