Search Documents

By Leonhard Weixler, Jean Wehbe, Gordian Ulrich, Franz-Werner Gerressen

"As alternative energy industries pick up speed internationally, and as government regulation and restriction limit the use of impact hammers due to environmental limitation from construction induced noise during pile driving operations, unconventional solutions for more complex offshore foundation installations have become a necessity. Manufacturers and equipment suppliers race to develop alternative techniques to accommodate for offshore foundation construction in various soil conditions and at greater water depth. The FLYDRILL, and the Seabed-Drill BSD are two innovative systems for the installation of offshore monopiles with reduced environmental impact.INTRODUCTIONThe FLYDRILL and the Seabed-Drill were born from techniques in the design and construction experiences gained from land based foundation drilling systems over the past 25 years. As the alternative energy industry ventures into uncharted territory of deeper water for offshore wind farms, fast current regions for tidal energy, and increasingly challenging soil conditions and project complexity, the advancement and development of new innovative equipment system and drilling techniques have become a necessity.The systems described herein show the development of the so called “FLY-Drill” system, and the all new “Seabed-Drilling” equipment applied at the first ever made job using a seabed drilling rig.FLY DRILLThe FLY DRILL method is a completely new concept for bored piling. The drilling unit with rotary head, Kelly bar, and drilling tool is suspended by the hoist rope of the base carrier crane. The hydraulic power for the drill unit is provided from the base crane.The drill head is fixed on the casing with a hydraulically operated clamping system during the drilling operation. When emptying the drilling tool, the clamp cylinders are opened and the complete unit is swung sideways."

Jan 1, 2017

By Louay Owaidat

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Sacramento District awarded a $64 million construction contract in February 2020 to the Maloney Odin Joint Venture for 3 mi (4.8 km) of levee improvements along the Sacramento River East Levee (SREL). This project kicked off approximately $1.5 billion of work to upgrade levees along the American and Sacramento Rivers and widen the Sacramento Weir and Bypass. The project received the 2021 ASCE Region 9 Project of the Year Award. Contract 1 improved levees along five segments of the river, the longest segment being a 2 mi (3.2 km) reach from Garcia Bend Park to the Freeport Intake Facility in the Pocket neighborhood of Sacramento.

Oct 1, 2022

By Emad Farouz

This paper presents a case history of a successful construction-phase pile load test program that optimized the pile design in challenging ground conditions at the Great Neck Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, New York. The improvements and expansion of the wastewater treatment plant included the construction of several new structures to comply with new stringent nitrogen discharge requirements and new design flow. The challenging ground conditions included up to 20-ft thick organic deposits with weight of hammer blow counts and up to 14 percent organic content and tidal ground water that was near the ground surface. The foundation design evaluated various deep foundation alternatives and selected driven closed-ended pipe piles then filled with concrete as the most suitable foundation. The selection process included considerations of cost, risk, vibrations, noise, and schedule. The contract documents utilized an innovative approach of performing an optimization load test program that was implemented during construction to optimize pile lengths and reduce potential vibration and construction schedule. This paper discusses the details of the successful load test program including static testing, dynamic testing, and the innovative contracting approach utilized to implement the construction phase load test program. It also discusses the successful development and implementation of driving criteria for production piles and construction challenges. The successful load test program resulted in savings of several hundred thousand dollars, optimized schedule, and lower environmental impacts.

By Jim Bruce

No answer required. From the drilling equipment suppliers, but the specifications must be tailored to be project-specific. Yes, the sonic technique is very interesting as we said, and it is not so much as an issue of the magnitude of power, it's about the efficient use of the power. The efficiency of the machine is not necessarily related to size so it is best to talk to the two contractors that supply the service about that. I think it can be scaled down but it is quite a big head, so therefore there are practical limitations on the size of the door it can walk through and also the size of the casings and rods that it can use. You might defeat the economic advantages if you were to use too short casing lengths. Boart Longyear have a low head room machine that can work within an 8 foot verical clearance.

Feb 10, 2003

By Andrew Cushing

This paper presents the design and construction of the foundation for a major high-rise real estate development on the west side of Manhattan. Arup was retained by Underpinning and Foundation Skanska to design a secant pile wall as excavation support for a proposed two-level basement of a new 23-story residential building located at 100 11th Avenue and West 19th Street. The secant pile wall will also act as the permanent basement retaining wall for the new building. The site is bounded on two sides by existing structures and is underlain by a thick deposit of very soft organic silt and clay. Therefore, the potential for ground movements and their impact on an adjacent structure bearing on shallow footings were of the utmost concern. This paper addresses the design and construction considerations associated with this secant wall, as well as installation details. Measured wall movements are also used to assess the validity of the pre-construction soil strength and stiffness design parameters.

Jan 1, 2008

By Osvaldo Valdez, Matteo Bertoni, Aem Ragy

The East St. Louis Deep Cutoff Wall project is located in the area of East St. Louis, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from the city of St. Louis, Missouri, along the left descending bank of the river. The project is a fundamental part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) effort to rehabilitate and secure the aging East St. Louis levee system that provides flood protection to approxi- mately 250,000 residents and more than $4.5 billion in economic value. The project was devised and de- signed by USACE as a cutoff wall to be installed in the Metro East Sanitary District levee segment, one of the levee segments that form the East St. Louis system. The contract for the construc- tion of the cutoff wall was awarded in November 2019 to Bauer Foundation, the American subsidiary of the Bauer Group.

Sep 1, 2023

"Every year during the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington D.C., the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) National Geotechnical Team (NGT) takes time to talk about what we are doing in research, training development and policy support. At times, I have jokingly referred to it as the State of the Program Address, but we do see it as an important opportunity to update our transportation partners on priorities and needs for the program.This update is really a snapshot of the program during the previous year, with a look at projects that are currently active. Activities undertaken by the NGT are funded from multiyear roadmaps maintained by the FHWA program and research offices, and reflect trends and opportunities affecting and influencing transportation geotechnics now and in the future. The roadmaps identify activities in research, development, guidance, technology transfer and training that will be accomplished by the NGT through and beyond FY 2020 in eight broadly-defined focus areas: • Extreme events, geohazards and sustainable geotechnics• Performance management• Reliability-based design and construction• Advanced geotechnical modeling• Alternative delivery methods• Design and construction optimization• Site characterization• Quality assuranceThe process to identify focus areas and to develop activities that will be addressed by the NGT is guided and informed through input from the FHWA NGT members, and considers feedback and input from State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), FHWA Division offices, industry and academia. This process is revisited annually to review not only the activities that are currently funded, or will be funded, but also to review the relevance of the focus areas with respect to the future needs of the FHWA, State DOTs and the transportation community.In 2016, the NGT was successful in delivering several products that will advance the state of the practice and that better support policy. Products developed included research reports, design and construction guidance, and training courses. In 2017, the research and program offices will continue to work on projects that fit within our prioritized plan and that positively impact the geotechnical community as a whole. A listing of recently completed and currently active projects is provided below."

Jan 1, 2017

By Lynn Crayne

We used Glyoxal as the hardener, at a final concentration of 10% by volume and therefore 20% by volume in the A-Component. They worked pretty well what we did was we shaved the joints on each of the pipes when we assembled them so they wouldn't rip the packers and then we greased the packers very well going in. We had to replace some but we have any getting stuck or didn't lose any pipes.

Feb 10, 2003

By Gianni O. Chieruzzi

A 400 MW, gas-fed power plant on floating piles and piled raft foundations was constructed in the Province of Moskovskaya, Russia in 2008. The subsurface is characterized by fill underlain by loose to medium dense alluvial deposits, with peat and clay interbeds, a stiff to hard, highly plastic, silty clay stratum of glacial origin, and a stratum of very dense, varved interbeds of sand and silt. More than 800, drilled concrete piles were constructed at the site. The pile length ranged from 15 to 23 meters below existing surface grade, and the pile diameter ranged from 0.9 to 1 meter. Initial analyses by others predicted total power plant settlements of 3 to 4 cm when subjected to the permanent loading conditions. Under a peer review process for the equipment supplier, subsurface investigation and testing were performed to verify the consolidation parameters used for foundation design of the power plant foundation. The parameters obtained in this investigation were used in the 3-D finite-element model ELPLA as inputs for the settlement analysis of the turbine building and power island. The ELPA analyses predicted settlements on the order of 7 cm over a period of 30 years. The actual settlements after two years of monitoring were compared against the model predictions. The rate of settlement and the recompression index were both underestimated in our model. The measured settlements have enabled us to calibrate both of these model parameters so that the model better matches the data.

By Franz-Werner Gerressen

New developments are required each day as our industry becomes more competitive. To improve performance, continue and to ensure future demands can be met. This requires the development of technical support systems that enable a more constant delivery and quality of installation of pile foundations and other applications. For example: assistance systems capable of relieving the machine operator of automating monotonous or repetitive operations. Real time installation control of the production process to manage quality control, or data transfer and reporting systems capable of keeping pace with the digital future. This paper will describe these new approaches and considerations required for these new developments. The paper also describes the equipment which is needed to execute the work under the various conditions and provides references herein. INTRODUCTION The success of a construction site is influenced by a number of factors. Selecting the most efficient and economic methods during the planning phase to defining the right direction. This means having multifunctional equipment available. To ease the usage of this equipment by the operator, uniform operation and control systems are essential. Systems like this can provide uniform handling procedure for more than 20 different installation techniques. Experienced operators are not always available. Therefore, to ease the start for beginners and to support training, numerous assistance systems were developed. This ranges from simple information for controls shown on the monitor avoiding misuse to systems which can partly automate the construction process. Regardless, the best equipment is not enough when the construction is not running smooth. The control system not only helps to organize and coordinate service of the equipment; moreover, it allows the operator to control the quality during the installation process reacting if needed. It allows process optimization as well as documentation which might be required for later negotiations.

Jan 1, 2019

By Lawrence F. Johnsen, Marc J. Gallagher

"Micropiles are small diameter, bored, grouted-in-place piles incorporating steel casing and/or reinforcements. The omission of micropiles from most United States building codes has resulted in the application of varying standards for design and installation. The ADSC/DFI Micropile Committee has developed a proposed section for the 2006 edition of the International Building Code (IBC 2006) covering micropiles. The proposed IBC 2006 micropile code section is presented, along with comparisons to existing micropile codes and guidelines. A discussion section is provided to clarify sections of the proposed code. IntroductionMicropiles, defined as small diameter (typically less than 12 inches outer diameter), bored, grouted-in-place piles incorporating steel casing and/or reinforcements, are becoming common foundation elements for new construction, retrofits, and emergency repairs. Developed in Europe in the 1950's and used in United States practice since the late 1970's, micropiles are typically not addressed in building codes, particularly in the United States. As a result, micropiles are often reviewed by building officials to a variety of standards, including drilled shafts, caissons, cast-in-place bored piles, and concrete filled pipe piles. None of these adequately address the unique design and construction aspects of micropiles. Therefore, it became apparent to the foundation design and construction community that a micropile-specific code section was required.To that end, the International Association of Foundation Drilling and the Deep Foundations Institute (ADSC/DFI) Micropile Committee appointed a subcommittee in October 2003 to develop and submit a proposed micropile code section for the 2006 IBC. The subcommittee members included the two co-authors, as well as Tom Richards (Nicholson Construction Company), Tom Armour (DBM Contractors, Inc.), John Wolosick (Hayward Baker, Inc.), Allen Cadden (Schnabel Engineering) and Matt Niermann (Schnabel Foundation Company). At the time of the writing of this paper, the proposed code section has been presented at the IBC public hearing during which it was modified slightly. Final adoption (or rejection) will be determined by the IBC at the final action hearing in September 2005. The attached code section is the revised version following the public review hearings."

Jan 1, 2005

By Piotr Kozlowski, Stanley L. Worst, Matthew J. Niermann

Circular secant pile shafts were installed along the tunnel alignments for both the Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel project in Akron, Ohio and the Ohio River Tunnel project in Louisville, Kentucky. The diameters ranged from 34 to 51 feet and the depths ranged from 49 to 107 feet. Verticality and concrete volumes were measured on all piles to verify compliance with the design, which for some shafts consisted of a finite element model with multiple openings using unreinforced concrete secant piles. All secant piles were drilled into rock to seal off the groundwater. This paper will discuss the design, construction and quality control of the secant piles for these projects. INTRODUCTION Many Midwest and Northeast cities have Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) systems which discharge pollutants into waterways during wet weather events. One way to remedy this issue is to provide a temporary overflow tunnel. A temporary overflow tunnel connects to the combined sewer system and collects the overflow during wet weather events, storing the wastewater until the event has subsided. After the storm event, the stored wastewater can be pumped to the treatment facilities and processed as normal. Project Background – Akron, OH The Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel (OCIT) project was performed as a result of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Consent Decree with the City of Akron, Ohio. This Consent Decree required modification of the existing Combined Sewer Overflow system. The resulting project consisted of a 27- foot diameter tunnel with multiple points of entry to capture the sewer overflow and prevent it from entering waterways. The tunnel is over 6,000 feet long and is as deep as 150 feet below the ground surface; see Figure 1 below.

Jan 1, 2019

By Timothy Flaherty

We observed the boiling in the water very close to the water adjacent to where we were drilling. That only happened at the very beginning before it was switched to water flushing. Yes, it was performed with water flush.

Feb 10, 2003

By Sastry Putcha, Santosh Mummaneni, Avasarala Swamy

"Inspection of bored pile hole bottom prior to placement of concrete is one of the most crucial element of foundation design and construction, especially for end bearing piles. Pile hole bottoms that are not cleaned well for sediments could potentially result in settlement. Although many projects have specifications in-place for drilled pile hole inspection, they are rarely implemented as the current available tools are either unsafe or cumbersome and costly, thus making it very unattractive for owners and contractors. Further, sometimes the post-construction nondestructive quality control testing such as PIT or sonic logging on piles resulted in unanswered questions related to soft bottom. This generates costly disputes with additional testing including concrete coring and possible repairs. Currently, there are several bored pile bottom inspection devices in USA, namely, SID, DID, and SQUID which can either provide video and photo documentation or measure sediments.“ShaftCam”, a patented advanced Digital Borescope, was invented to address the issues related to pile hole bottom inspection with its ability to measure sediments as well as photo and video documentation. Shaftcam device consists of 8-inch diameter bell with a camera, led lights, air hose connection and penetrometer with digital measurement that are connected to a control power box and laptop through a cable. The bell is fitted with a round clear open fiberglass skirt to form an open chamber. A simple motorized winch frame allows the user to lower the ShaftCam equipment gently to the bottom of the shaft at the desired location. Once the bell with camera is lowered to the bottom of the hole, air is pumped into the clear chamber to displace the water/slurry/polymer and get a clear view of the hole bottom to record the conditions and measure the sediment thickness and resistance. The skirt can also be enclosed and lowered to the desired location to allow for inspection of shaft walls.ShaftCam weighs less than 15 lbs. (6.8 kgs) in water and allows for inspection of the hole by one person in less than 30 minutes. Use of ShaftCam has saved significant time and money and thus allowed owners and contractors to readily accept and implement the quality control measures in many projects in USA over past few years."

Jan 1, 1900

By Jeffrey R. Hill

This paper discusses the use of micropiles for the rehabilitation of the following two structures: the Milwaukee Auditorium Theatre, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Cupples Ballpark Lofts, in St. Louis, Missouri. The paper focuses on the similarities and differences of the remediation techniques used for each structure. The discussion highlights the method of attaching the micropiles to each respective structure. Generally the paper discusses the micropile installation at each project with supporting photos, figures and data. Load testing at each project is also discussed, including the comparison of load test results for each project. The paper will focus on the load testing program at the Milwaukee Auditorium Theatre where high capacity micropiles were designed and tested as friction piles founded in stiff clays and end bearing micropiles in dolomitic limestone. The results of the test were used to determine if the micropiles on the project would be installed as end bearing or friction bearing elements. Strain gauges were used in addition to conventional deflection vs. load data for the Milwaukee Auditorium Theatre project. Other aspects of the paper will include the differences in design methodology for end bearing micropiles in massive dolomitic limestone vs. design in softer, weathered limestone.

Jan 1, 2008

By R. Chowdhury

The relevance of reliability studies for deep foundations is considered in this paper with special reference to pile foundations. Attention is drawn to uncertainties related to applied loads, the load-carrying capacity and the safety margin of a pile foundation. The essential steps in a reliability study are outlined. An essential goal of any study is the determination of the Reliability Index or Safety Index under different conditions of loading and operation. Calculations concerning probability of failure or success require an assumption to be made concerning the probability distribution of the safety margin. The significance of this and other assumptions should be clearly understood. Reliability approaches should be used to complement conventional deterministic studies.

Jan 1, 2010

By Cemal Can Maslak, Vijaya Bhushan Rao, Vidyaranya Bandi, Karsten Beckhaus

A Large Earth Cum Rock Fill, ECRF Dam is under construction at Polavaram in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India as part of an irrigation project. The Embankment crest width of the dam is 12.5m and base width is of approximately 136.75m with a stepped sloping height of 27m on both upstream/downstream sides. Once the 1.2m Thick Plastic concrete cut-off wall is constructed below the dam along the longitudinal central axis to avoid seepage, this magnificent structure will be supported on a series of Deep Mixing Columns and Stone Columns that are evenly arranged under the footprint of ECRF Dam forming a smooth transition of gradually reducing stiffness moduli of treated ground from the center of the embankment, where the foundation stresses are high, towards the edges in order to be able to progressively limit the settlements under the dam to a specified allowable limit. As such the required post treatment stiffness in case of stone columns is 2 times of the in-situ stiffness of foundation soil, whereas it is expected to be 5 times improvement for Deep Mixing as per project specifications. Laboratory testing and Field Trials undertaken successfully to verify the design.

Sep 1, 2022

By A. Flora, E. Bilotta, F. Foria, V. Nappa

"All the typical applications of deep mixing rely on the good mechanical properties of the improved columns to strengthen or stiffen the ground for a number of geotechnical applications.This paper focuses on a completely different kind of deep mixing, carried out in order to obtain columns much softer than the surrounding soil. This kind of deep mixing, named Soft Deep Mixing (SDM), is introduced as an original means to tackle seismic risk, and can be convenient when the existing structure to be protected has a historic relevance that cannot be altered with structural modifications. The idea is that properly assembled layers made of partially overlapped SDM columns, with dynamic impedance much smaller than that of the surrounding soil, will filter and reflect most of the seismic energy.The paper presents the results of some 2D parametric numerical analyses aimed to investigate the seismic performance of this innovative approach. Simplified dynamic inputs (Ricker wavelets, having only one largely predominant frequency) were adopted to better understand the effect of signal frequency. The analyses show that the effectiveness of the soft grouted isolating barrier depends on soil and SDM geometrical, physical and mechanical properties, as well as on the frequency content of the seismic input.INTRODUCTIONPassive structural systems installed at the foundation level of existing buildings are a common solution to protect them against earthquakes. However, installation procedures are expensive and not always feasible, as for instance in the case of valuable buildings. As an alternative, ground improvement techniques can be used to modify ground properties, in order to mitigate the intensity of shaking at ground level. The propagation of shear waves in the ground can be modified by introducing a layer of artificially modified material, having a dynamic impedance (defined as n =p VS, where p is the material density and VS the velocity of shear waves) very different from that of the natural soil. Both very high or very low values of the dynamic impedance of the grouted soil (nt) can be effective in reducing the overall transmitted energy, with the difference that – for a given reduction of the transmitted energy - stiff grouted layers tend to filter the low frequency components of the amplitude spectrum without modifying in a significant way the high frequency components, while soft grouted layers have the opposite effect. Then, ideally the choice of the best grouting technique should be made considering the effects of the different frequency components on the building to be protected. These effects are detrimental for the structure when they are close to its natural frequency: high frequency components result into large structural loads on massive squat structures (high natural frequency), and low frequency components may be critical for tall and flexible structures (low natural frequency). Therefore, the typical procedure of stiffening the uppermost soil layers regardless of the kind of building to be protected is not necessarily beneficial, and for the case of squat structures soft grouting should be preferred. However, this procedure has not been taken into account yet in the engineering practice, and may pose static problems at ground level (i.e. excessive static settlements)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Russell J. Denny

"A 25m deep cut-off wall is required for environmental remediation of a Former Chlor-Alkali Plant. Extensive trials were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the mixes proposed, with the requirements of the cut-off wall to include limiting criteria for hydraulic permeability, vapour permeability and strength, over a 100 year design life. A limited number of field CSM trial panels were installed on a nearby site with similar stratigraphy, and a variety of mixes and mixing methodologies were used, together with the extraction of deep wet grabbed samples from the panels, which were tested for strength, hydraulic permeability and gas permeability. Test results obtained from these trials revealed a trend which allowed the construction methodology to be decided. Further to this, the mix design needed to be resolved, together with sensitivity analysis on the variations in the mix which might occur during construction, as a result of normal unavoidable variations in construction technique. Laboratory sampling would be used at lesser expense, to resolve the final mix design and analyse the sensitivity of the possible mix variations. An initial series of laboratory mixed samples were prepared using soil samples and groundwater obtained from the site, and testing carried out. However the test results in this initial series of laboratory tests could not match the results which had been achieved in the field trials. Closer scrutiny and investigation and rounds of sampling and testing, then revealed laboratory techniques for mixing and sampling which provided a logical way to match the actual field test results. CSM Construction is due to commence soon and will provide more extensive results which can be compared back to the laboratory trials. This project provides a valuable opportunity to resolve methods of laboratory sampling so that they compare well with results from in-situ deep mixing.INTRODUCTIONThe former chlor-alkali plant at Botany, NSW, which operated from 1945 until 2002, used mercury cell technology and brine solution to manufacture chlorine, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite and ferric chloride. Mercury contamination is present in the permeable alluvial soil profile beneath the site. The mercury is present in the form of elemental and inorganic mercury, together with dissolved methyl mercury in the groundwater and soil profile beneath the site and also down-gradient of the site, to depths of up to 25m. Residual clay and sandstone bedrock at approximately 25m depth are relatively impermeable and limit the contamination plume. A cap and contain approach has been recommended by consultants Golder Associates, and this involved a subsurface containment wall, or cutoff wall, to restrict groundwater ingress and egress, and lateral subsurface vapour migration. The cut-off wall is situated on the perimeter of the site, with a total length of 430m and passing through alluvial Botany Sands, with a nominal key into the underlying residual clay or sand stone at 20 to 25m depth. An HDPE liner insert was proposed for the upper 7m of wall above the water table, to further limit gas permeability."

Jan 1, 2015

By Emre Turk, Suat Gullu, Candan Gokceoglu, Ahmet Sirri, Asli Can

In this study, the ground improvement application applied under the live railway bridge's approach embankments in Sivas, Türkiye was investigated as a case study. The soil profile is mainly composed of orangish conglomerate, clay, silty sandy clay, and under claystone, and mudstone units in the study area. As a soil improvement method, the Deep Soil Mixing (DSM) technique based on the principle of simultaneous mixing the ground while injecting with the water-cement mix, was selected. The application of DSM columns is designed to be 45 degrees horizontal, in order to reach the deepest point of the soft clay units for better improvement against settlement. The core samples were taken from the DSM columns and the compressive strength tests were performed in the laboratory. The results were higher than the minimum designed values. It means that inclined DSM columns were applied successfully, and the excessive settlement problem was solved.

Oct 1, 2022