As a recognized leader in bridge and tunnel design and construction, Parsons is at the forefront of connecting people and places throughout the world. By uniting form, function, economy, and sustainability through creative design, state-of-the-art technology, and high-quality construction, we have been a part of some of the world’s most exciting projects. Our bridges and tunnels are designed and built to enrich skylines and provide fast, efficient transportation over, under, or through any obstacle. Parsons continues to build a reputation for innovation by delivering cost-effective, reliable solutions, and our proven record for safety and quality is what our customers depend on.
Bridges, from concept to construction
Parsons has completed more than 4,500 bridges across the globe, including complex, conventional, long-span, prestressed, post-tensioned, suspension, cable-stayed, segmental, steel, concrete, and moveable structures, providing communities with signature bridges carrying pedestrians, roads, railways, and pipelines. We are leaders in accelerated bridge design and have served as the designer of choice for design-build projects and disaster recovery projects – reconnecting and reuniting communities when it matters the most.
Our bridges serve as a testament to sound engineering, enhancing transportation systems worldwide. The John James Audubon Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River in St. Francisville, Louisiana, includes a 1,583-foot main span and is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere. It is also Louisiana’s first design-build project. Parsons provided planning and design services for the Sheikh Khalifa Bridge, one of the largest bridges in the Middle East, linking the port district of Abu Dhabi with the cultural district of Saadiyat Island. We served as engineer-of-record on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which serves as the primary link between the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area in Washington, was the first major suspension bridge to utilize the design-build delivery method. Parsons oversaw seismic design and incorporated several innovative design techniques. In addition, we are providing program management for the 5,300-meter-long Messina Strait Bridge, an engineering marvel that will span treacherous waters to establish the long-awaited connection between Sicily and mainland Italy.
Parsons is a bridge design and engineering industry leader, offering many specialized services, including the following:
- Structural health monitoring and inspection to safely extend asset life
- Corrosion detection in suspension bridge cable wire
- Development of weigh-in-motion systems incorporating video surveillance
- Design, analysis, and rehabilitation of orthotropic deck systems
- Seismic design and rehabilitation
- Pipeline bridge design, construction, and inspection
- Accelerated project delivery (e.g., Public-private partnership, design-build, disaster recovery)
Whether simple or complex, our team of bridge and tunnel professionals have the experience needed to meet current and future needs of our customers.
Caldecott Tunnel
Contra Costa and Alameda, California
Tunnels, connecting infrastructure across the globe
In addition to our bridge work, Parsons serves the underground engineering and program management needs of a diverse domestic and international clientele, lending our expertise to projects such as underground utilities, water storage and transportation tunnels, and underground buildings. Our benchmark tunneling projects include the Caldecott Tunnel improvement project, which involves the construction of a fourth bore through the Berkeley Hills, near Oakland, California. Parsons partnered with local and state transportation officials to provide environmental document and design services for this project. We also participated in the Washington, D.C., Metro twin-tunnel program, cited by the American Underground Association as one of the most significant tunneling projects in the past 10 years. Parsons has provided advisory services, performed subway construction, and delivered major highway tunnel projects, ranging from the New York Gowanus Expressway to the English Channel Tunnel. We also participated in the Washington, D.C., Metro twin-tunnel program, cited by the American Underground Association as one of the most significant tunneling projects in the past 10 years.
We offer a host of cutting-edge tunneling techniques to minimize the risks associated with underground structures of all sizes and levels of complexity.
- New Austrian tunneling method (NATM)
- Top-down tunneling
- Advanced hard rock and soft ground tunnel-boring machine (TBM) technology
- Single-pass tunnel construction
- Advanced tunnel waterproofing systems
Industry leaders in innovative, award-winning solutions to everyday challenges
Parsons’ Bridge and Tunnel Division offers the preparation of environmental documents, such as environmental impact statements; studies; planning; inspection; structural and seismic analysis; new design; rehabilitation and reconstruction design; construction engineering; asset management; and construction management. Our projects range from traditional design-bid-build efforts to alternative project deliveries, including design-build and public-private partnership projects, illustrating that Parsons has the flexibility to work with a variety of project financing and delivery methods. Our commitment to quality is illustrated through our work on multiple award-winning projects and proves why Parsons is one of the most widely recognized names in bridge and tunnels in the industry.
On projects modest or massive, Parsons’ Bridge and Tunnel Division provides our customers with highly qualified personnel, price-competitive and innovative strategies, and the dedication that has made us the bridge and tunnel industry leaders we are today.
