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Presence of a competent, diligent person at the site would have prohibited most fatalities. The top cited violation was lack of protection, that is, benching, shoring, sloping, trench boxes, etc. (29 CFR 1926.652 (a) (1)).

A summary of already-reported results of earlier tests on integral abutments supported by steel H-piles is provided, and a detailed description of further testing is given. The additional tests were performed on an abutment that was consistent with what was still in use by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and was 20% wider than the abutments in the earlier tests. The tests consisted of pulling horizontally a simulated abutment supported by a steel H-pile and restrained against free rotation at the top. Test results clearly showed that the wider abutment was capable of withstanding larger horizontal displacements than the abutments in the earlier tests, although the former performed adequately to satisfy TDOT criteria. In the tests reported here with the currently used abutment width, the abutment-pile was capable of withstanding horizontal displacements at the ground surface well beyond the 1-in. (25.4-mm) maximum displacement permitted by TDOT criteria.

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