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By Allan Herse

"The years following World War II were nation building years in Australia. Soldiers returned from the European and Asian theatres of war sparking a major infrastructure construction boom. Dams and highways were built to keep up with the growth of towns and cities, which were bursting at the seams, not just from the returning soldiers settling down with their families but also from the many waves of refugees from war torn areas around the globe.The demand for electricity generation and distribution required for the growing population sparked the expansion of the national power grid with new high-voltage transmission towers appearing across the landscape. However, with an original design life of 50 years, those transmission lines constructed in the 1950s are nearing, or are at the end of, their anticipated service life.In recent years, the Australian power distribution network has changed from a period of high construction activity in greenfield high-voltage lines to a period that is now focused on reducing cost and maintaining existing assets. Replacing aboveground structural members and electrical components is relatively simple even under live conditions. However, the replacement or repair of tower foundations, many of which are in remote locations, has been a problem that has caused difficulties for power utilities trying to operate on a budget while also avoiding costly and unpopular power outages.With thousands of miles of aging transmission lines needing life extension work, Piling & Civil Australia (PCA) has developed a patented system of upgrading the foundations with micropiles while under live-line conditions without requiring costly outages. The system is seen as revolutionary by power utilities, allowing the utilities to extend the life of their existing assets until demand increases to warrant the construction of a new line. PCA has been working on a potential solution with Powerlink Queensland for the past 5 years to develop a quick and cost-effective foundation replacement system that can extend the life of its existing asset base anywhere from an additional 5 years to 50 years.With design support from Quanta Subsurface, USA, PCA recently completed the foundation replacement of 26 lattice tower foundations in the Townsville region of North Queensland. Using a steel bracket (patent pending) to connect hollow bar micropiles to the lattice towers, the installation techniques that were developed enabled the micropiles to be installed within a tolerance of less than about 3/8 in (10 mm) through the existing steel grillage foundation while maintaining live line conditions. The project was an Australian first and a trial by Powerlink for wider use within its network, and it was delivered on time and within budget at one tenth of the cost of traditional methods."

Jan 1, 2017

By Allan Herse

"The years following World War II were nation building years in Australia. Soldiers returned from the European and Asian theatres of war sparking a major infrastructure construction boom. Dams and highways were built to keep up with the growth of towns and cities, which were bursting at the seams, not just from the returning soldiers settling down with their families but also from the many waves of refugees from war torn areas around the globe.The demand for electricity generation and distribution required for the growing population sparked the expansion of the national power grid with new high-voltage transmission towers appearing across the landscape. However, with an original design life of 50 years, those transmission lines constructed in the 1950s are nearing, or are at the end of, their anticipated service life.In recent years, the Australian power distribution network has changed from a period of high construction activity in greenfield high-voltage lines to a period that is now focused on reducing cost and maintaining existing assets. Replacing aboveground structural members and electrical components is relatively simple even under live conditions. However, the replacement or repair of tower foundations, many of which are in remote locations, has been a problem that has caused difficulties for power utilities trying to operate on a budget while also avoiding costly and unpopular power outages. With thousands of miles of aging transmission lines needing life extension work, Piling & Civil Australia (PCA) has developed a patented system of upgrading the foundations with micropiles while under live-line conditions without requiring costly outages. The system is seen as revolutionary by power utilities, allowing the utilities to extend the life of their existing assets until demand increases to warrant the construction of a new line. PCA has been working on a potential solution with Powerlink Queensland for the past 5 years to develop a quick and cost-effective foundation replacement system that can extend the life of its existing asset base anywhere from an additional 5 years to 50 years.With design support from Quanta Subsurface, USA, PCA recently completed the foundation replacement of 26 lattice tower foundations in the Townsville region of North Queensland. Using a steel bracket (patent pending) to connect hollow bar micropiles to the lattice towers, the installation techniques that were developed enabled the micropiles to be installed within a tolerance of less than about 3/8 in (10 mm) through the existing steel grillage foundation while maintaining live line conditions. The project was an Australian first and a trial by Powerlink for wider use within its network, and it was delivered on time and within budget at one tenth of the cost of traditional methods."

Jan 1, 2017

By Sunil S. Basarkar, Dilip M. Dewaikar, Rajesh H. Gajjar

"A load transfer program AXPILE was developed for simulation of the loadmovement characteristics of socketed piles of the Mumbai reg ion. This program used empirical relationships for ultimate shaft resistance at pile-rock interface recommended by Zhang and Einstein (1998). According to their recommendation, ultimate shaft resistance at pile-rock interface is related to the square-root of uniaxial compressive strength of intact socket material by a parameter C, which ranges from 0.4 for smooth sockets to 0.8 for rough sockets. Results of three instrumented pile load tests were compared with the AXPILE generated results. The comparison of analytical and field estimates of the unit shaft resistance confirm the recommendations of Zhang and Einstein (1998) on the unit side shear parameter c,, which was found to be in the range of 0.35 to 0.67.INTRODUCTIONInstrumented pile load tests were carried out on the test piles at the Bandra-Worli sea link project in Mumbai city of western India. High capacity socketed piles were required to take up loads from the superstructure. Hence, in addition to the available toe resistance, an accurate measurement of the shaft resistance in socket portion was desired. The instrumented load tests incorporated Osterbergcell (0-cell) assisted by strain gauge instrumentation to estimate the shaft resistance mobilization in the socket portion.AXPILE load transfer program was developed for load-movement simulation of socketed piles (Basarkar, 2004). The load transfer algorithm based on Coyle and Reese (1966) was incorporated in this program, which used empirical correlations and functions to account for load transfer in piles through shaft and toe resistance.This paper compares the computed unit shaft resistance from the AXPILE program with the measured values recorded from the instrumented pile load test."

Jan 1, 2005

By Dario Libano, Luis Carlos Tenuta, Juliano Penteado

"Subway Line Number 4 is one of the newest additions to the Rio de Janeiro subway network. Built for the 2016 Olympic Games, the 16 km (10 mi) subway line connects the south of the city, with the famous beaches Copacabana and Ipanema, to Barra da Tijuca, west of the city, where the Olympic Village and Park are located. This new line, which is estimated to cost USD 2.2 billion, is composed of six new stations: Jardim Oceanico, São Conrado, Gavea, Antero de Quintal, Jardim de Alah (JA) and Nossa Senhora da Paz Station.Brasfond participated in the construction of foundations and retaining structures for all the stations, and each presented unique challenges. This is not surprising considering the difficulties present in a highly-dense urban environment including utilities, nearby buildings, traffic limitations and noise.Of all the stations, JA Station was the most challenging to construct. It was located in the middle of an avenue between residential high rises supported on shallow foundations as well as below sea level in sands with high groundwater. The other five stations were located in small parks and squares, with no buildings in the immediate proximity.The interaction between designer, owner, and the general and foundation contractors during execution was key in safely reducing the construction schedule. This was significant given the unforeseen construction delays the client, Linha 4 Sul JV, faced due to permitting, utility and traffic relocation so that the owner could fulfill their final goal: making the line operational by the Olympic Games. The GeologyGeologically, the state of Rio de Janeiro is formed by Pre- Cambrian crystalline basement rock. Its geological formation is very old and comprises two major orogenic cycles, a Mid-Precambrian formation, called “Transamazonian” (Proterozoic Era), and an Upper-Precambrian to Cambrian called “Brasiliano” (Proterozoic-Paleozoic). The soil structure of the city of Rio de Janeiro is represented by a core of crystalline rocks, usually granite-gneiss, covered with a layer of residual soil and/or partially weathered rock.JA Station is located in a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood called Ipanema, between the Atlantic Ocean and Lagoon Rodrigo de Freitas. Local geology is composed of a superficial soil, consisting of medium to coarse grained sands. Top of rock varied significantly from 20 m (66 ft) deep on one side of the station to 33 m (108 ft) on the other. Water is at a depth of 3 m (10 ft)."

Jan 1, 2016

Jan 1, 1988

By Edward Jacobsen, Patrick J. Lydon

"The ongoing expansion of the Oak Creek Power Plant in Oak Creek, Wisc., includes a tunnel bored in rock that connects to four vertical intake shafts approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore in Lake Michigan. In 2004, Case Foundation Company was awarded a lump sum contract to install these intake shafts. In spite of delays that shortened the May to September construction season by up to 50%, four shafts and liner assemblies were drilled in 2005 and 2006. The shafts were connected to the tunnel in 2007 by mining upward to reach the lower portion of each liner and then removing its internal bulkheads so that lake water fl owed into the tunnel. The project is one of the largest private construction projects ever undertaken in Wisconsin. The expansion adds 1,230 megawatts of generation. In addition to the tunnel and offshore work, there will be 16 miles (26 km) of railroad track and 6 million cubic yards (4,600,000 m3) of earth work. The 27 ft (8.2 m) diameter tunnel, drilled some 150 ft (46 m) below the surface of Lake Michigan, originates onshore at a pump house. A structural slurry wall was constructed as the foundation for the pump house. The tunnel passes to the south near the current water intake before bearing east toward the new offshore intake shafts, which are 12 ft (3.6 m) diameter by 108 ft (33 m) long steel liner assemblies. These were grouted in place from approximately 3 ft (1 m) above the crown of the intake tunnel and then to 20 ft (6 m) below the lake bottom.Site GeologyOffshore. The plant site is north of the Racine-Milwaukee county line in an area affected by glacial activity. The soil conditions encountered at each shaft location were consistent, with noticeable variations occurring in the top of rock elevations that sloped downward from the innermost to the outermost shaft."

Jan 1, 2008

By Andres M. Baquerizo, Jeremiah J. Filjones, Nicholas Feldt

The Estates at Acqualina located in Sunny Isles Beach, FL, is comprised of two, ocean-front, 50-story, luxury towers with podiums and villas. With city regulations now requesting that above-grade floors be limited to commercial or residential units, parking facilities for the tower structures were situated within two levels of underground basement parking. However, ensuring dry excavation through south Florida’s highly pervious limestone, immediately adjacent to the beach where the groundwater table is very shallow, can be extremely challenging and costly for developers. In recent years, significant advances have been made to overcome this challenge with the innovative use of deep soil mixing to create a “dry hole”, assisting in the construction of foundations and underground usable space for parking, storage, etc. The “dry hole” system includes a soil mix bottom seal, with soil mix secant pile walls in combination with auger cast deep foundation elements to support the future structure. This approach enables groundwater control to greater depths than can be achieved by conventional sheetpiling and dewatering. For the Estates at Acqualina, a successful turnkey, design-build joint venture between two foundation and geotechnical contractors resulted in a dry excavation to 34 ft (10.4 m) below grade and to a record- breaking auger cast pile depth of 182.3ft (55.6 m), all within an aggressive 26-week schedule to deliver the “dry hole” excavation for the first tower. This presentation will discuss the logistics, quality control, design, and safety for the different techniques involved. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Estates of Acqualina is a pair of 50-story luxury towers located on Sunny Isles Beach in Florida with a two-level underground basement for parking. The project’s location just steps away from the Atlantic Ocean, geology, and high-water table created a challenging project. The owner, Trump Group, contracted the joint venture of HJ Foundation and Hayward Baker (HJ/HB) to design-assist-build a system to control the groundwater, allowing the 2-story underground parking structure to be constructed. In order to accomplish this task, the JV utilized an installation technique known as deep soil mixing. This technique mixes the in situ material with a cement slurry to create a very impermeable material called “soilcrete”.

Jan 1, 2019

By Thomas L. Vande Voort

The strategic plan for bridge engineering issued by AASHTO in 2005 identified extending the service life and optimizing structural systems of bridges in the United States as two grand challenges in bridge engineering, with the objective of producing safer bridges that have a minimum service life of 75 years and reduced maintenance cost. Material deterioration was identified as one of the primary challenges to achieving the objective of extended life. In substructural applications (e.g., deep foundations), construction materials such as timber, steel, and concrete are subjected to deterioration due to environmental impacts. Using innovative and new materials for foundation applications makes the AASHTO objective of 75 years service life achievable. Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) with compressive strength of 26,000 psi (180 MPa) and excellent durability has been used in superstructural applications but not in geotechnical and substructural applications. This paper explores the possibility of using precast, prestressed UHPC piles in future bridges. An H-shaped UHPC section, which is 10-in. (250-mm) deep with weight similar to that of an HP10×57 steel pile, was designed for constructability and economical reasons. Instrumented UHPC elements were cast to conduct large-scale field tests. In the field, two UHPC piles have been successfully driven in glacial till clay soil and load tested vertically. Test results, durability, drivability, and other material advantages over normal concrete and steel indicate that UHPC piles are a viable alternative to extend the life of bridge structures.

Jan 1, 2008

By Mike Muchard

STATNAMIC load testing augmented with embedded instrumentation has been successfully used to obtain structural and geotechnical design information on large diameter spun cast concrete cylinder piles on many large marine construction projects. The paper focuses on one particularly interesting large marine project involving a new bridge to St. George Island, Florida where instrumentation and STATNAMIC load testing was used in conjunction with static load testing on high capacity piles. The information presented includes embedded instrumentation measurements taken during pile fabrication (post-tensioning), during pile driving, during static load testing, and STATNAMIC load testing. As much of this data is the first of its kind on concrete cylinder piles, it is exciting to present the foundation industry with this additional insight as to the behavior of this pile type and the accuracy of the methods used to test them.

Jan 1, 2013

By Frank Rausche

Introduction and Background Testing -Pile Preparation -Data Processing -Data Interpretation/Case Studies Case Studies - Existing Piles Stories from around the world

Jan 1, 2001

By Abolfazl Eslami, Masoud Zare, Ali Asadi, Ali Abrang

"Physical small scale models for study of deep foundations can be performed in simple chambers (1g), calibration chambers (CC), and centrifuge apparatus (ng) which involve some limitations and difficulties. In recent years, Frustum confining vessels (FCV) have been developed for physical modeling of deep foundations. This device is frustum of a cone shape that applies a steady pressure on its bottom and creates a linear stress distribution along its vertical central line. A new FCV which has been built in AUT is introduced. This device has a height of 1200 mm, top and bottom diameters of 300 and 1300 mm, respectively. Through the application of bottom pressure up to 300 kPa, the insitu overburden stress conditions equivalent up to 40 m soil deposits consistent to the embedment depth of commonly used piles. Observation indicated that there is approximately a linear trend of stress distribution, and this device can create realistic overburden stress in the desired control volume along the central line. Moreover, a couple of compressive and tensile load tests were performed on steel tubular open end model piles driven in sand with length of 750 mm and different diameters and L/D ratio between 8-15. Comparison of load capacity between tested and full scale piles demonstrate a suitable conformity for similar confinement conditions. Therefore, the FCV can be realized as an appropriate apparatus for investigation of piling geotechnical behavior and examination of construction effects.IntroductionDeep foundations are designed as foundation system for supporting heavy loads, high rise and important structures. Different theoretical, numerical and experimental approaches have been developed to study the geotechnical behavior of deep foundations. Experimental methods are employed to clarify directly pile-soil interaction and because of repeatability, analogy, rapid measurement and cost efficiency, physical modeling can be realized as an intermediate technique compared to element testing and full scale load tests."

Jan 1, 2015

By Tai Luu, Maxim C. Schisler, Yaser Taheri

The Stevens Gateway Project is an expansion of the Stevens Institute campus overlooking the Hudson River in Hoboken, NJ. The plans call for 90,000 ft2 (8360 m2) of new classroom, research, and student life facilities in new, 4-story buildings. The excavations for the building footprints were bounded by city streets and existing buildings, including the historic Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering, built in 1902. Pit underpinning was originally specified for the Carnegie building. However, given the depth of cut, construction time required for the 13 ft (4.9 m) deep pits would be substantial. The geotechnical contractor retained for the support of excavation work therefore offered an innovative active soil nail wall design that would meet project requirements in a shorter timeframe. Unlike the passive soil nail systems common in the industry that are chiefly used for soil slope stabilization, active soil nail walls contain pre-stressed anchor components to resist soil movement and limit settlement of soil and structures being contained. In addition to a discussion of the overall design approach of the active soil nail wall system, this paper will include a detailed description of its constructability and effectiveness. This project’s use of a conventional slope stabilization technique for an unconventional purpose may have positive implications going forward. INTRODUCTION Stevens Institute of Technology is a private university in Hoboken, New Jersey that sits on the cliffs of the City of Hoboken overlooking the Hudson River and Manhattan Island to the east of the campus. In recent years, the university has executed numerous plans to expand and upgrade its campus academic, student life, and residential facilities. One such project is the Academic Gateway Complex. The plan adds 90,000 ft2 (8360 m2) of new classroom, research, and residential facilities while also enhancing community connections by building a park to serve as a green corridor for the city. The proposed construction took place on the north and south side of 6th Street between Hudson Street and River Street. The project included the demolition of an existing university building followed by the construction of two, 4-story buildings on the north and south property lots. The north and south buildings will be connected by a second floor bridge spanning 6th Street. The buildings each contain a full basement extending from the proposed ground floor at approximately El. 41ft (12.5 m) to the basement subgrade at El. 26 ft (7.9 m). Each building will be constructed on respective mat foundations. Figure 1 presents an overview of the project area.

Jan 1, 2019

By George C. Webb

A wide variety and variable depth (up to 40 ft.) of compressible, uncontrolled fill (including construction debris and a perched water condition) was present at a proposed Kroger construction site in Dent, Ohio. An innovative solution using a combination of an ACIP foundation system with a Tensar geogrid reinforced load distribution platform was used to provide a high quality building pad. This system allowed the use of conventional shallow foundations for structure support. This system was used in lieu of more costly solutions, such as complete undercutting of the entire existing fill and replacement with engineered fill or a deep foundation/ structural slab system. The selected ground modification included a system of augercast piles bearing on shale bedrock, which were installed on a grid pattern over the entire building footprint. Then, three layers of Tensar polyproplene biaxial geogrid were used to create a reinforced soil mat, which was supported on the augercast piles. An eight-foot blanket of engineered fill was placed above the geogrid-reinforced mattress fill to establish the building subgrade elevation. Standard shallow footings and slab-on-grade construction methods were then used to support the 26-ft. tall masonry block building. A small-scale instrumentation program included monitoring the geogrid reinforced mat settlement, geogrid strain and earth pressure distribution under the reinforced mat to evaluate design assumptions and theoretical analyses. This case history describes the first application of a pile supported geogrid reinforced mat for structure support which has been documented in the United States.

Jan 1, 2003

By George C. Webb

A wide variety and variable depth (up to 40 ft.) of compressible, uncontrolled fill (including construction debris and a perched water condition) was present at a proposed Kroger construction site in Dent, Ohio. An innovative solution using a combination of an ACIP foundation system with a Tensar geogrid reinforced load distribution platform was used to provide a high quality building pad. This system allowed the use of conventional shallow foundations for structure support. This system was used in lieu of more costly solutions, such as complete undercutting of the entire existing fill and replacement with engineered fill or a deep foundation/ structural slab system. The selected ground modification included a system of augercast piles bearing on shale bedrock, which were installed on a grid pattern over the entire building footprint. Then, three layers of Tensar polypropylene biaxial geogrid were used to create a reinforced soil mat, which was supported on the augercast piles. An eight-foot blanket of engineered fill was placed above the geogrid-reinforced mattress fill to establish the building subgrade elevation. Standard shallow footings and slab-on-grade construction methods were then used to support the 26-ft. tall masonry block building. A small-scale instrumentation program included monitoring the geogrid reinforced mat settlement, geogrid strain and earth pressure distribution under the reinforced mat to evaluate design assumptions and theoretical analyses. This case history describes the first application of a pile supported geogrid reinforced mat for structure support which has been documented in the United States.

Jan 1, 2005

By Chris L. Powell, Russell J. Denny

"The remotely located Cockatoo Island iron ore mine off the Kimberley coast in the northwest of Western Australia has been in operation since 1951. The mine was recently expanded up to about 50 m (165 ft) below sea level using staged construction to create a rockfill seawall around the open cut mining operation. Late in 2013, to allow expansion of subsea iron ore mining operations, Wagstaff Piling was engaged to install a seepage barrier through the rockfill seawall and into the underlying seabed sediments.Earlier stages of seawall construction had used a variety of different construction techniques with varied success, and the history of subsea mining on the island had been plagued with failures, including failures in the slope of the seawall itself, hanging wall failure underneath and inside the seawall, and footwall failures as the ore was mined leaving the rock face inclined at 55 degrees, parallel to the bedding. The current expansion, known as the Stage 4 expansion, was more tightly constrained by the pit geometry and available materials than previous seawall expansions that adopted clay core and sheet pile seepage barrier solutions. In Stage 4, an innovative seepage barrier solution using a grout curtain was selected to provide the necessary cutoff to allow access to highgrade ore, while protecting the mine from inundation by the sea.Seawall ConceptThe open cut subsea mining operation consisted of a 3 km (1.9 mi) long narrow pit along the south side of Cockatoo Island that extended to depths of about 50 m (165 ft) below sea level, and were exposed to the open sea on the south side of the pit. Massive tidal variations of more than 10.5 m (34.5 ft) required a seawall founded on the seabed, extending upwards to RL+13, to safely protect the pit from the high tide level rising to above RL+10."

Jan 1, 2017

By Chris L. Powell, Russell J. Denny

"The remotely located Cockatoo Island iron ore mine off the Kimberley coast in the northwest of Western Australia has been in operation since 1951. The mine was recently expanded up to about 50 m (165 ft) below sea level using staged construction to create a rockfill seawall around the open cut mining operation. Late in 2013, to allow expansion of subsea iron ore mining operations, Wagstaff Piling was engaged to install a seepage barrier through the rockfill seawall and into the underlying seabed sediments.Earlier stages of seawall construction had used a variety of different construction techniques with varied success, and the history of subsea mining on the island had been plagued with failures, including failures in the slope of the seawall itself, hanging wall failure underneath and inside the seawall, and footwall failures as the ore was mined leaving the rock face inclined at 55 degrees, parallel to the bedding. The current expansion, known as the Stage 4 expansion, was more tightly constrained by the pit geometry and available materials than previous seawall expansions that adopted clay core and sheet pile seepage barrier solutions. In Stage 4, an innovative seepage barrier solution using a grout curtain was selected to provide the necessary cutoff to allow access to high-grade ore, while protecting the mine from inundation by the sea.Seawall ConceptThe open cut subsea mining operation consisted of a 3 km (1.9 mi) long narrow pit along the south side of Cockatoo Island that extended to depths of about 50 m (165 ft) below sea level, and were exposed to the open sea on the south side of the pit. Massive tidal variations of more than 10.5 m (34.5 ft) required a seawall founded on the seabed, extending upwards to RL+13, to safely protect the pit from the high tide level rising to above RL+10."

Jan 1, 2017

By Scott Webster

Dynamic pile Monitoring Services (DMS) have been used for testing of offshore piles for several decades. However, most of this testing was to measure hammer performance and pile stresses rather than pile capacity or soil resistance. As the need for more economical solutions for foundation support increases, the use of DMS has provided a better means of evaluating in-place pile capacity for offshore structures, and therefore a method of determining pile acceptance. The authors have been involved in several offshore projects where DMS has been the primary source of data for acceptance of the driven pile foundations. The use of DMS for evaluation of offshore foundations requires considerations quite different from land applications and these considerations are often necessary for the careful and thorough analysis of the collected data in nearly real time for determination of pile acceptance. Case Method capacity estimates are often of little use due to the non-uniform cross sections of the foundation piles and their deep penetrations. Therefore, capacity assessments should be made using CAPWAP which is a signal matching program whose utility and reliability has been proven on thousands of projects every year, both on land and offshore. Depending upon the soil conditions at a given location, capacity assessment after soil setup effects may be necessary. In addition, tension capacity is often critical when pile refusal occurs significantly before the design pile penetration depth. Evaluation of uplift capacity can be accomplished by a CAPWAP analysis, which results in a total capacity prediction and its shaft resistance component. The use of hydraulic hammers for driving of these piles also adds the requirement of controlling hammer energy such that over-stressing of the pile is avoided. The calculation of non-axial stresses such as bending or eccentric stresses may also be involved in order to prevent pile damage.

Jan 1, 2010

By Dewey W. Geary, Rachael V. Bisnett, R. Michael Bivens, Thomas G. Andrews

"The powerhouse for the Red Rock Hydroelectric Project is being constructed at the toe of the existing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Red Rock Dam immediately adjacent to the existing stilling basin retaining wall. The powerhouse excavation extends though overburden and 40 feet into rock. Prior to rock excavation, a grouting was performed around the excavation for the purpose of increasing the strength of zones of fractured rock. For the majority of the perimeter, the rock was fairly tight and grout takes were relatively low. However, for a 160 foot extent along the landside of the excavation, extensive grouting was required to treat a two to five foot thick zone characterized by artesian flows from grout holes on the order of 20 gallons per minute (gpm) or higher from a voided zone in rock that was partially filled with sand, clay, and rock fragments. This paper discusses the treatment measures used to fill and improve the strength of this zone, which ultimately entailed a combination of thick cement grout and polyurethane grout, holes spaced as close as 18 inches on-center, and two additional rows of grout holes.IntroductionThe Red Rock Hydroelectric Project (Project) is currently under construction at the existing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Red Rock Dam on the Des Moines River near Pella, Iowa. At peak generation, the Project will generate up to 55 MW with an average annual energy output of 178 gigawatt-hours.The powerhouse for the Project will be located at the toe of the existing dam immediately adjacent to the existing stilling basin retaining wall. The powerhouse excavation extends up to a depth of 40 feet into rock through the St. Louis Limestone and terminates in the Warsaw Limestone. Prior to rock excavation, grouting was performed around the excavation for the purpose of improving the strength of zones of fractured rock. An auxiliary benefit of the grouting was reducing seepage into the excavation. Grouting began on July 20, 2015 and ultimately concluded on September 26, 2015.Drilling and grouting occurred as planned on the riverside (southwest) of the excavation along the cellular cofferdam and stilling basin wall (grout holes P-1 through S-13) and on the upstream (northwest) side of the excavation along the secant pile excavation support wall (grout holes P-14 through S-19) (refer to Fig. 1). The rock in these areas was generally tight with relatively low grout takes. However, on the landside (northeast) of the excavation (grout holes P-20 through P-28), partially infilled voids and artesian flows were encountered during drilling generally between depths of about 28 to 40 feet."

Jan 1, 2016

Jan 1, 1998

By David A. Hart, Barry P. Osborn, Richard J. Totty, Ana T. Carvalho, Max B. Elliott

This paper addresses the experience designing and installing bored piles for the King’s Cross area. This includes continuous flight auger and rotary bored piles, with a range of diameters between 600 mm and 1200 mm, reaching a maximum depth of 56 m below ground level. Existing Network Rail Thameslink twin bored running tunnels are located directly beneath the subject plots. These tunnels have an external diameter of 6.6 m and the crowns of the tunnels are very shallow, in some cases just 10 m below the existing ground level. Some plots needed piles to be installed in close proximity to the tunnels, which required additional control measures and contingency plans. Pile verticality was monitored as the tip of each pile advanced and in-tunnel monitoring readings were verified and are presented. Lessons learned from designing, installing and testing the piles and monitoring the tunnels are addressed in this paper.

May 1, 2022