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The story of a project as immense as the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) Pier 400 construction has more than a few subplots, one of which is most certainly the design and construction of the Transportation Corridor Bridge Number 1. In fact the bridge construction was the subplot that proved crucial in keeping the story going because, without the structure to span a large gap over the San Pedro Bay, the 595 acres (240 ha) of reclaimed land lying beyond would have been useless.
The land itself was reclaimed in two stages. The area's extent and the diverse uses for which it was intended required a long transportation corridor north of the pier to provide full access to the terminal.The 7,000 ft (2,134 in) transportation corridor, constructed of a rock dike fill, includes a 385 ft (117 m) gap over the bay that is designed to provide circulation between the waters east and west of the pier for the benefit of water quality and marine life. After examining several alternatives, Porn opted to build a two-lane concrete bridge that would be suitable for carrying heavy truckloads across the bay.
But it quickly became evident that additional lanes--as well as access for utilities and rail-would be needed.The first phase of the project-the two-lane vehicular bridge-was completed in the summer of 1999, and the bridge now provides access for construction equipment to the Pier 400 site. The second phase-begun in December 2000 and completed in August of this year-widened the bridge by adding two traffic lanes and a corridor for utilities and pipelines. The third phase, scheduled for completion by the end of 2002, will add a separate six-track railroad crossing.
The first step in determining the type, location, and design of the bridge across the gap was an assessment, conducted in the early 1990s, that evaluated the configuration of the transportation corridor and the bridge's components. The corridor and the bridge had to provide high-volume truck, automobile, and, eventually, rail access to the terminals. A 35 ft (10.7 m) pipeline and utility corridor was needed to place petroleum pipelines for the liquid bulk terminal and to carry utilities to all the port facilities.
A functional relationship analysis-also carried out in the early 1990s-determined the points at...