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By M. D. Riegel, P. B. Pizzimenti, E. M. Zamiskie, Britain A. Materek

"The Skanska/Kiewit/ECCO III team (SKE) in association with HNTB was awarded the design-build contract for Phase I of the Kosciuszko Bridge Replacement Project. As lead designer for the SKE team, HNTB was responsible for the design of the Brooklyn Connector which includes construction of approximately 2000 feet of new staged earth-filled embankments utilizing prefabricated modular retaining walls (T-Walls®). The proposed embankments will be constructed adjacent to and beneath the existing Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) viaduct while the existing viaduct remains in service. Critical aspects of the settlement assessment relating to the soils supporting the existing BQE will be addressed, as their behavior drives the deformation of the viaduct. Furthermore, a construction monitoring program was used to enable the designer to assess settlement predictions and allow SKE to mitigate potential impacts to the existing BQE during construction. Additionally, the methodology for installation of the embankments in a limited access area underneath an active viaduct supported on settlement sensitive shallow foundations will be presented.INTRODUCTIONSkanska-Kiewit-ECCO III Joint Venture, in association with HNTB was contracted by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to design and construct the Phase 1 replacement of the Kosciuszko Bridge Design-Build Project. Phase 1 of the project involves the design and construction of the new eastbound structures of Interstate 278 over Newtown Creek from Brooklyn to Queens. The project runs between Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn and the Long Island Expressway Interchange in Queens (approx. 1.1 miles) and includes the staged demolition of the existing structures."

Jan 1, 2016

By Chris Harnan, Christophe Justino

The European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC) and the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) jointly published Edition 1 of the ‘EFFC/DFI Guide to Support Fluids for Deep Foundations’ in April 2019. This Guide was prepared by a Task Group comprising experts on deep foundations from contractors, materials suppliers, consultants and academics. The Guide builds on work carried out by the Tremie Concrete Guide Task Group and presented in Edition 2 of the Tremie Guide. The Paper discusses and describes the content of the Support Fluids Guide which presents the state of the art on support fluid management, as well as the R&D work currently being carried out and funded by EFFC and DFI sponsors through an ongoing Field Research Study (FRS) as well as a review of academic research linked to the EFFC/DFI joint effort aimed at improving knowledge and guidance on support fluids. The FRS and academic research will help to improve the understanding of relevant support fluid properties including stability of excavations, interface layer formation, effect of filter cake and the development of new sampling and testing methodology. The Paper also presents the initial findings from the FRS program as well as a discussion on the challenging aspects of support fluid management with emphasis on design, performance, testing, and the environment.

May 1, 2022

By Armin W. Stuedlein, Steven R. Saye

The differences between calculated axial pile capacity and the capacity realized during and following installation has long presented a significant concern for foundation engineers and contractors. Such differences have increased in prevalence with the increased use of larger diameter steel pipe piles and the significant increase in design-build contracting. The writers present concepts to close the gap between calculated axial pile capacity and the capacity realized during and following installation of driven pile foundations, including: (1) pile set-up in plastic soils, (2) limitation of re-driving of piles after setup which serves to reduce pile capacity, (3) the use of a vibratory hammer to install piles in cohesive soils disturbs the supporting soils and reduces the pile side resistance capacity significantly, and (4) long pile installation times for open-ended piles can damage the pile side resistance. Examples are presented from practice to illustrate these concepts and to guide pile installation planning to recognize the installation impacts and either consider alternate installation approaches or to properly consider the installation impacts during design.

By Frank Rausche, Scott D. Webster, Rozbeh B. Moghaddam

"Pile foundation driveability is a function of several variables such as subsurface characteristics, hammer type, hammer efficiency, pile type, and plugging conditions. One important phenomenon occurring during pile driving, and yet not well documented and published, is the friction fatigue, where a reduction of shaft resistance is observed as the pile is driven to greater embedment. This paper introduces current soil models developed for the assessment of friction fatigue, and further presents a comparison between predicted driveability obtained from Wave Equation Analysis Program (GRLWEAP) and field driving records. From a literature survey, and review of technical articles, a widely-used soil model known as AH-01 has been selected to analyze the friction fatigue concept. Using a WEAP software, two driveability analysis were completed using the standard approach with setup factors, and adapting the AH-01 model into the WEAP input file. Driveability predictions were compared to the driving records corresponding to a 1676-mm x 44- mm open-ended pipe pile with a total and embedment lengths of 180-m and 119-m, respectively. Results from analyses and the comparison presented in this paper provide further information regarding existing methods for the incorporation of the friction fatigue concept to the driveability analyses, and contributes to a better prediction of driveability of open-ended pipe piles. IntroductionDynamic measurements during pile installation provide more dependable information as compared to results obtained from predictive models used for design. Despite uncertainties associated with a specific project site and foundation type, measured data provides a reliable understanding of the soil resistance and its distribution throughout the length of the pile. Back-calculations or back-analyses based on a series of measured data from a pile driving process could help to obtain reliable models to better predict events related to pile installation process in spite of all variability related to fitted models. One of the widely-used analysis regarding pile driving during the design phase is the “driveability analysis” where capacity, blowcounts, maximum stresses in the pile element, and transferred energy from the hammer to the pile element are predicted using mathematical models along with a software. Such analysis requires relevant information regarding soil, pile, and hammer properties combined with a deep understanding of the level of impact each one of these properties could have on the analysis."

Jan 1, 2017

By Scott D. Neely, Donald R. Clark

"An existing landslide located at the southeast corner of the Telluride Regional Airport has been in an active state of failure for several years. The presence of the landslide has represented an on-going liability for the Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Colorado Department of Transportation. A catastrophic failure of this landslide occurring in a manner similar to that which occurred at the Airport in 1987 has posed an on-going threat to closing Colorado State Highway 145 south and below the slide area. The existing landslide has been characterized as a series of multiple failed block areas located downhill of the airport runway that have occurred in severely weathered Mancos Shale.A total of 12 alternatives were evaluated to mitigate the landslide, including the preferred alternatives of either partial or total landslide removal. However, prior development has left essentially no place on the airport property that would allow for the disposal of the landslide debris for either the total or partial removal alternatives, and the closest off-site disposal area was approximately 40 miles from the site. As a result, in-situ stabilization of the landslide, including a primary system of isolated tie-back anchor plates with strand anchors, and a secondary system of high strength steel mesh and intermediate anchors was selected for the ultimate design of the project to stabilize the landslide in place.For design purposes, geotechnical characterization of the slide area was accomplished through geological mapping, conventional borehole exploration and geophysics using multiple electrical resistivity. The paper discusses the design process utilized and the unique challenges faced one-third of the way through construction when discovery of a survey error required redesign of the entire landslide mass stabilization system using the prefabricated anchors that had already been delivered to the project.INTRODUCTIONTelluride Colorado is located at the toe of the Colorado Rocky Mountains on the western slope. The Telluride Regional Airport is located on Deep Creek Mesa about 5 miles west of the town of Telluride.The landslide is located at the southeast corner of the airport just below an abandoned portion of the quarry access road on a south facing slope. The quarry access road is located below the elevation of the runway and outside the elk fence that surrounds the air traffic area of the airport property. Since the reconstruction of the runway, the access road to the quarry and the construction access road for the reconstruction of the airport runway and safety area were rerouted to stable ground north of the previous access road location and off of the head scarp of the landslide."

Jan 1, 2015

By Michael Arnold, Jignyash Manyam, Yoav Rappaport

The USACE required construction of over 13 miles of cutoff wall at an average depth of 65 feet for the Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD). To meet project requirements, to provide quality control and make sound operational decisions, automated data capture, retention and visualization is crucial. Accurate and complete data management allows the authors to deliver critical business insights and to improve operational efficiencies. The author’s understood the necessity of capturing all their data, and efficiently processing and displaying it for multiple stake holders, for both internal and external purposes. The authors realized early in the project life cycle that data ownership and management is one of the fundamental features of the construction process. The authors developed their own software and use two in house applications; WEB-BGM online portal and, b-project which store rig production information combined with field quality control. b-project is used to create and deliver the Enterprise Database (EDB) to the USACE. Another biproduct of capturing the production data is the generation of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and also business analytics visual interactive display, developed through Microsoft Power BI. The paper focuses on the business process workflow and various technologies employed and lessons learned from the field operator perspective to achieve higher returns on business software operations.

Oct 1, 2022

By Patrick J. Hannigan, Seth Robertson, Frank Rausche, Rozbeh B. Moghaddam

The Top-Loaded Bi-Directional Test (“TLBT”) and the conventional Bi-Directional Load Test (“BDLT”) are full-scale load tests where loads are applied bi-directionally to the foundation element. The BDLT uses an embedded loading source consisting of a jack assembly with one or multiple hydraulic jacks located between two steel bearing plates. As the jack(s) within the jack assembly is/are pressurized, the plates receive the load from the jack(s) and transfer these loads to the foundation element. In the case of the TLBT, the loads are also applied bi-directionally to the foundation element. However, in the TLBT case, the loading source is located above the foundation head. With the TLBT’s non-embedded and reusable load assembly, the loads are applied to the foundation using the steel shaft bearing and base bearing plates cast within the foundation. These plates are connected to the load assembly at the foundation head via Grade 75 or Grade 150, threaded, steel bars. This paper presents comparison results from a full-scale load test performed by both bi-directional load testing methods on adjacent test shafts. Details regarding subsurface conditions as well as test shaft construction and installation are included for the comparison tests. Test results and corresponding analyses are presented and discussed in detail.

Sep 8, 2021

By A. Ortigão, M. Felix, E. Falk, T. Koehler

"Ground improvement techniques such as vibro-replacement or deep soil mixing are fairly young products in the Brazilian geotechnical market. Soft soils in this country are deep, very soft, have low sensitivity and are challenging. In general, ground improvement techniques are increasingly selected as more costefficient and flexible solutions on infrastructure projects compared to the conventionall technologies such as piled embankments, wickdrains with surcharge or jet-grouting. The geotechnical challenge expansion project for the Porto Alegre Airport, South Brazil, involved a taxiway area of five ha of 8 to 10 m of soft clay deposit. The deep soil mixing (DSM) technique was selected as a cost-effective solution to reduce settlements. As part of the design, an extensive soil investigation programme includ ing laboratory and field trials was carried out to define the most economical slurry-recipe, DSM installation patterns and quality control specs. This paper gives details of the field and laboratory trials and present results.INTRODUCTIONThe International Airport of Porto Alegre in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil is located in an area with extensive sediments near to Guaíba Bay. During the different construction phases of the airport over the last decades, the soft clay deposits have been a challenge for the local geotechnical community as well as for the specialized contractors (Schnaid et al, 2001). As part of the most recent expansion scheme, a cargo-terminal with a five ha airplane tarmac area will be constructed."

Jan 1, 2015

By Karen Talbot, Noah Maier, Rob Jameson, Giuseppe Gaspari

A storage and drainage tunnel advancing below I-75 in Detroit, Michigan experienced sudden subsidence. The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was damaged to the extent that its shield, cutting head and extensive interior components needed to be extracted and replaced along with several completed tunnel segments. The tunnel was 16 feet (4.9m) in diameter with crown over 79 feet (24m) deep at the time. The tunneling contractor immediately engaged their designers and specialty subcontractors to develop a scheme to access the machine and repair the tunnel. They required a shaft 99 feet (30m) deep, with unobstructed plan dimension of 50 feet (15m) to accommodate the large components that needed to be removed and replaced. This precluded the application of an internally braced excavation and instead earth support solutions focused on use of a compression ring. Since the completed tunnel section behind the TBM obstructed closure of the compression ring below its invert, this paper describes the innovative access shaft solution employed. A conventional compression ring was constructed using 5 feet (1.5m) diameter drilled shafts down to the tunnel crown. In front of, and to the sides of the tunnel heading, the secant shafts were extended to over 150 feet (46m) depth, creating a horseshoe of support extending 50 feet (15m) below the planned excavation invert. Larger diameter "King Pile" shafts were drilled immediately to either side of the tunnel, overlapped into each end of the secant "horseshoe". The king pile shafts, together with a heavily reinforced ring beam above the crown elevation, acted as a door frame to transfer hoop loads from the incomplete secant arc into reaction supports above and below the tunnel. These oversize king pile shafts were extended and socketed into rock over 70 feet (21m) below tunnel invert. Very tight installation tolerances were necessary to maintain secant shaft alignment to depths exceeding 150 feet (46m). The project operational, geotechnical, and quality data was managed and visualized using a custom GIS interface. This paper will present the design approach employed and review the construction and quality program selected to repair the tunnel.

Oct 1, 2022

By Steven M. Henderson, Zachary D. Jones

The risk of allocation in construction contracts is a primary concern for all parties. For contracts involving subsurface construction the allocation of site condition risk is critical. In the past one hundred years technological advances fundamentally changed how that risk is allocated; yet another shift in this risk allocation may lie just over the horizon due to advances in geotechnical data management. Around the world initiatives are underway to make geotechnical datasets more open and accessible. In the United States some states like Kentucky have already made geotechnical data readily accessible. This proliferation of geotechnical data in the U.S. may impact the allocation of subsurface risk in construction contracts. Many construction contracts contain a differing site condition clause. That clause allows for a modification of the contract price or schedule if the ground conditions encountered by the contractor differ materially from either what was indicated in the contract documents or would be reasonably expected. A contractor, however, is typically not entitled to that modification if the contractor knew or should have known of the adverse conditions encountered. Courts have interpreted the “should have known” language as requiring contractors to make a reasonable site investigation prior to bidding the project. If geotechnical data is available and accessible and reveals the adverse condition the contractor encounters, courts could find that the contractor should have known of the condition and thus will not be entitled to a modification based on the differing site condition clause. Accordingly, the U.S. could be on the threshold of significant shifts in how the risk of differing site conditions is allocated in construction contracts.

Jan 1, 2017

By Robert F. Stevens, Robin Givet, Kenneth Viking

"Summary This paper describes a case of a directional pile installation conducted from an existing oil platform in the Caspian Sea, offshore Baku. Results are presented for 660 mm outer diameter (660 mm OD) conductor piles. Each conductor was equipped with a beveled aluminum toe for directional impact driving and was driven through a 710 mm casing using a Delmag 100–13 diesel hammer and a chaser pile. The 710 mm casings were preinstalled to a depth of 75 m below mud line (75 m BML). The longest impact driven conductor pile on the project was 456 m at end of drive, and reached the terminal depth of 295 m BML.Soil conditions consisted of soft to stiff silty clay to a depth of 30 m BML, underlain by stiff clay to 96 m BML, very stiff silty clay to 200 m BML, and very stiff to hard clay down to 300 m BML.In order to assess the maximum stresses in the conductors and check the performance of the hammer, the driving of each conductor was monitored using a Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA). The hammer fuel setting was adjusted based on the PDA outputs to ensure the conductors were not overstressed during installation. All driving and monitoring operations were carried out from the drill floor.The conductor piles drove easier than anticipated but in the direction predefined by the pre-cut angle of the beveled aluminum toe. The driving system performance was good. Post driving, the SRD were analyzed by either the global method analysis, using WEAP, or by the CAPWAP program.To detect any collision between the conductor being driven and the adjacent wells in production, the well heads were monitored in real time with high sensitivity accelerometers. These accelerometers were connected to an alarm system on the drill floor, triggering a siren and a strobe light should a collision be detected by an abnormal increase of the peak acceleration.IntroductionThe world longest directional impact driven pile was installed in year 2005. The operation was carried out from an offshore production, drilling, and quarters (PDQ) platform located about 120 km east of Baku, in the Caspian Sea.The platform foundation consists of driven piles and 24 slots were available for drilling the wells to the reservoir, located about 3800 m below sea floor. Each slot was fitted with a casing, 710 mm in diameter, running from the top of the jacket to a depth of about 75 m BML (Figure 1). Oil production started in 1997 and by the end of 2003, 14 wells were in operation; 10 slots were therefore still available, either for oil production or for water injection. However, due to larger than expected settlement of the platform, drilling of additional wells was put on hold. After further investigation, experts concluded the settlement was due to an alteration in the mechanical properties of the bearing strata supporting the foundation piles. This alteration was due to either excess soil material transportation, or soil fracture by the drilling fluids (mud), when drilling the first wells. With only 14 wells in production, out of 24 possible, the owner faced a new dilemma: to drill, or not to drill new wells?"

Jan 1, 2014

By Mike Muchard

A design phase load test program was performed at the Broadway Viaduct bridge site to evaluate load carrying capacity and constructability of post grouted drilled shafts. The program included construction, instrumentation, post grouting and load testing of three drilled shafts. Two shafts included sleeve port and plate base grouting apparatus and were post grouted. The third shaft was un-grouted and served as a control shaft for comparison of the un-grouted end bearing. The shafts were 5 feet in diameter with the control shaft at 55 feet in length and post grouted shafts at 55 and 66 feet. SPT borings at the centerline of each test shaft defined geotechnical conditions at each shaft. Test shafts were instrumented with strain gages and concrete integrity was evaluated with crosshole sonic logging. Instrumentation and data acquisition was used during the post grouting operation to fully capture the shaft behavior. Finally, Statnamic load testing was performed on all three shafts to their ultimate capacity. The fine to coarse sandy soils in which the shafts were tipped in were well suited to improvement from post grouting. Grout pressures of 660 psi were achieved with 0.08 inch or less of upward shaft movement. Subsequent Statnamic load tests showed 183 to 192 percent greater end bearing in the post grouted shafts as compared to the un-grouted shaft. The overall result showed a potential savings of approximately 9 feet to 35 feet of drilled shaft length in addition to the increased quality assurance from post grouting.

Jan 1, 2009

By Lance Rasband, Richard Hanke

"Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) started mining on Seattle’s SR99 tunnel on July 30, 2013, working slowly through a 15 ft (4.6 m) thick fiber-reinforced concrete headwall. Once through the headwall, the machine would move through roughly 400 lineal ft (122 m) of jet grout-improved soil at a rate slightly over 6 ft (1.8 m) per day. It was anticipated that once through the improved area, Bertha—the world’s largest tunnel boring machine—would move at a rate of 35 ft (10.7 m) per day. By the end of October 2013, Bertha had mined roughly 430 ft (131 m), averaging 4.73 ft (1.4 m) per day, and had begun mining within native soils. By the start of December 2013, tunneling reached the 800 ft (244 m) mark and Bertha averaged 12 ft (3.7 m) per day, achieving as much as 42 ft (12.8 m) of progress on some days. However, on December 6, 2013, Bertha began to stumble and all progress quickly came to a halt. Preliminary InvestigationInitial reports stated that an obstruction had stopped the machine in its tracks. Malcolm Drilling received an early morning call on Sunday, December 8, 2013, from STP to rapidly mobilize a Bauer BG-50 drill rig with crews to investigate what was hindering Bertha’s progress. Malcolm’s equipment and crews flew into action and were completely mobilized and operational by mid-week. The preliminary investigation involved installation of 10 deep dewatering wells to reduce the hydrostatic head within the ground around the machine and allow STP personnel to inspect the cutter head from within the shaft for presence of obstructions. By the close of December 2013, the wells were installed and the dewatering system was fully commissioned. STP crews were then able to inspect the cutter head and found small fragments of a steel pipe wrapped around the outside of the shield. The steel was apparently from an abandoned 10 in (0.25 m) diameter monitoring well casing previously installed by WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation) to monitor groundwater conditions for the design and planning of this very project. After the steel was cut out of the head and cleared from Bertha’s path, she attempted to move forward but was only able to manage a slow crawl"

Jan 1, 2015

By Filippo Maria Leoni, George Filz, Wesley Schmutzler, Matteo Bertoni

"The US Army Corps of Engineers selected the Deep Mixing Method (DMM) for the required stabilization at the LPV 111 Project (New Orleans, USA). DMM was used for ground improvement/foundation strengthening and consequently to stabilize and support the burden of the new levee. Two different technologies were used: Trevi Turbo Mix (TTM) and Contrivance Innovation Cement Mixing Columns (CI-CMC). LPV 111 is the largest soil mixing project to date in the USA with its more than 18,000 elements installed to a depth of up to 67 feet for a total of 1.7 million cubic yards of treated soil. The preparation and execution of the project presented many challenges from various points of view. The little time available to complete the job led to the simultaneous utilization of eight deep mixing rigs and batch plants which worked 24 hours per day, 5.5 days per week on a stretch of land approximately 5.3 miles long. Given the imposing geographical extent of the project, a four phase laboratory programme and five field validation test programmes, conducted in as many different areas of the project, were completed to design and optimize the grout mixes and the installation parameters. The massive quality control/quality assurance testing programme produced over 500 drilled core holes and over 5,000 tested specimens in order to determine unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and uniformity of the DMM elements. This paper has the purposes of describing the tremendous challenges encountered and providing valuableinformation that may be useful for other future projects, including details not previously published.INTRODUCTIONReach LPV-111 is part of the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System designed to protect the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas from the surge that would accompany a 100 year hurricane event. LPV-111 measures approximately 8.5 km (5.3 miles) long, of which 7.2 (4.5 miles) extend along the north bank of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) and the remaining 1.3 (0.8 miles) run north and terminates at the CSX Railroad Gate. The Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge borders the levee on both sides (Fig. 1)."

Jan 1, 2015

By James M. Tantalla, Jr. Ellman

"Construction of the powerhouse for the Willow Island Hydroelectric Project, located at the Willow Island Lock and Dam, required a 120-ft deep temporary excavation inside the limits of a cellular cofferdam on the Ohio River side of the excavation and a soil-bentonite seepage cut-off wall on the landward side of the excavation. Stability analyses were performed for critical sections to evaluate the stability of the soil slopes and rock cuts using limit equilibrium, tension crack, and buckling analysis techniques. The stability analyses indicated adequate factors of safety through the landside embankment sections, and for the weighting berm soil slopes in front of the riverside cellular cofferdam. However, the results of deep-seated stability analyses through the rock supporting the riverside cellular cofferdam indicated marginal factors of safety for the 100-year flood condition. Consequently, the riverside portion of the excavation required enhanced stability measures, namely the installation of long, high-capacity rock anchors. Also, the dewatering system was modified to lower the site piezometric head to near the top of rock to improve the stability of the rock cuts.Thirty high-capacity rock anchors were installed on the upstream, riverside, and downstream sides of the cofferdam rock cut. The rock anchors consisted of multiple, seven-wire strands designed to provide the full-required design load at 60% of the strand capacity. Rock anchor loads varied from 1,968 to 2,074 kips. The maximum number of strands per anchor was 59. Bond lengths assumed an allowable bond stress of 100 psi based on the rock bond from pull-out tests.Project DescriptionAmerican Municipal Power, a nonprofit organization that owns and operates electric generation facilities for its member communities, has been in the process of constructing hydroelectric power plants adjacent to existing navigation locks and dams along the Ohio River. The Willow Island Hydroelectric Plant was recently completed on the West Virginia bank of the river adjacent to the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) Willow Island Lock and Dam. The plant is on the opposite river bank to the locks, and includes two turbine generating units with FERC rated capacity of 44MW at a 20-foot head differential. The Ruhlin Company of Sharon Center, Ohio was awarded contracts to construct both the cofferdam and the powerhouse. Construction began in mid-2011, and was completed in early 2016."

Jan 1, 2016

By Ryan T. Smith, Anthony Sahj, Alexander T. Darnell

Every second can count when trying to board a departing flight or catch a ride-share to your final destination. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is in the midst of a project that aims to cut about 13 seconds between automated people mover trains (Plane Train) that move passengers between the terminals and concourses. The project involves extending the Plane Train tunnel west from its existing terminus under the domestic terminal. Working from inside non-public areas of the terminal, Keller North America, Inc. (Keller) incorporated systems of micropile-supported steel beams and grillage to both underpin existing columns prior to tunneling and support open-cut excavation at the tie-in of the new to the existing tunnel. Dewatering aided in mining a challenging section at the start of the drive of the mixedface, sequentially excavated tunnel and an automated instrumentation system monitored the performance of the construction and its impact to the terminal. Cut and cover egress and ventilation tunnels required braced support of excavation.

Oct 1, 2022

By Thomas W. Scott, Manh N. Tran

Marine environments present a range of challenges for pile construction. This paper contains a discussion on the design and construction of marine piles for a recent Toll Shipping wharf upgrade in Burnie, Tasmania. The project involved several new structures including mooring, berthing and ramp dolphins supported by driven tubular piles with rock sockets, and an onshore mooring dolphin and ramp abutment supported by bored piles. Through the project, a range of construction challenges were experienced, including availability of tubular piles, the different penetration depths of driven piles into rock, the ability to drill out sockets when the piles were raked, the difficulty in verifying the design intent, latent conditions and ship impacts. The paper will present a summary of the different factors that influenced design concepts for the structures involved in the upgrade, and the challenges involved in the design of the structures. Following this, the paper will describe the methodology used to verify the design (including a pullout test), observations made during pile construction and lessons learned on how to limit risk throughout construction.

Nov 1, 2022

By Jim Slatter, Ben Collingwood

"It is well known that the adoption of an appropriate construction methodology is critical to quality outcomes for bored piles (drilled shafts). Many case studies have been published documenting quality issues that have arisen due to a range of causes involving ground conditions, ground support, drilling and cleaning techniques, groundwater, concrete properties and concreting methods, amongst other things. Despite the body of published information, pile defects remain common in practice. The authors share over 40 years’ experience in the Australian piling industry and have participated in many hundreds of projects involving bored piles in design, construction and testing roles. It is the authors’ experience that many defects are caused by conditions or practices that are known to be problematic, but that are often not recognised or addressed at the time of the works. This paper provides an overview of industry practices and key factors relevant to quality outcomes. The authors draw upon their own construction experience, published case studies and guidelines, and observations from independent pile testing activities they have been involved in across the Australian piling industry. The intent of the paper is to provide a consolidated review of typical industry practices and to highlight key areas in which construction quality can be enhanced.INTRODUCTIONThere are many published studies of cases where bored piles have been constructed and found to have concrete defects. The authors have had personal involvement in many cases where the outcomes and learnings are not publically available. The nature and cause of defects is always dependent on site and project specific factors, and therefore methodologies and materials that produce satisfactory outcomes in certain circumstances may be problematic elsewhere. The process of bored pile construction encompasses the following key areas:??excavation and ground support;??pile preparation and cleaning;??pile reinforcement and fitments.??concrete supply and mix performance;??concrete placement methodology;Each of these elements is equally important and can influence construction quality in completed piles. In the authors’ experience, it is often a combination of seemingly minor issues that leads to significant defects in piles. Conversely, attention to detail in all aspects of bored pile construction is required to produce outcomes of a consistently high standard."

Jan 1, 1900

By Meeok Kim, Paul Beljan, Gordon Chen

"Clinton combined sewer overflow storage (CSO) facility project developed by the Department of Water Environment Protection of Onondaga County, New York, is to improve sewer facilities and infrastructure in Syracuse, New York. The below grade facility will provide a storage of untreated stormwater during highflow periods to be treated later, thus reducing CSO discharges to Onondaga Creek.The CSO system consists of three parallel storage tunnels and two end chambers (west and east chambers) as main underground structure. The storage tunnels are about 850 ft. long, 55 ft. wide, 24 ft tall and located 20 ft deep below grade. The chambers, include above access and operation structure, are about 40 to 55 ft. deep and approximately 60 to 100 ft. wide.Kiewit Infrastructure and Weidlinger Associates Inc. developed an alternative approach for the tunnels to meet the facility completion schedule, strict design guide lines and quality control as an environmental and water tight concrete structure for the project. The original design anticipated use of a TBM machine to bore three parallel tunnels between two previously constructed chambers.The alternative design used a three barrel culvert cast-in-place structure in a cut and cover excavation supported by a soil bentonite wall. The SOE along the jet grouted bottom seal provided a ground water cut off as well.The SOE system is specially designed to enhance the quality of culvert CIP structure construction by providing enough space for a full height construction. Also it further reduces the construction time by having the less squarefootage of jet grout installation. The design of tunnel systems is accomplished effectively through the utilization of soil structure interaction using a finite element methodIntroductionTo avoid construction of an additional treatment plant to handle increases in combined sewage flows, the Department of Water Environment Protection of Onondaga opted to construct the Clinton combined sewer overflow storage (CSO) facility.The Clinton CSO facility provides an environmental friendly mitigation method for combined sewer overflows on Onondaga lake which is located in northwest of Syracuse."

Jan 1, 2015

By Barritt Lovelace

Collins Engineers has been researching and implementing the use of drones on Civil Engineering Projects since 2015. Applications include bridge inspection, asset management, mapping, construction site management and emergency response. Recently this technology was used to map and model construction sites with deep foundations to verify and quantify designs. The ability to collect and use large amounts of data is transforming our world. Drone hardware and software is being used to capture and digitally replicate assets, giving owners unprecedented ability to visualize and manage their projects. Our teams help owners collect and process drone data into deliverables to be analyzed, annotated, stored, and shared. The use of drones can transform the way projects are managed and can improve project workflows. Data collected with drones can be processed into a digital twin of any project site or asset. This digital twin provides owners with a three-dimensional geometrically and geospatially accurate model. These models can be annotated and tagged with information that can be stored and shared locally or on cloud-based platforms. The data can be exported and used in a wide variety of CAD and GIS platforms. Goals When considering the use of UAS for several items need to be considered when establishing project goals. Safety Drones can be used to reduce job site safety risks in two ways. The first is that use of the drone can remove personnel from harm’s way. Surveyors and other project staff will traditionally walk the site to collect survey and other site information. These efforts can be replaced with the use of a drone eliminating much of the need for personnel to be on the job site itself which improves safety. The other way safety can be improved is that a digital model of a job site can be created on a daily or weekly basis that can be quickly analyzed for safety hazards. This analysis could be done remotely by safety officers to identify job site hazards which can then be corrected before injuries happen. Improved Deliverables Perhaps the most important reason to incorporate drones into project workflows it the ability to improve the project deliverables. Drones have the ability to quickly collect large amounts of high quality data which can be processed into orthomosaics, point clouds and 3D models that give engineers and project managers the information they need to make better decisions on design or project management.

Jan 1, 2019