Customer: US Army Corps of Engineers Location: Leone Village, American Samoa Contract Type: Design and Construct

The Leone Village Bridge Replacement Contract was funded to rebuild a bridge that was damaged by a devastating tsunami in 2009. McConnell Dowell’s tender design replaced the concrete piles with much smaller steel H piles and replaced the concrete abutments with a much simpler structure utilising propped cantilever sheetpile retaining walls for the abutments.

Delivering value and minimising impact

McConnell Dowell delivered the Leone Village Bridge Replacement Contract in American Samoa on behalf of the US Army Corps of Engineers, and jointly developed the tender design with design consultant Lyons Associates (Hawaii) for this design and construct contract.

This project was funded to rebuild a bridge that was damaged by the devastating tsunami that struck American Samoa on the 29 September 2009. The new bridge is built as a memorial to the 38 people who lost their lives in the tsunami, some of whom were from the Leone Village.

The client’s specific design comprised of large diameter concrete piles and pile caps (to be constructed within cofferdams) and substantial concrete abutments. McConnell Dowell’s tender design replaced the concrete piles with much smaller steel H piles and replaced the concrete abutments with a much simpler structure utilising propped cantilever sheetpile retaining walls for the abutments.

The award of this contract was due to the substantial cost savings our team presented with our design as compared to the specimen design. The design was also considered advantageous over the client design in minimising the impact of works on the environmentally sensitive region.