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By Scott M. Mackiewicz

This project includes replacement of the historic vertical-lift span Meridian Bridge (U.S. Highway 81 over the Missouri River) that connects Yankton, South Dakota with rural Cedar County, Nebraska. The new 76-foot wide, 1,590-foot long steel plate girder structure required the use of drilled shaft foundations that extended into the underlying Carlile Shale formation. Designers indicated that an individual drilled shaft capacity of about 2,000 kips will be needed at each of the river piers, and based on the subsurface information, 8 to 10-foot diameter drilled shafts extending to about 115-foot would be required for support of the bridge structure. An Osterberg Load Test was performed on one test shaft to determine the ultimate skin friction and end bearing of the Carlile Shale. This paper describes the design and installation of the load test drilled shaft as well as presents the load test results as compared with predicted design values determined using FHWA methods.

Jan 1, 2008

By Terence P. Holman

Micropiles are employed to retrofit existing foundations, including underpinning prior to future construction operations and resupport of existing structures that have experienced distortion and settlement. This paper presents analyses of the two case histories requiring the use of micropiles in these applications. The first case history involves micropiles used to resupport a settled pump station next to an excavation which had suffered basal failure and ground loss. A compression load test pile experienced plunging failure which, after analysis of the strain-gauge data acquired during the test, was attributable to a greater degree of disturbance to the subsoils beneath the site than anticipated. After construction of the micropiles around the pump chamber a synchronized jacking system was used to lift and right the 320 kip chamber structure, followed by resupporting it on the newly constructed piles. The second case history entails the use of micropiles for direct underpinning support of existing columns prior to a utility tunnel installation within an existing high-bay warehouse structure. The design constraint that most significantly affected the successful completion of this project was the desire to bond the new piles into the existing reinforced concrete foundations. As a result of the coring method through the footing, the ultimate bond stress measured during a pullout test was more than twice that assumed in the design. Monitoring of the underpinned columns during trench excavation indicated that the system performance was acceptable. These case histories reinforce the concept that lower capacity micropiles can provide a rapid means to underpin and retrofit existing structures.

Jan 1, 2007

By Satyajit Vaidya, Rudolph Frizzi, Quadri Owokoniran

"This paper presents a case history in the design and construction of high-capacity drilled shafts for the iconic New York Wheel presently being constructed along the St. George area waterfront in northern Staten Island, New York. Although the site is located in an area that offers views of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, and New York Harbor, the variable and challenging subsurface conditions at the site and the structural loading requirements for Wheel erection and service conditions presented geotechnical design and construction challenges. The paper focuses on site and subsurface conditions, drilled shaft design and construction details, results of Osterberg-cell and lateral load testing, and load test data analysis and evaluation.PROJECT DESCRIPTIONThe proposed 630-foot (190 m) -tall New York Wheel (the Wheel) is projected to be one of the tallest observation wheels in the world. Upon completion, the Wheel will be capable of carrying over 1,400 passengers in its 36 capsules. The Wheel site is located along New York Harbor offering views of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, and the New York Harbor; see Fig. 1. The Wheel structure is sited along the waterfront, and served by a 3-story terminal located south of the Wheel in the eastern portion of the site and having a footprint area of about 34,250 sq-ft (3,180 sq-m). A 4-story parking Garage, with a footprint of about 112,840 sq-ft (10,480 sqm), is to be constructed south of the Wheel in the central and western portions of the site.SITE AND SUBSURFACE CONDITIONSThe site’s close proximity to the New York Harbor presented geotechnical challenges because the site is located in an area that was once beyond the historic shoreline of Staten Island. The site is an about 350,000-sq-ft (32,500-sq-m) parcel generally bounded by the Richmond County Bank Ballpark to the southeast, the 9-11 Memorial to the east, Bank Street to the north and northeast, and Richmond Terrace and an associated retaining wall to the southwest and south. A 50-ft (15-m) -wide New York City Transit Easement, with an active on-grade service area and tracks, is located in the southern portion of the site. See Fig. 2 for site location and approximate location of the Wheel foundation footprint."

Jan 1, 2016

By Chunli Wei, Mark Jen, Xiaojun Wang

"After more than 85 years of service, a critical link between New York and New Jersey, the Goethals Bridge over the Arthur Kill waterway, is being replaced with two new parallel bridges. Each bridge includes 1,650 feet long signature steel composite cable-stayed bridge, a 2,789 feet long New York approach and a 1,889 feet long New Jersey approach. The superstructure of each approach is supported on a series of two-column concrete piers and each column is supported on a single large diameter drilled shaft varying from 4.5 to 9 feet in diameter and anchored 45 feet below ground into the underlying rock.A performance-based methodology was followed for the strength and extreme event limit states design of the drilled shaft foundations. The design for seismic loads has been performed using the AASHTO Guide Specifications for LRFD Seismic Bridge Design. For all strength and service loads, the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications were used. Since the longitudinal and confinement requirements in the two specifications vary, the minimum longitudinal reinforcement was based on the more stringent requirements of the two codes. A design example is presented to illustrate the methodology in bridge deep foundation design using nonlinear time-history global analysis results with soil-pile interaction represented by sets of horizontal and vertical nonlinear soil springs along the drilled shaft, based on the soil and rock properties from the boreholes test results. In this paper the design methodology implements strain limits related to earthquake intensities and damage levels to calculate the capacity using XTRACT analysis, which aids designers to adopt applicable provisions that meet specific design requirements.INTRODUCTIONAfter more than 85 years of service, a critical link between New York and New Jersey, the Goethals Bridge over the Arthur Kill waterway, is being replaced with two new parallel bridges designed to carry vehicular traffic and a future mass transit corridor. They include two 1,650 feet long signature steel composite cablestayed bridges with 260 feet tall V-shaped concrete gateway towers (Figure 1). The approaches consist of continuous pre-stressed concrete girders. The New York approach is a single structure consisting of 18 continuous spans, sloping at 4% for a total length of 2,789 feet without expansion joints. Similarly, the longest continuous portion on the New Jersey approach, with a similar slope, consists of 11 spans for a total length of 1,889 feet without expansion joints. The superstructure of each approach is supported on a series of two-column concrete piers that vary in height from 121.3 feet near the cable-stayed bridges to 11.8 feet near the abutments. Each column is supported on a single large diameter drilled shaft varying from 4.5 to 9 feet in diameter and anchored 45 feet below ground into the underlying rock."

Jan 1, 2016

By Peter Smith

One New Change is a landmark retail / commercial development in the City of London. Integral to the structure is the three double storey basement from which the building is serviced. The building construction involved a ?top down? (up down) construction technique to give programme benefits. In addition, the planning authority stipulated that 10% of the energy demand had to be met by Renewable technology. Cementation Skanska has not only delivered the foundation package - comprising secant piling and foundation bearing piles including Cemloc® plunged columns - but, alongside subcontractor Geothermal International, also installed a 1.7MW ground source heating and cooling system using Energy Piles® and open?loop wells to provide the renewable energy. The works were successfully installed and completed within a tight programme, and within the logistical constraints imposed by an inner-city location, concurrent demolition works and multi contractor involvement in the basement construction.

Jan 1, 2010

By Kevin Green, Iván Contreras, Aaron Grosser, Jon Ausdemore, Rachel Leier, Amr Ragy

"Construction of a new tailings dam was required to increase tailings storage capacity at a trona mine near Green River, Wyoming. The new dam was founded on overburden soils underlain by both fractured and competent bedrock. The stored tailings and water had high salt content, resulting in salty seepage water. To reduce the impact of the salty water on groundwater and the Green River, the design of the new tailings dam included a 257,260 SF (23,900 m2) seepage cutoff extending into competent rock.An extensive subsurface characterization was performed prior to completing the design and suitable seepage cutoff methods were evaluated. The approach selected was a full replacement panel using hydromill and clamshell for construction and self-hardening slurry (SHS) for the wall material. Laboratory testing was performed and ongoing monitoring has continued to evaluate the hydraulic conductivity and seepage cutoff performance in the briny environment.The paper includes project background, the collaborative approach and outcomes of the QA/QC program, and the monitoring results for the seepage cutoff wall.PROJECT BACKGROUNDCiner Wyoming, LLC (formerly OCI Wyoming, LLC) owns and operates the Big Island Mine facility near Green River, Wyoming. This underground trona mine has produced soda ash since 1962. The Greater Green River Basin covers much of southwestern Wyoming and extends into northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado. The Ciner facility is located in the Green River Basin, which is part of the Wyoming Basin physiographic province. The Green River runs to the west and the south of the Ciner facility.Beginning in the early 1990s, Ciner primarily disposed tailings underground in mined-out panels. However, in recent years, underground storage has become limited and some disposal has transitioned to the ground surface. Long-term planning revealed a need to expand Ciner’s surface tailings disposal capabilities. Pond 2, a previously permitted disposal area, was identified as the most viable location for a storage facility. The Pond 2 site is directly north of the Ciner plant facilities, northwest of the active Upper Delta tailings storage facility, and northeast of the Green River (Fig 1)."

Jan 1, 2016

By Chris Normand, Paul Volpe, Eric Wey, Howard Perko, Burt Ogilvie, Patrick Murray

"A refinery expansion project for Marathon Petroleum Company in Southern Louisiana required existing medium to large pipe racks to be expanded for additional capacity. Foundation modifications were necessary in order to add levels to the existing pipe racks. New piles were added and existing pile cap foundations were expanded. Several different pile types were considered. Custom designed large diameter helical piles were chosen, because they can be installed quickly with low overhead restrictions, produce minimal soil spoils, and are cost effective. The load capacity required for piles was higher than typical, off-the-shelf helical piles. In particular, the lateral load capacity demand was high due to wind loads of a hurricane prone region. Methods used to design and size helical piles are summarized including capacity to torque ratio estimation for composite helical piles. Pile load testing was performed in order to confirm design capacities of the helical piles under axial and lateral loading. Measured axial and lateral deflections compared well with predicted values. This case history evaluates the effectiveness of modern helical pile design methods within the context of a real and practical example.INTRODUCTIONAs the capacity of modern installation equipment increases, large-diameter helical piles are being used to support higher loads in more diverse applications. Currently, large-diameter high-capacity helical piles are used for electrical power transmission, power generation, high-rise buildings, bridges, and industrial applications. This case study regards a 2.5-mile pipe rack modification project within an existing refinery. One of the many challenges for engineering and construction of refinery revamp projects is determining how to effectively expand the capacity of existing foundations for additional equipment, piping, and other facilities. Custom designed large-diameter helical piles provided an effective solution to the challenges faced when expanding the capacity of existing pipe racks."

Jan 1, 2017

By Tai Luu, Michael McNicholas, James C. McIntyre

The Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA), discovered that an existing sewer pipe had collapsed under the New Jersey Transit Conrail Railroad between Pine Street and Ash Street in Jersey City New Jersey. Immediate action was taken to abandon the pipe in place and install a new sanitary sewer. The borings showed 10-20 ft (3.04 m.- 6.09 m) of competent fill overlaying approximately 8 ft. (2.44 m.) of compressible peat and organics. Groundwater was at 8 ft (2.44 m) below ground level. The poor condition of the soils at subgrade could not withstand the extreme weight of the jacking machine or the thrust force required to push the casing from the launching pit to receiving pit. The support of excavation (SOE) would therefore not only need to retain the soil to allow the jacking equipment to reach subgrade at 14 ft (4.27m) below working grade, but also the back wall of the SOE would need to be sufficiently robust to function as the reaction block for jacking operations. The alignment and allowable tolerance for the jacked casing was minimal, therefore the performance of the SOE was extremely critical to the success of jacking operations. This paper will discuss in detail the design concepts that were developed and implemented by the team to overcome these obstacles. HISTORY The discovery of a collapsed section of an existing sanitary sewer led the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority to act on an emergency contract. The project design team was tasked with developing an abandonment plan for the broken pipe and installation of the new pipe through challenging geology. The new 180 ft.(54.96 m) long, 54-in. (1.37 m) . diameter sewer pipe was designed to be contained within a 72-in. (1.83 m) protective steel casing. The installation of the new sewer pipe would require a detailed understanding of the geology. The geotechnical subcontractor assembled a subsurface investigation report on November 2nd, 2017. It was quickly realized that the only way to replace the pipe was with a jacked pipe system since the large grade change and the Conrail Right of Way created no other alternative. Delaying or closing the railway was absolutely not an option as that particular railway served as the main heavy-haul route to and from Jersey City. It became apparent that a major obstacle to pipe jacking was the challenging geology present across and beneath the proposed sanitary sewer. The following challenges faced the design team prior to the installation of the replacement pipe:

Jan 1, 2019

By John Dunn, Matt Hawley, Kashif Butt, Nicholas Gura

"This paper presents the results of a static load testing program completed on helical pile foundations for the replacement of high voltage transmission line tower structures. The foundations were part of the Northeast Grid Reliability Project (NGRP) for the Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSE&G) near Newark, New Jersey. Structure foundations “anchor bolts down” was a design build contract model with the superstructure as bid-build.The soil stratigraphy along the alignment generally consisted of fill over about 10 ft of organic deposits underlain by up to 260 ft of normally consolidated glacial lake clays and silts. Additional project challenges included working under/adjacent the existing live high voltage lines, narrow site access due to environmental permits, foundations in a tidally influenced area, and pile projections in the order of 10 feet to meet the 10 year flood level requirements.The helical piles were constructed of 12.75 inch diameter open ended pipe piles with 36 to 40 inch diameter helices. A total of seven static load tests (compression and tension) were completed on 60 ft and 90 ft long piles, using both welded and mechanical pile splices. To evaluate pile-soil setup in the sensitive fine grained soil and determine representative longer term installation torque factors (Kt) for the production piles, the static load tests were performed 7 to 49 days after pile installation.Helical piles were found to be the most cost effective foundation alternative for this project. The required length of helical piles was less than other alternatives for similar allowable axial capacity. Helical piles with mechanical splices were installed for the varying structure foundations including tangent and heavy deadend, to a deadend monopole. Installation of 448 production piles (34,320 linear ft) was completed in three months. The installation timeline was critical to meeting the semi-annual PSEG outage for switching the old and new structures. Helical piles employing a mechanical splice resulted in an efficient and effective foundation solution for the conditions encountered on the project."

Jan 1, 2017

By Frank Albrecht, Brian McCarthy

"The Ararat Terminal Station (ARTS) is located 190km to the north-west of Melbourne, approximately 1.7km to the north of Elmhurst Township in the Pyrenees region of western Victoria, Australia. The site occupies an area of approximately 7.2 hectare of farmland. The electricity generated by the Ararat Wind Farm is directed to the ARTS terminal station before being connected to the grid. The ARTS structural design includes more than 180 steel yard support structures, three 25m-tall gantry ‘A’ frames, three modular control room buildings, a precast transformer bund, precast fire wall structures and related foundation design. Innovative driven engineered glue laminated timber (glulam) piles in a cruciform shape were used to reduce the foundation construction time, cost and the amount of concrete used in the project. It is the first time that engineered timber piles made from farmed Australian pine trees have been used in a large-scale environmentally-friendly project. Durability of the timber was achieved by H5 treatment and the use of reinforced concrete pile caps to protect the cruciform timber piles at the ground line. A pile-driving sequence was developed based on field trials. The lateral load capacities of the piles were estimated using engineering principles and from full-scale tests in the field. This paper provides an overview of details of engineered timber cruciform piles, durability of timber piles, design information, pile construction procedures, pile-driving procedures, the testing protocol, test results and validation. The test results were compared with predictions from several methods. In addition, potential future applications of similar systems in other infrastructure projects, and opportunities for future improvements are discussed. The structural aspects of this project were presented in a previous paper at the World Conference on Timber Engineering in Vienna in August 2016. See http://wcte2016.conf.tuwien.ac.at/home/ for further information."

Jan 1, 1900

By Gerry Houlahan

"The 2015 Outstanding Project Award (OPA), which recognizes the superior work of DFI members, was awarded for the San Francisco- Oakland Bay Bridge New East Span. The award was presented to representatives from Caltrans and the T.Y. Lin International/Moffatt & Nichol Joint Venture at the DFI 40th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in Oakland, Calif. A committee selected this project based on size, scope and challenges of the project; degree of innovation and ingenuity exercised; and the uniqueness of the solution to the difficulties of the job. A bridge across the bay between San Francisco and Oakland was proposed as early as 1872, but it took until November 12, 1936, until it became a reality. The bridge spans to the west of Yerba Buena Island were conventional suspension spans, while the east spans used a steel cantilever truss design and simple steel truss spans. This double-deck bridge served the Bay Area well until 1989. In that year, the magnitude 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The resulting interruption to service across the bay demonstrated the vital role this bridge plays in the economic and life safety activities of the Bay Area. The project owner, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), determined that the safest, most cost-effective solution was a total bridge replacement. The Engineer-of-Record, T.Y. Lin International/ Moffatt & Nichol Joint Venture, working closely with Caltrans, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the California Transportation Commission (CTC), was charged with developing a comprehensive design strategy that met the project’s stringent criteria for seismic safety. These criteria included the new bridge’s designation as a regional Lifeline Structure that must open to emergency traffic shortly after the occurrence of a 1,500-year return period earthquake"

Jan 1, 2015

By Steven E. Darnell, William W. Haasz, Brandon T. Buschmeier, Frederic Masse

"Landfills often cover expansive areas in locations where large building facilities or infrastructure is in high in demand after the land has been reclaimed. Most landfills have soil or fill properties that vary widely over small distances; combined with the strict guidelines and restrictions for the removal and treatment of soil or material that is on site, these projects can be a major challenge for any prospective developer. In order to make landfills suitable for the construction of any project it is necessary to conduct a detailed evaluation of the subsurface conditions. Ground improvement techniques are among the most typical methods for making reclaimed landfills suitable for the construction of any major project. The paper will discuss the approach that was taken to support a proposed warehouse in Elizabeth, New Jersey using Controlled Modulus Columns Rigid Inclusions (CMC Rigid Inclusions), which are grouted, auger-displacement elements. Additionally, we will discuss the use of Dynamic Compaction (DC) that was performed in areas outside the proposed warehouse footprint. Through the combination of CMC rigid inclusions and DC, the general contractor’s project schedule was expedited, the costs to support the warehouse were economized, and the anticipated settlement of the parking lot areas was drastically reduced. Furthermore, the paper will outline the benefits of using CMC rigid inclusions and DC methods in order to minimize the impact of working with contaminated soils from a landfill.OVERVIEW OF THE ELIZABETH WAREHOUSE PROJECTOver the past several decades the foundations industry has seen an increase in demand for the support of developments on reclaimed landfills; particularly, on the east coast where many landfills were capped before the 1980’s and steady population growth and city expansion have caused high demand for this now highly desired real estate. Unfortunately, these landfills, often as large as twenty (20) or more acres present tough geotechnical and environmental challenges for Owners planning to develop or build structures of any size on the reclaimed land. Consequently, the options for building on reclaimed landfills can quickly become cost prohibitive.Site SpecificSelected by a developer for the location of a future warehouse, the 29 acres (114,424 sq-meters) project site is located in Elizabeth, New Jersey and demonstrates the complexities of designing over a once reclaimed landfill. The landfill was used for municipal solid waste (MSW) consisting of trash, wood, metal, glass, plastic, brick, concrete fragments, and other types of debris. This landfill was capped in the 1960’s, and developed in the 1970’s for a warehouse. The new project included the demolition of the existing warehouse and the development of the site to be repurposed for a new 481,650 sq-ft single-story warehouse, surrounded by paved parking and truck loading areas. Figure 1 below, shows an overview of the project site layout."

Jan 1, 2017

By Benjamin Jennings, Jason Herron

In the summer of 2016 Xcel Energy experienced a storm event that resulted in the collapse of approximately 8.5 miles of a 345 KV transmission line near Rogers, Minnesota. In design of the new transmission line, Xcel Energy determined that ten tower locations would be replaced with steel H-frame structures supported by helical piles instead of wood H-frame structures supported by driven wooden piles. A steel foundation was proposed for the towers due to time constraints and site conditions unfavorable to large pile driving equipment. Xcel Energy contacted the helical pile manufacturer Hubbell Power Systems, Inc. (HPS) for aid in the design of a complete steel foundation for the structure legs. With the shear, moment, and axial loads provided, the manufacturer used pile group modeling and axial capacity software to design a four helical pile group; and used 3D modeling and finite element software to design a moment resistant grillage to connect to the tower base. The steel grillage utilizes a new moment resistant connection and clamp system to transfer loads from the piles to the grillage. This connection provides a true fixed head condition and reduces lateral deflection issues typical to smaller diameter piles in pinned head connections. The clamp is designed to deform the helical pipe pile shaft and transfer the full axial load of the structure through the mechanical and friction connection. The helical piles and the moment resistant grillage were manufactured with shorter than average lead times and a helical pile installation contractor performed the installation. An expedient plan of install was developed by the contractor that resulted in an average installation rate of one complete set of tower foundations per day. The design of the moment resistant grillage, clamping system, and excellent foundation construction by the contractor provided an expedient and efficient foundation system to be discussed in this paper.

Jan 1, 2017

By Maurizio Siepi, Paul van Horn, John Coupland, Julian Crawley

"TTMJ is the acronym for the Slurry (Diaphragm) Wall Tension Track Milled Joint currently in development as part of the European Union's innovative and far-reaching Horizon 2020 initiative (FTI Pilot-2015-1 720579). The TTMJ Project has been specifically set up to deliver this versatile new step-forward in Slurry Wall technology. The TTMJ System is protected by patent in Europe and the USA, and is currently under development by a consortium comprising Trevi SpA (Italy), Arup (Netherlands) and CCMJ Systems (UK). The principles of the TTMJ System together with the installation process are herein described in general terms. The system is still under development with field trials scheduled for early 2018, so some of the detail will not be disclosed at this stage. It is the intention of the Authors that the results of these field trials and a more complete description of the System will be presented in a paper we intend to submit for the DFI/EFFC International Conference on Deep Foundations and Ground Improvement to be held in Rome, Italy in June 2018. The final section of this paper explains how the TTMJ system can be applied to a common application of slurry wall construction; deep circular or multi-cell shafts. The system can be used to construct shafts more easily and at less cost than current methods. It also allows shafts with smaller internal dimensions to be constructed than is currently practical.INTRODUCTIONCCMJ Systems (UK) realised that an innovative new approach to forming joints in both Slurry (Diaphragm) Walls and Secant Pile Walls would provide greatly improved joint integrity to greater depths, to the overallbenefit of retaining wall quality, across the world-wide foundations industry.In particular this new system is designed to:??Increase the effective depth range of Slurry Walls (especially walls excavated by grab) and Secant Walls??Remove the requirement for Stop-ends or Joint Formers??Allow for a Shear Key at the joint??Allow for a Water Stop to be installed at the joint??Permit Continuous Reinforcement across the joint??Optimise Reinforcement Density and hence Concrete Flow??Facilitate joints in corner panels eliminating the need for “L” shaped cages and reducing largesingle-pour concrete volumes and slurry storage capacity requirements.??Enable the construction of smaller-dimensioned square and circular deep shafts (especially useful for city-centre sites) than is possible with current methods.CCMJ Systems approached other industry specialists with a view to forming a development team to explore the possibilities for this new technique."

Jan 1, 2017

By Jonathan Ernst

The Bruce Museum is an art, science and natural history museum in Green- wich, Connecticut. The museum was originally built as a private residence in 1853, and has undergone several reno- vations, the most recent dating to 1992. The current renovation is part of a $60 million capital expansion plan for the "New Bruce." The renovation includes a 43,000 sf (4,000 m2), three-story addition that will more than double the size of the museum, adding space for new ex- hibitions, education and community spaces. The proposed bottom of the foundations for the renovation sit up to 16 ft (5 m) below the Bruce Museum's existing shallow foundations.

Aug 1, 2023

By Bernard B. Vannoy, Howard W. Gault, Ramesh Bobba

"Treviicos-Soletanche Joint Venture (JV) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have installed a 3800-foot long, 275-foot deep and minimum 2-foot wide secant pile barrier wall at Wolf Creek Dam in Jamestown, KY. This paper describes the methodology employed by the JV and USACE to evaluate the overlap, thickness, and position of the barrier wall. It addresses the contractual requirements, positional uncertainty, and evaluation procedures.These procedures evolved over the course of the project as various issues were identified and procedures developed to evaluate these issues. During the project, it became clear that the JV and USACE could ascertain that the wall thickness and overlap requirements could be met if the overlap based upon Koden data was at least 0.7’ in the left-right direction. For a small number of piles with overlaps between 0.5’ and 0.7’, the piles are contractually compliant yet contain a minor degree of uncertainty in the overlap. Initially, the USACE assumption was that the amount of uncertainty of verticality measurements would require more than a 1-foot measured overlap in the left-right direction to confirm an actual, contractual 6-inch overlap. With time and experience, the limit of measured overlap was reduced in accordance with greater understanding of the equipment capabilities and tolerances. Other lessons learned include the need for Quality Control/Assurance personnel to collect data at the same starting point for every pile.For every pile the JV and USACE compared analog and digital data to provide confidence that the correct digital data was used for overlap calculations. Perhaps the most important lesson learned was the importance of the JV and USACE working together and sharing all data. Overlap analysis was performed by the JV’s Barrier Wall Specialist and a small number of USACE personnel. This resulted in a high level of experience and expertise within a small group.IntroductionThe Treviicos-Soletanche Joint Venture (JV) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have installed a 3800-foot long, 275-foot deep, and minimum 2-foot wide secant pile barrier wall at Wolf Creek Dam in Jamestown, KY. The wall was installed through a 6-foot wide Protective Concrete Embankment Wall (PCEW) which was installed two feet into rock. The PCEW protects the embankment from erosion of drilling fluids during subsequent operations. Below the PCEW the piles were installed to a specified elevation (staggered at 475’ and 473’ below the 748.2’ work platform). The Ordovician limestone and shale bedrock is flat lying with few vertical fractures. These conditions facilitate the advancement of pilot holes with very low deviations (with considerable credit to the JV’s drillers and steering engineers). The pilot holes were spaced on 31.5-inch and 35-inch spacing. Subsequent enlargement of the pilot holes to 50’ resulted in a continuous wall. This paper addresses the requirements and procedures to assure that the wall was as wide, deep and continuous as specified."

Jan 1, 2015

By Gisele R. Passalacqua, Taylor Malangone, Subhash Mahali

New York City is a busy metropolis with 8 million people. New York has the largest public transportation system with 6 million riders a day throughout the subway system. Keeping this infrastructure in service is vital to the overall economy of the region. Hurricane Sandy proved to have a devastating impact on infrastructure in Metropolitan New York. New York City Transit is on the forefront to provide resiliency and maintain its facilities with the use of flood protection systems. This paper presents flood protection structures utilized at Hammels Wye substation site in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. The site is in close proximity and surrounded by water. The subsurface conditions consist of loose silts overlain by medium dense glacial sand. The high groundwater level combined with limited access to the site presented challenges. A flood protection system consisting of flood walls was recommended for this site. In certain areas the flood walls consisted of retaining walls supported on micropiles. For other areas, the flood walls consisted of steel sheet piles with jet grout columns to reduce seepage below the walls. The effect of driving sheet piles with vibratory hammers on nearby existing structures is always a concern. Recently, hydraulic hammers with variable moment/frequency are being considered as a mean to reduce vibration effects during driving. In this project, an instrumentation testing program was performed to measure peak particle velocity during sheet pile driving utilizing the variable moment vibratory hammer. Plots of peak particle velocity versus frequency were generated. This paper will present the design aspects of the flood walls and construction challenges during installation. This will prove beneficial to engineers in both design and construction fields.

Sep 8, 2021

By Melinda J. Hummel, Zachary T. Smith, Nathaniel Witter, Nina F. Carney

The revitalization of Pittsburgh’s historic Strip District has led to the redevelopment of existing properties and the development of new properties. At one time, the Strip was home to wholesale market products. Now, the historical warehouse buildings are being converted to multi-use residential and commercial properties. One such property, 1600 Smallman Street, consisted of 1 to 6-story connected buildings that housed night clubs, retail shops, and office space. The lower story portion of the building, on the southwest side of the property, was torn down to make room for a new 5-story- parking garage with street level retail space. The remaining 6-story-building, on the northeast, was gutted to be renovated into high-end condominiums, keeping the exterior historical building facade.

By Davide Grassi, Joel Joaquin Cortez, Giovanni Spagnoli, Nick Chittenden

Grouting is a technique used to improve the engineering properties of soils and rocks. Grouting techniques are classified under different criteria: injection method used, type of grout material injected, typical application, and the sequence of construction. The best-known criterion is the mode of entrance or admission of grout into the soil or rock. It is possible to identify therefore several grouting techniques: compaction, fracture, jet/mixing and permeation. The function of penetration grouting is to reduce the permeability of the soil or rock and/or increase the strength and density. In order to avoid displacement, permeation grouting shall be carried out at carefully controlled pressures and flow rates, using appropriate grouts. Colloidal silica is an innovative binder which has low viscosity (about 5 m·Pas), it is not toxic (pH lower than 9) and it is workable between +5°C and +45°C. This paper presents several case histories: a consolidation job related to the installation of a new sewer in North Italy in cohesionless soils, water stopping injection in a weathered granitic bedrock in California, permeation works in the US in sandy soils to improve excavation and the installation of sheet piles in the UAE. Results show that the colloidal silica an innovative and robust technology to perform grouting in very fine soils where conventional binders or micro-fine cements cannot penetrate.

May 1, 2022

By Filippo Maria Leoni, Wesley Schmutzler

"Deep Mixing Method (DMM) for the Rio Puerto Nuevo Project in San Juan was chosen by the Corps of Engineers to improve the soils adjacent to a 90 inch forced sewer main relocation and to improve the soils for the base of a new drainage channel. The project is located just east of San Juan and south of the Horizon Port. The soils to be improved consisted of fill, marine clay, organics (peat) and the foundation clay layer. A preconstruction soil investigation campaign was performed to assess soil properties and to retrieve samples of the different soil layers for the laboratory Bench Scale Testing program (BST). The BST was conducted using various binder contents and water/cement ratios in each of the soil types; the selection of the different combinations and dosages was based on past extensive experiences on similar materials. Following the laboratory program, a full scale Field Test (FT) was done installing several DMM elements to verify the results of the BST and fine tune the construction parameters. Each element consisted of two 5.5 feet diameter overlapping mixing augers installed simultaneously to a depth of approximately 60 feet using a SOILMEC SR-90 dual axis drilling rig. The FT construction and post-construction coring results showed significant differences between the lab study and the actual field conditions. This paper will highlight these differences and the importance of performing both pre-construction laboratory and field tests in order to ascertain the proper mixing parameters in the different soil layers.IntroductionThe Puerto Nuevo project consists of the stabilization of a major drainage channel using Deep Mixing Method (DMM) and the relocation of a 90 inch forced main sanitary sewer outfall. The first portion of this project was a 40 x 16 x 2,000 foot box culvert installed in 2004. In order for the drainage system to be completed and function properly, the 90 inch forced main needed to be lowered about 20 feet to allow for proper drainage.DMM was chosen by the US Army corps of Engineers to stabilize the drainage channel as well as improve the soil under the relocated sewer main. The overall layout of the project is shown in Figure 1. The DMM is arranged in different zones (A through E) with variable top and bottom design elevations as can be seen in the typical cross section for ZONE A and B as an example. (Figure 2) The total amount of soils to be treated by DMM is approximately 84,000 cubic yards up to a maximum depth of 57 feet from ground surface and an Area Replacement Ratio of 100%.The equipment used to perform the DMM is a Soilmec SR90 twin-shaft jet assisted deep mixing rig (Figure 3) coupled with a LODOS 30 grout plant and two Soilmec 7T-500J high pressure pumps."

Jan 1, 2015