Caisson Design And Construction, Upstream Guide Wall, Locks And Dam No. 26

This paper describes the large diameter caisson foundation for the upstream guidewall at the Lock and Dam No. 26 (Replacement) Project. The guidewall is supported on two rows of 1.8-m diameter concrete filled caissons. The 28.8 m long caissons are embedded 15.5 m into the foundation material and have an unsupported length of 12.2 m. This paper describes the philosophy and design decisions leading to this unique caisson design. The construction success and problems for the load test caisson will be discussed. The full scale 13,350-kN caisson load test and the associated lateral load tests will be described and the test results presented.