From Underwater Bridge Inspection to Rapid Response Emergency Repair

Jordan Furlan, PE

8 hours ago

2 min read

A bridge can look ordinary from the roadway while telling a very different story below the deck.

Marine Solutions was hired to perform an underwater inspection ahead of a bridge rehabilitation project. The task was to document the condition of the piles and bracing so the design team could plan the rehabilitation work. During the inspection, one steel pile was observed to be completely sheared through near the channel bottom, and a second pile at the same substructure unit exhibited a substantial crack at the waterline near the cross bracing.

The discovery changed the project’s priorities immediately. The finding was formally reported, and the bridge owner put monitoring and load reduction measures in place while an emergency repair moved forward.

Keeping the crossing available mattered to the community. A lumber mill just south of the bridge is a major part of the local economy, so closing the bridge would have affected far more than motorists, it would have disrupted access to a business that depends on the crossing. The repair needed to address the structural concerns quickly while giving the owner a path to keep the bridge open.

Marine Solutions carried out the work from discovery through rapid-response emergency repair design and construction. The engineers who developed the repair had direct access to the inspection team’s measurements, photographs, and observations, as well as the construction team that would perform the work. The repair plan called for excavation around the sheared pile, installation of a steel sleeve jacket, and filling the pile and jacket with concrete grout to restore structural continuity and support. The second pile, with the crack at the waterline, was repaired with a steel sleeve jacket, and the cross bracing was reattached. Our construction and commercial diving teams rapidly mobilized while the repair was being developed, allowing the work to begin as quickly as possible.

The real value of an inspect–design–build company like Marine Solutions is having one team that can take responsibility for the problem from the moment it is discovered through the design and construction of the solution. That continuity brings together specialized expertise, field knowledge, and construction capability when the client needs a response, not another handoff between firms. Field findings can move directly into repair design, while the construction team can work closely with the people who inspected and designed the solution. For this bridge, that integrated approach enabled a rapid response to critical findings and a repair focused not only on addressing the structural concerns but also on keeping an essential community connection in service.