ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The Pearl Harbor Bridge known locally as the Q Bridge carries I-95 traffic over the Quinnipiac River in New Haven, Connecticut. The original plate girder structure was built in 1958 and was designed to accommodate 40,000 vehicles per day. When that total approached 140,000 vehicles per day the Connecticut Department ofTransportation decided a new structure was needed. The new twin $635 million cable stayed extradosed bridges are now nearly complete and feature some high load multirotational bearings that were designed for a vertical capacity in excess of 44,400 kN (10,000 kips) which makes them some of the largest bridge bearings ever fabricated in the world. This paper covers the issues surrounding the design, manufacture and testing of these devices. Additionally the testing conducted at the University of California at San Diego’s SRMD facility on these bearings will be discussed in detail.
