Dear Members:
The next meeting of the SEAoT San Antonio Chapter will be held on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026. We will be hosting our meeting at Old San Francisco Steak House.
Topic: The New Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge Project
Summary:
This presentation describes the design and construction of the new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge project which has recently been opened to the public. It includes a listing of the design and construction team members, the history of previous Corpus Christi Harbor Bridges and a historical review of the new bridge. Technical details regarding the large diameter drilled shafts for the main towers and driven prestressed precast concrete (PSPC) piles for the approach spans are elaborated. This includes the TxDOT geotechnical design requirements and foundation quality control measures regarding the 10’ diameter drilled shafts and the 24” square PSPC pile capacity estimation with load test verification. Statnamic load tests for the concrete piles, thermal integrity testing for shaft placement verification and PDA capacity and integrity verification measures for the concrete piles are discussed. A description of the soil conditions across the project site including deep soft soil and expansive soil areas and evaluation procedures. The presentation outlines ground improvements required such as deep soil mixing and rammed aggregate piers in soft soil areas for retaining walls and tall embankment areas. Finally, a general discussion from our perspective of the causes and remedies of the various project delays is provided.
Presenter: Mr. Philip L. Johnson, P.E., Senior Geotechnical Engineer / Principal Consultant, Intertek – PSI
Mr. Johnson received a BS in Geological Engineering in 1984 from New Mexico Tech and has over 41 years of consulting engineering experience throughout New Mexico and south, central and west Texas. Mr. Johnson is a registered professional engineer in Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. In 1989 he coauthored a paper, “A Classification System of Carbonate Indurated Soils” with his mentor, Bill Kingsley. He’s been with Intertek-PSI for 8 years and practicing geotechnical engineering in San Antonio for 26 years. He enjoys cycling and swimming and cooking and traveling with LeNora, his wife of 41 years.
Presenter: Mr. Dexter Bacon, P.E., Principal Engineer, ARIAS
Dexter began his engineering career in 1978 after graduating with a BS degree in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He has worked primarily as a geotechnical engineer in Texas since 1979. His project experience has been throughout Texas, primarily in Central and South Texas. He has served as the Geotechnical Engineer of Record for numerous transportation, municipal, oil and gas, mining, commercial buildings and government projects including the new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge project. Dexter has extensive experience with various deep foundation types, including driven concrete and steel piling, drilled shafts, auger cast piles, and DeWaal-type foundations. He also has performed many forensic engineering projects regarding building, pavement and marine structure distress issues and is considered an expert regarding expansive soils, soft soils and lateral soil movement problems.
Dexter and his wife Diane lived in Corpus Christi from 1979 to 2000 and then moved to San Antonio in 2000. They have one son, Brian, who currently also lives in San Antonio. Dexter’s main hobbies are gardening and fishing. His love for fishing has included many beach trips over the years with family and friends on the Padre Island National Seashore usually at or near Big Shell.
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Cost:
- $30 for Members
- $40 for Non-Members
- $15 for UTSA Faculty and Students
Proceeds from meeting dues will contribute to the end of year fundraiser event.
Payment:
Registration will be open until Friday, May 15th at 12pm (CT).
After registering, we encourage you to pay online using one of the following options:
Please note that after payment, your invoices will still show a balance until payments have been reconciled with PayPal. This will occur prior to the meeting date.
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Sincerely,
SEAoT San Antonio Chapter
