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By B. Besa, S. Nalukui

Globally, the demand for mineral products is ever increasing. Extraction of these mineral resources results in the continuous production of a huge volume of waste material, including tailing dumps. The mass of tailings usually exceeds the actual resource and often contains hazardous contaminants. This study investigated the effects of tailings disposal on soil, water, and air quality in the Nampundwe area. Water, soil, and dust samples were collected from different locations in the surrounding communities. The constituents analysed in the samples included copper, cobalt, iron, sulfate, and silica. According to the results obtained, some seepages occurred from the tailings impoundment to the shallow aquifer in the area. However, the general water quality meets the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) statutory limits. Recorded concentrations of sulfate (1500 mg/l), copper (1.5 mg/l), cobalt (1.0 mg/l), iron (2.0 mg/l), and silica were between 0.003 mg/l and 705 mg/l, which is far below ZEMA’s statutory limit. Silica concentration was also evident in the air. The highest concentration recorded was 260 ppcc (particle per cubic centimeter) recorded in July 2019 from the northern direction of the tailings dam. The concentration was below the statutory limit of 350 ppcc. The topsoil from the northern part of the tailings recorded a silica dust concentration of 39.9 ppcc. Iron was evident in the underground soil with a concentration of 8.01 ppcc, cobalt 0.005 ppcc, copper 0.051 ppcc, while sulfate was recorded as 0.41 ppcc.

Oct 9, 2024

By Emad Farouz, Ali Albatal, Ehab Shatnawi

Drilled shafts are deep foundations that can carry heavy loads by transferring them to deeper and stronger soil or rock layers.  The paper focuses on the drilled shafts installed in the Potomac Clayey Formation in the northern part of Virginia. The paper shares the lessons learned from using steel casing during drilling. Two load tests were done on drilled shafts with 75-centimeter diameter and 21-meter length. The first load test failed to reach the loading capacity, while the second load test succeeded after changing the installation method. The paper explains the subsurface conditions and the design methods used to estimate the axial capacity of the drilled shafts. The paper gives details about the installation methods and the reasons for not reaching the axial capacity with a standard installation method. The paper offers useful insights into how the construction method affects the axial capacity of drilled shafts.

Oct 7, 2024

By Mriganabh Choudhury, Sanjoy Bhowmik, Sampat Raj, Vijay Panwar

Tanks play a vital role in Petroleum refineries and Petrochemical complexes by storing Petroleum substances at various stages. The performance of the foundation system of tanks significantly influences their overall performance, which is evaluated during hydro-testing and operational phases. This study focuses on assessing the performance of a large-diameter floating roof tank measuring 92 m in diameter and 20 m in height, which exhibited excessive settlements during hydro-testing due to the presence of organic soil patches. The maximum total settlement observed was 238 mm, surpassing the permissible limit of 150 mm. Additionally, differential settlements at specific locations exceeded the acceptable limit of 1 in 500. A comprehensive performance analysis of the tank's foundation system was conducted, leading to the tank's approval for utilization at 100% capacity. Furthermore, remedial measures were proposed to address the uneven levels at the tank periphery and prevent settlements in the future. This paper highlights the significance of location-specific soil investigation data, critical parameters for tank foundation system selection, detailed performance analysis of tank foundations, and suggested remedial measures for distressed foundations. By addressing these crucial factors, the study enhances the understanding of tank foundation systems, ultimately improving the overall performance and reliability of tanks in Petroleum refineries and Petrochemical complexes. Keywords: Storage tanks, Performance analysis, Hydro-test, settlement, Ground improvement

Oct 7, 2024

By Mark Dowling, Robert Holdway, Bill Baillie

Extending the utility of materials through reuse, repurpose and recycling to minimize waste, pollution, water, and the consumption of finite resources, reduce environmental impacts and cut GHG emissions (CO2) are key tenants of the Circular Economy. John Lawrie Tubulars USA conducted a Life Cycle Assessment to calculate the environmental impacts of the repurposing of John Lawrie Tubulars steel pipe products sourced from pipe mill secondary and oil field surplus stockpiles to compare repurposed steel tubulars to those made from prime (new mill) steel throughout their lifecycle. The analysis includes multiple environmental characterization indicators associated with the material processing, on-site operations, supply chain, distribution, and installation of the pipe for foundations. The benefits of repurposed tubulars are consistently beneficial across all environmental indicators when compared to prime steel tubulars. The life cycle analysis results show that for every tonne of steel tubular repurposed there is a 71% - 80% saving of carbon emissions over the use of a prime steel equivalent from cradle to installation. The methodology used in this study will be described, demonstrating the rigor and 3rd party verification process involved in calculating the CO2 emission savings, one of the first of its kind for secondary steel suppliers in North America. With growing pressure on the construction industry to be more resource efficient, and to lower embodied carbon, material reuse strategies are critical to meet targets. This data can be used to demonstrate, and quantify, the environmental impacts and benefits of repurposed tubulars and supports the efficacy of environmental claims and contribution to a circular economy.

Oct 7, 2024

By Jim Glider, Peter Faust, David Joyner, Michael Muchard

The existing, century-old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in New Jersey is a two-track moveable swing span bridge that is nearing the end of its functional life. A new fixed bridge with spans of approximately 400 feet will replace the existing bridge. The new Portal North Bridge will continue service to both Amtrak and NJ Transit rail passengers along the Northeast Corridor to an average of 200,000 passengers per day. Each of the four main span piers will be supported by eight, 8-foot diameter drilled shafts. Malcolm Drilling installed all shafts with permanent steel casing through the Soft Clay and Glacial Till layers with a short embedment into competent bedrock using the Oscillator method. Rock sockets below the casing were drilled with conventional drilling tools. Quality assurance included inspection of the shaft base using a MiniSID shaft inspection, the rock socket side walls using a Down-The-Hole Camera and the verticality using Sonic Caliper. In addition, specifications called for integrity testing using Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP) and Crosshole Sonic Logging (CSL) on each shaft. Tomography analyses of CSL test data and destructive testing by means of concrete coring had also to be employed on the majority of shafts. This paper will highlight the surprises experienced by the project team when the concrete core specimens were evaluated in relation to the non-destructive testing data.

Oct 7, 2024

By Joe Heinisch, Trevor Quayle, Brian Huber

Helical piles have often been characterized as handy little tools in the toolbox of solutions for structural support of foundations. They have provided options to construct foundations and anchorage in very challenging locations where more common methods were impractical. The stigma of being efficient for lightly loaded foundations has limited their use as highly loaded deep foundations. This paper will dispel the notion that helical piles are not a deep foundation option for large structures by presenting the case study of a 32-storey building in London, Ontario supported on helical piles. The building was constructed in a downtown location where all the problems associated with deep foundations were present – high water table, vibrations, compressible soil layers, limited access, logistics of soil removal, seismic considerations. These issues all had costs associated with them that helical piles and their installation process would limit or eliminate. This paper will present the detailed solution that helical piles offered the constructor of the new building. The solution included pre-design load testing and analysis of the results. The advantages of using helical piles in this case will also be presented from technical and constructability viewpoints to demonstrate why they should be considered for large structures.

Oct 7, 2024

By Max Ho, Hiu Lee

The Port Lands in Downtown Toronto is a vast waterfront area that has been long remained undeveloped. This is due to the dual challenges of soil contamination resulting from decades of industrial activities and high flooding potential from the nearby Don River. The Port Lands Flood Protection and Enabling Infrastructure Project (PLFP) seeks to unlock the development potential of this strategic downtown land. This initiative also simultaneously mitigating flood risks for the Port Lands and surrounding areas. The project involves the creation of a new river channel through the existing Port Lands to redirect floodwaters into the inner harbor and Lake Ontario. This new river channel excavation is protected by three dam liked plug walls which isolate the lake water from entering the excavation. Given the industrial contamination in the soil, the installation of a permanent cut-off wall along the new river alignment is also imperative to isolate contaminants from migrating into the future river channel. The west plug wall is positioned at the westernmost point of the river channel excavation and directly adjacent to Lake Ontario. The innovative use of a diaphragm wall technique to construct the west plug wall allow the wall to serve as a dock wall, dam, excavation support, cut-off wall, and load-bearing element throughout the different stages of the river excavation. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the design and installation of the west plug wall. It provides valuable insights into the practical application of diaphragm walls and how it helps deliver this complex urban flood protection and infrastructure projects.

Oct 7, 2024

By Marcel Martineau, Vincent Landry, Simon Didone Arseneau, Ali Fallah Yeznabad, Damien Lamblot, Mathieu Cattone, Habib Akande, Marion Bouet

Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital Center in Greater Montreal area is a substantially large construction project with challenging schedule and geological conditions. The foundation consisted of 519 piles with an average overburden of 15 m and 4.5 rock sockets that were constructed in a tight schedule of 9 months. Special Geotechnical considerations were required and adopted for design and construction of this large-scale foundation. In this Design and Build contract, the strong cooperation between the designer and the contractor resulted in a substantial optimization of the quantities through in-situ full-scale vertical static and lateral cyclic pile-load tests, seismic simulations in design of the piles, and orienting the design to fit the planned drilling method. To maintain a challenging schedule in a cost-effective manner, seven drilling rigs fitted with temporary casings were used, operating in two shifts up to seven days a week. For drilling of the piles, cluster drilling was used by contractor due to uncommon abrasiveness and high strength (> 200 MPa) of the encountered sandstone bedrock. To further assist the construction of the piles, a new concrete mix was developed specifically for this project for the purpose of tremie pours. The concrete mix design is based on optimizing its rheology, maintaining its workability up to 6 hours and its durability more than 75 years design life in a particularly aggressive environment in chloride, sulfate, and others aggressive ions. An effective quality control and assurance program made it possible to find optimal solutions during construction.

Oct 7, 2024

By Blaise Fettig

Santa Cruz Mountains, Ben Lomond, CA Vortex Project Sponsor- Blaise Fettig Vortex PM- Peter Dworetzky Obayashi Corp (Prime Contractor) PM- Kenji Yamauchi ABSTRACT: The City of Santa Cruz Water Department in California replaced the existing Newell Creek Dam inlet/outlet works. The existing inlet/outlet works included a deteriorated 36-inch diameter pipeline under the dam and other components that did not meet current California DSOD dam safety reservoir drawdown requirements. To maintain the reservoir, the City’s engineer designed a new inlet/outlet works that could be constructed under full reservoir conditions, in water up to 115 feet deep. The underwater work began with the dredging of an “amphitheater” on the native 2:1 rock slope. After dredging, three large, critically located benches were excavated into the rock slope with a heavy digging bucket and specialty designed underwater tools. A marine rail was constructed, on which three large concrete donuts were precast and lowered into the water before picking with a crane. These donuts were then installed and grouted in place on the excavated benches. Six foot diameter shafts were drilled through the hole at each inlet foundation donut to the tunnel intersect elevation, and steel casings were installed and grouted into each shaft. Divers installed the three intake structures at design elevations. These 30” intake structures were 30-inch standpipes with 30” diameter hydraulic valves and 48” diameter by 56” tall drum screens. The piping was connected to a 20” diameter air vent line which is designed to prevent vacuum conditions and plumbing to provide a minimum downstream flow. Once the shafts and intakes were in place, a new tunnel was advanced by the general contractor from the downstream right abutment to intercept the shafts. 30” CISS piles were installed to support the 20” vent line from the intake locations to the dam crest. These piles were drilled from barges. Divers then installed Vortex designed articulating pipe supports on the piles, and finally the vent pipe to shore.

Oct 7, 2024

By Glynn Price

Myrtle Creek has been impacted by the subsidence associated with longwall mining at Tahmoor Coking Coal Mine in Picton, NSW.  Specific impacts are fracturing of the rock bed resulting in a reduction in surface flow and pool holding capacity behind the rock bars that are a characteristic of waterways in the southern coalfields. A specific pool, Pool 23, within the impacted Myrtle Creek, was selected for remediation using permeation grouting. First, an investigation was undertaken at Pool 23 to characterise the fracture network and advise on remediation grouting design. The investigation identified the fracture and hydraulic conductivity profiles as well as local hydraulic gradients. Second, a permeation grouting program was implemented which included drilling and permeation grouting completed by Pointe Engineering as per a grout plan and design, using a single part polyurethane grout.  The layout took the form of a grout curtain, perpendicular to the creek and in longitudinal alignment with the rock bar. Permeation grouting as a strategy for remediation of the subsidence impacted water course was demonstrated to have a positive correlation with creek surface flow and pool holding capacity to date.

Oct 7, 2024

By Md Kausar Anik, Ramin Motamed

The phenomenon of liquefaction-induced ground settlements has been frequently observed in several significant earthquakes, such as the 2010–2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) in New Zealand, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan, and the more recent 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquake in Turkey. Various ground improvement methods have been used in engineering practice to lessen the effects of soil liquefaction at shallow depths. Those ground improvement methods signify the outflow of ozone-depleting substances and the release of greenhouse gases, resulting in global warming and consequential environmental changes. Amongst all greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) stands as the predominant compound. In our study, we adopted the installation of sheet piles as a measure to mitigate the liquefaction-induced foundation movements. However, the carbon footprint and cost associated with the installation of full-length sheet piles can be reduced by adopting partial floating sheet piles (PFS). Nevertheless, the behavior and characteristics of PFS have not been thoroughly investigated in the existing literature, indicating a research gap in this area. To accomplish these objectives, a 1/5 scaled model, representative of a large-scale shake table test conducted by the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), is utilized. The scaled model comprises three distinct soil layers with different relative densities: a 50% relative density top crust layer, a 30% relative density middle liquefiable layer, and an 85% relative density bottom dense layer. A shallow foundation is placed atop the crust layer, followed by the insertion of sheet piles (both full-length and PFS) at 0.625 times the foundation width (B) from the center, utilizing the press-in technique. Finally, the scaled models are subjected to harmonic input motions with amplitude and dominant frequency properly scaled based on the large-scale shake table test. The effectiveness of PFS is assessed by comparing reductions in carbon footprint, foundation movements (settlement and tilt), and generated excess pore water pressures with those achieved by full-length sheet piles. In addition, this research also contributes to raising awareness regarding the environmental impact of carbon emissions when selecting mitigation measures.

Oct 7, 2024

By Michael Arnold, Matteo Bertoni

This paper presents a project which received a DFI Special Recognition Award as a runner-up in the 2023 DFI Outstanding Project Award competition. The East St. Louis levee system is located in St. Clair and Madison Counties, IL, along the left descending bank of the Mississippi River and provides flood protection to approximately 250,000 residents and over $4.5 billion in economic value. The system is aged and requires rehabilitation. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) devised and designed a cutoff wall to be installed in the Metro East Sanitary District, one of the levees that form the system. The design provided for the installation of an approximately 4,440-foot-long wall, with a minimum 24-inch thickness and a maximum design depth of over 142 feet, through alluvial and outwash soils, and embedded in bedrock. The prescribed “panel method” consisted of overlapping primary and secondary panels, each no longer than 30 feet. The maximum allowed vertical deviation of each panel was 0.5 percent of its full depth. Two sections of single-phase cutoff wall and two sections of seepage barrier using jet grouting were subsequently added to the project, to provide partial closure at two locations where the installation of panels from ground surface to bedrock was not feasible due to the presence of utilities vital for the area. The jet grout columns that comprised the seepage barrier were to be installed at angles varying from 0 to 30 degrees and to depths up to 146 feet. The project included the installation of a minimum 75-foot-long test section and a thorough QC/QA program that provided for the collection and testing of wet grab samples, and the coring of the installed cutoff wall. The paper introduces the project, the geotechnical site conditions and the requirements specified by USACE.  It describes the pursued installation approaches along with the equipment used and focuses on the specific adaption of the methods to site conditions and project requirements.  Selected quality control and verification results obtained from an extensive testing program are presented. The paper also discusses challenges encountered and related lessons learned.

Oct 7, 2024

By George Onorato, Giovanni Bonita

Deep soil mixing (DSM) has become a widely used ground improvement technique globally, producing soil-cementitious materials for various complex civil and environmental applications. In the field, the soil-cement materials form under confining stress conditions, which are often overlooked, as most wet grab specimens are cured and tested under ambient atmospheric conditions. This oversight has led to an underestimation of the engineering and mechanical properties of the soil-cement mixed material. With support from the DFI Technical Committee Project Fund, the authors initiated a multi-phased comprehensive research study in collaboration with industry experts to gain a fundamental understanding of these effects. This study investigates the curing conditions to which in-situ materials are exposed and how these conditions influence the strength of deep mixed materials. The findings reveal that the curing conditions for in-situ materials, including applied stresses and temperatures, significantly differ from those under which typical quality control specimens are cured. Neglecting these conditions can lead to a substantial underestimation of in-situ material strength. The data compiled for this study encompass strength and temperature data obtained from specially designed laboratory bench tests, field-conducted modified oedometer tests, in-situ instrumentation tests within deep mixed columns, and a review of independent coring data from deep mixed projects across North America. Analysis of these collective studies reveals a correlation between curing stress and unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The rate of strength gains follows a linear pattern and is influenced by the soil type being treated. Fine-grain soils, in particular, exhibit a higher rate of strength gain when subjected to in-situ curing stress (with depth) compared to granular soils. The paper delves into fundamental processes such as drainage, consolidation, and interparticle behaviors of deep mixed materials from their fresh state until the treated column has cured. It also presents empirical and analytical methods to correct in-situ strength measurements to account for the effects of curing stresses.

Oct 7, 2024

By Andreas Stimpfle-Ziegeler, Harald Heinzelmann, Karsten Beckhaus, Rabea Barhum, Askin Onur

In October 2023 Bauer has completed the execution of deep foundations for the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm 16 km off coast north of France. Once operational, the 496MW wind farm will generate enough clean energy for 835,000 inhabitants. Ailes Marines, owned by Iberdrola, contracted Van Oord who deployed Bauer. In total, 190 shafts have been drilled and the same number of pin piles were grouted to support 62 wind turbines, based on triple jackets, and an offshore substation, based on a four-pile jacket. Bauer did the works from Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel called “Aeolus”. The Atlantic environmental conditions in combination with the extremely hard and rocky seabed and high requirements to geometrical tolerances and other key quality indicators challenged the contractor’s expertise and equipment in several ways. The paper shall illustrate the planning, execution and particular solutions to meet the client’s demands to their full satisfaction. First of all, an innovative drilling method was used to install the foundations for which project-specific “dive drills” were engineered and constructed by Bauer. Secondly, the underwater survey tasks needed smart solutions and skilled personnel to prove the accurate final position of the pin piles. The survey must ensure the precise position of the newly designed drilling template, which functioned as a positioning and casing drilling tool, but also the subsequent placement of the pin piles.   Last but not least, the pin piles inserted into the shafts needed a fixed and force-locked connection with the ground. Great efforts were done to get to the necessary fresh and hardened properties of the cementitious grout itself, and to control the complete filling and necessary integrity of the structural sleeve grouting. All above three aspects, the dive-drill method, the underwater survey and the sleeve grouting will be explained in detail and challenges experienced offshore will be showcased. Eventually, a full set of individual expert features for drilling, monitoring and grouting techniques have been developed towards an optimized installation system of which parts have been already introduced into other fields of geotechnical works. Accepting challenges based on passion for progress for this outstanding project has brought innovative techniques and features into the deep foundations industry with great potential for adaptions in other fields of geotechnical works.

Oct 7, 2024

By Joshua Zimmermann

For years, a subdivision in Glenrock, Wyoming, suffered from various odd damages, including the sudden appearance of artificial springs, flooded basements/crawlspaces, and shifting foundations. The source of this damage was the underlying Glenrock No. 1 and No. 2 Mines, where years of collected groundwater had resulted in high-pressure artesian conditions within the mined interval. The high groundwater pressures within the mine eventually hydraulically fractured the overlying rock, resulting in the communication of the shallow groundwater table with the deep aquifer within the mine interval, damaging the homes in the overlying community. Additional damages, such as subsidence, also impacted various homes in the area. To address these conditions, there was a question as to whether or not void fill grouting would be feasible for mitigation in an area known to exhibit high artesian head pressures. A pilot program was initiated to determine the feasibility of this method and create the methodology/design approach to alleviate any potential risks from the mitigation program to the surrounding densely populated overlying sub-division. These potential risks associated with the injection and pressurizing high mobility grout included displacement of groundwater into building foundations, inducing the structural collapse of the mine, infrastructure sub-grade failure through over-saturation, environmental considerations, and ground surface movement. After extensive analysis of this pilot study, a specially designed mitigation program was established for mitigating the mine subjacent to a sub-development and took place during the Summer of 2021 using an extensive groundwater monitoring network, specially designed discharge wells, and remote sensing technologies to mitigate the area with no damage reported to the overlying community.

Oct 7, 2024

By April Fontaine

Climate change is occurring, and owners/agencies are seeing the impact of warming temperatures and extreme weather on landslides and other geohazards across the globe. Asset management is becoming more important and more challenging with the rapidly changing environment.  State and Federal agencies need to collaborate and partner on new ways to address these challenges; design of one-size-fits-all engineering solutions won’t work effectively anymore.  Alaska is an obvious nexus of these issues as the state is experiencing observable and measurable impacts from climate change in real time.  Landslides and climate (as well as resilience) are significant administration priorities, and there is benefit in understanding how other agencies are approaching today’s challenges.  These topics were explored at a peer exchange meeting in Alaska in 2023.  Key takeaway from that exchange include: the need to understand the inventory of hazards; the context of each agency, which provides key differences in strategy, policies, and priorities; the constraints that will drive risk reduction versus risk mitigation; the need to evaluate the entire system and not look at each individual hazard; and the criticality of relationships across organizational boundaries – no one agency can solve these challenges on their own.  Strategies used by various agencies in Alaska can inform practices in other regional settings with their own distinct climate and extreme event challenges and project characteristics.

Oct 7, 2024

By Muhammad Naeem, Allison Digregorio, Sam Yao, Joshua Core

Located at the Eastern shoreline of the San Francisco Peninsula, the Potrero Power Station Project is transforming a 29-acre industrial site into a mixed-use redevelopment with 7 acres of new waterfront public spaces. The primary goals of the infrastructure renovations are to protect the new waterfront developments against sea level rise (SLR) and to mitigate the risk of seismic instability of the shoreline. As a result, the site was generally raised by approximately 8 ft. Various design solutions were developed and implemented to address differing field conditions throughout the site. Deep soil mixing (DSM) buttresses were used to combat seismically induced slope instability throughout the entire shoreline. New pile-supported wharves were designed using an innovative engineering solution to resist kinematic seismic loading in the offshore slope. Several types of retaining walls and a grouted tieback system were selected along the shoreline to facilitate numerous waterfront recreational experiences for the public. Collectively, these structures and ground improvements have minimized adverse impacts of SLR and ensured seismic stability of the shoreline. This paper presents a successful project that demonstrates the benefits of tailoring design solutions to unique field conditions to enhance the resilience of the San Francisco waterfront development.

Oct 7, 2024

By Jesus Gomez, Carlos Englert, Amanda Mallon, Mary Nodine

Rigid inclusions are a ground improvement technique that provides soil reinforcement and settlement mitigation using drilled displacement elements. Rigid inclusion installation typically uses a Monitoring While Drilling (MWD) electronic logging system that captures data such as torque, downward thrust, rotary speed and grout take with depth and time. Installation of each rigid inclusion can be considered data from a large-scale in-situ test consisting of penetration of a rotating probe into the ground. Automatically generated graphic logs are typically reviewed visually by members of a project team for quality control during and after installation. This workflow underutilizes the valuable data provided by these MWD systems. This paper discusses the use of MWD installation data integrated with cone penetration test (CPT) data and static load test results to develop a streamlined and robust quality control workflow for rigid inclusions. A compound parameter designated the Penetration Resistance Index (PRI) is computed using soil-tool interface mechanics principles for each production element. The PRI, when plotted with depth, can be correlated with CPT data so that changes in soil profile can be detected as production elements are installed across the site. When the PRI is integrated over element length below the neutral plane, the resulting Integrated Resistance Index (IRI) value can be compared with the IRI of load test elements to rapidly assess element suitability. Use of the PRI and the IRI can help improve quality and efficiency of Rigid Inclusions systems by detecting potential areas where geotechnical conditions are sufficiently different or have improved significantly as production installation progresses. This information allows designers to determine whether optimization of the intended element lengths is possible or where a more intense treatment may be necessary. This quality control workflow can be performed in near-real time.

Oct 7, 2024

By Mangtao (Monty) Du, Brendan Busi, Patrick Bassal, Daniela Zellers

The Living Breakwaters project aims to reduce the impact of climate-intensified events on a coastal community which experienced extremely damaging waves and tragic loss of life during Superstorm Sandy. The project consists of approximately 2400 linear feet (730 linear meters) of near-shore breakwaters that will attenuate waves, reduce erosion, and provide habitat spaces for local marine life along the south shore of Staten Island, New York, USA. The system consists of eight rubble mound breakwater structures with a stone core, a base layer (bedding stone or marine mattresses) and outer layers of armor stones. This paper discusses geotechnical subsurface conditions, design, and construction of the breakwater system. The geotechnical design was predominately governed by global slope stability analyses. These analyses considered dynamic wave loading and wave induced excess pore pressures for the design storm event, as well as pseudo-static seismic loading and liquefaction evaluations. Several construction challenges were encountered with the fabrication and deployment of marine mattresses and underwater geotextile installation.

Oct 7, 2024

By Kurt Breitenbucher, Jeffery Schwarz, Bruce Wagener

Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) owns and operates nine wastewater treatment plants and 640 miles of interceptor pipeline to serve 111 communities and 2,700,000+ people in the 7-county Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Approximately 34 miles of interceptor pipeline, constructed of granite paving block invert, limestone block walls, and an unreinforced cast-in-place concrete arch, are installed within deep tunnels excavated through the soft, friable St. Peter sandstone formation. Some tunnels date back to the 1880’s. To maintain the integrity, reliability, and capacity of the interceptor system, be better prepared for the effects of climate change, and prevent potential damage to the environment due to pipe failure, MCES partnered with Brierley Associates to develop a sandstone tunnel inspection program utilizing historical records and desktop likelihood/consequence risk analyses to prioritize work. This assessment aimed to rank the interceptors by risk priority and provide a framework for MCES to develop projects and improve resiliency. A major challenge in assessing a system of this size is its relationship to adjacent infrastructure. Much of this system was built on vacated right-of-way or through areas not yet heavily developed when the interceptor system was constructed. In other cases, the interceptors had to adjust for natural features such as the Mississippi River's bend or caves. Across the miles of interceptor sewers are multiple encroachments with building foundations, MnDOT tunnels, and bridge foundations, and a cave with columns transferring loads from overlying buildings.  In several segments, it was identified that sandstone slabs had fallen on the interceptor with significant voids above the tunnel crown.  The sandstone(sand) would then enter the interceptor through openings. The voids were filled with grout to reduce deterioration and mitigate sinkhole development. MCES then partnered with CNA Consulting Engineers to devise inspection methods to observe the tunnel liner condition and to locate voids by drilling from above and around the tunnels. Results of the inspections are being used to develop rehabilitation plans, direct capital project expenditures, and enhance system resiliency. 

Oct 7, 2024