Thermal Integrity Testing – The Better Way?

Portland Avenue – Tacoma, Washington

Expansion of I-5 through Tacoma will improve safety and add capacity to one of the busiest highways in the region. The project includes replacement of bridges, overpasses, ramps and embankments, as well as improvements to associated utilities and local roads.

We are currently under contract with Hamilton Construction to install the oscillated drilled shafts for this new portion of the Puyallup River Bridge as well as the adjacent on and off ramps. In total there are 50 drilled shafts on the project ranging from 8 to 10 feet in diameter and up to 165 feet in depth. 8 out of the 50 shafts are installed from an elevated work bridge over the Puyallup River. After an initial comparison between cross-hole sonic logging (CSL) and thermal integrity profiling (TIP), WSDOT decided to only continue using TIP as the sole shaft integrity test on site. Will this also be the trend outside of the state of Washington? Time will tell.

For more information on this project please contact Tait McCutchan at tmccutchan@malcolmdrilling.com