LAWGIBB COMPLETES FIRST PHASE OF CONWAY BYPASS PROJECT

ALPHARETTA, GA, Nov. 6, 2000 -- LAWGIBB Group has completed their work on the $400 million Conway Bypass Project in South Carolina, which was concluded at a recent ribbon cutting ceremony in Myrtle Beach, SC. J. Allen Kibler Jr., P.G., Vice President-Engineered Construction Division, made the announcement.

The Conway Bypass Project, when completed next spring, will be 28 miles long and include 31 bridges. It will connect U.S. 501 to U.S. Highway 17 to provide a hurricane evacuation route and to relieve congestion on U.S. 501 through Conway, SC to Myrtle Beach.

"Our team comprised people from LAWGIBB's Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Charlotte, Raleigh and Cincinnati offices," Kibler said. "The South Carolina Department of Transportation has designated Conway Bypass as a fast track, design/build project, and we were able to work with Fluor Daniel to help complete the four phases of this project three months ahead of schedule."

Kibler added that LAWGIBB has provided geotechnical design, construction recommendations and construction monitoring services for the project's bridges.

"We implemented an innovative load test program used at 10 test sites that assisted in the design of bridge foundations," Kibler said. "At each site, an 18-inch square, pre-stressed concrete pile was driven to conduct a static load test, and a companion pile was driven nearby for dynamic load testing."

Both piles were monitored during installation using a Pile Driver Analyzer (POA). The PDA was then used to test the companion pile several times after installation and immediately prior to the static load test. During construction, if a pile didn't meet previously determined installation criteria, a re-strike was conducted after a 24-hour interval, recording resistance with the PDA.

"By establishing a relationship between time and bearing capacity, accurate results were achieved, and the pile could be used," Kibler said. "This facilitated quality assurance during construction and provided significant cost and time benefits. By using the PDA we were able to determine that a pile had been successfully driven within 24 hours, rather than the normal 3-4 days."

Founded in 1946, LAW acquired the prestigious firm of GIBB Ltd., based in Reading, England, in 1989 forming LAWGIBB Group, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company has expanded its scope of operations to include many traditional engineering and scientific disciplines, and today is widely recognized as one of the world's leading engineering, environmental and design consulting services companies. The firm now has more than 3,500 professionals working in over 100 offices around the world with projects in 160 countries worldwide.

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