Variable Loads for Foundation Design – Experience from the A14 Project

The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement scheme required the construction of 28no new structures on piled foundations. The substructure and superstructure design was the result of close cooperation between bridge and geotechnical designers. This paper describes the approach for deriving variable loads for foundation design through consideration of average operating conditions typically appropriate to foundation limit states rather than reliability-based maximum envelope conditions appropriate for bridge structures.