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By Zia Zafir

"Levees in the central valley of California are primarily for flood control purposes and thus are subjected to infrequent hydraulic loading. The primary concern for these levees is their instability due to through and under seepage. Primary seepage control measures are seepage cutoff walls and/or seepage berms. The cutoff walls primarily consist of soil-bentonite (SB) slurry walls. The seepage berm could be a drainage blanket to allow the seepage with controlled exit gradient or an impervious layer to provide enough cover to protect any adverse effects of seepage in terms of sand boils. Although, Sacramento is an area of moderate seismic activity, levees protecting urban areas require assessment for the potential instability due to liquefaction and associated vertical and lateral deformations. In certain cases, the seismic deformations of the levee may not compromise the stability of the levees, but they may cause damage to the seepage control measures. Depending on the nature and extent of the damage, the mitigation measures may require limited or full replacement of the seepage control measures. This paper will provide a systematic assessment of these different types of seepage control measures under vertical and lateral deformations due to liquefaction and lateral spreading under seismic loadings.INTRODUCTIONThere are two broad categories of levees in Central California: levees that are subjected to continuous hydraulic loading such as delta levees and are called frequently loaded levees (FLL) and flood control levees that are subjected to seasonal or infrequent hydraulic loading, called infrequently loaded levees (ILL). This paper will focus on the seismic response of ILL. The probability of ILL experiencing an earthquake at the time of the design flood is very low. Therefore, consequences of seismic failure of flood control levees are only significant in terms of response time required to restore the level of flood protection provided by the levee before the next flood season. An example for this restoration is the restoration of the Pajaro River levees in Santa Cruz, California after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Nevertheless, failure of flood control levees due to a seismic event could result in loss of the entire levee and/or loss of freeboard. In addition, some of the seismic failure of ILL levees may result in loss of seepage control measures such as the soil-bentonite wall.The State of California State approved Senate Bill (SB) 5 in 2007 that mandates for 200-year flood protection to be the minimum level of protection for urban and urbanizing areas in Central California (Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley) by the year 2025. This legislation also requires that urban and urbanizing areas protected by Federal project levees cannot use adequate progress as a condition to approve development after 2025. SB 5 requires that the urban level of flood protection be consistent with criteria used or developed by DWR (Government Code § 65007(k)). To avoid delaying urgently needed flood protection, Urban Levee Design Criteria (ULDC, 2012) was developed."

Jan 1, 2016

By Christopher R. Harris

"Considerations are presented for developing and implementing self-hardening slurry mix designs to be utilized in barrier seepage walls. Slag-cement-cement-bentonite (SCCB) slurries are the primary focus, with some comparisons referenced to the more traditional Portland-based cement-bentonite (CB) slurries. Field and laboratory mixing methods are reviewed, including 1) single sack – single mixer method; 2) bentonite slurry mixer – cementitious addition mixer method; 3) bentonite mixer – grout mixer – CB blending mixer method. Major phenomena associated with the dynamics of barrier wall excavation, such as loss of water from the in-trench slurry and consolidation of in-trench slurry are discussed. Other topics touched upon include sand content effects, fluidizers utilized, and chemical contaminants. The role of higher bentonite to water ratio is reviewed, with demonstration of improvement of filtration properties, and an increase of water retention of the final consolidated product.IntroductionSelf-hardening slurry has been utilized to construct barrier seepage walls for many decades. This is essentially a single-step slurry excavation and backfill process whereby the trench-supporting fluid gains strength over a short period during installation and maintains or develops low hydraulic conductivity. The resulting curing slurry becomes the actual barrier wall as the resultant cement-augmented clay slurry now fulfills the dual purpose of both temporary trench stabilization and final cured-in-place product. This eliminates the requirement and expense of subsequent backfill/slurry displacement operations required in traditional barrier wall installations.Self-hardening slurries have been fabricated using a number of various clays, most commonly sodium bentonite, calcium bentonite, attapulgite, and sepiolite. Perhaps due to plentiful high quality sodium bentonite deposits found domestically, the proven excavation stabilization properties imparted from sodium bentonite slurries, sodium bentonites are typically specified for formulating self-hardening slurries in the US. Cementitious materials utilized most commonly are Portland cement and slag (ground blast furnace slag or GBFS). For the purposes of this discussion, self-hardening slurry having a cementitious of Portland will be referred to as CB. Those having cementitious material of GBFS replacing Portland (partially or wholly) will be referred to as SCCB."

Jan 1, 2016

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 Frederic A. Verheyde

The CPT pile design method of the ‘Laboratoire des Ponts et Chaussées’ (LPC) uses the cone resistance (qc) for the design of axially loaded piles. It was originally proposed in 1982 and was revised in 1993 and 2012. It has been widely used in France for several decades and is included in the current French pile design code. The objective of this paper is to summarise the two first versions (1982 and 1993) of the method and to detail the most recent one as described in the current French pile design code (AFNOR 2012).

Nov 1, 2022

By Abid Adekunte

"Engineers and developers have witnessed the growing popularity of deep basement structures as components of urban commercial and residential developments. This is often attributed to inadequate surface parking facilities in urban centres and a somewhat popular belief that underground parking facilities improve both commercial and aesthetic values of urban structures. For many years, diaphragm walls and sheet pile walls have been widely accepted as effective deep excavation support systems for basement construction in urbanised zones. However, these are now being replaced by bored pile retaining walls as preferred earth retention systems of choice on many projects for several reasons, which may include economy, faster installation process, reduced space requirement for machinery and ancillary equipment, flexural rigidity and axial capacities.However, there are complexities associated with the use of bored pile retaining walls on urban developments. These include; limitations due to vertical and horizontal installation tolerances, which is a major issue when wall is required to provide groundwater cut-off for multi-level basements as tolerances are difficult to achieve for deep piles, uncertainty associated with the prediction of wall axial capacity as piles are rarely tested, difficulties in using temporary props as wall restraint due to restricted working spaces in urbanised zones and difficulties in adopting ground anchors as restraint due to the existence of adjacent sensitive structures in built-up areas. Such complexities have resulted in cases of failure, non-serviceability and abandonment of basement construction schemes. Therefore, overcoming the intricacies associated with the application of bored pile walls is becoming a priority to the present day basement engineer.This paper is centred on the numerical modelling, design, construction and monitoring aspects of four recent case histories of multi-level basement and marine engineering construction schemes in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, which involved the use of bored pile retaining walls. The paper highlights the various customised approaches and innovative novel solutions adopted on the sites, to mitigate risks and ultimately overcome the intricacies associated with the earth retention techniques. Simple empirical equations for developing the geometry of secant pile walls for effective groundwater cut-off are presented and validated. An alternative approach for predicting axial capacities of bored pile walls is also presented; this is shown to be considerably less conservative than a common routine design approach, while also in good agreement with observations made in a recent series of laboratory-based scale model tests."

Jan 1, 2017

"The development of non-destructive testing (NDT) methods for deep foundations occurred in several parts of the world, gradually coming together into the present state of the art. The compilation of this brief NDT history is the best effort of several knowledgeable members of the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Drilled Shaft Committee, coupled with the recollections of several historically important contributors to the science. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather concentrates on the origins of the methods in common use and on which this manual focuses.Modern NDT methods, and the spread of knowledge about them, have expanded through application to real foundations projects by the original researchers, sometimes inspired by their own curiosity, sometimes to respond to the cost and time limitations imposed by static testing, and sometimes to address the questions raised on research projects funded by large government agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in the USA, and various European transportation agencies. Initial attempts were primitive by today’s standards, and equipment limitations often restricted successful application to relatively simple cases. As electronics improved and confidence in them increased, the early researchers began commercial promotion of their methods, published their findings in professional journals, and shared experiences at conferences held by such groups as the DFI, the International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC), the International Conferences on the Application of Stress-Wave Theory to Piles and other venues such as ASCE and Transportation Research Board (TRB) conferences.NDT methods were developed to fill a need to assess the quality assurance of deep foundation elements. New pile types and higher design loads prompted engineers to verify the safety of their foundations via additional testing during construction. Static load testing was the traditional method to assess performance, and this method has been used for centuries and perhaps even millennia.Relatively recent alternatives to static load testing for determining the capacity of drilled shafts include the bottom load test method. This method uses a jack embedded in the lower portion of the pile (bottom load test) and was first reported to be used from Canada in the early 1970’s (Gibson& Devenny 1973). The concept immediately caught on in Israel, where it was used as a quality control measure for small-diameter piles drilled in rock (then a new technology). The method was later patented in the US by Jorj Osterberg, and offered as a commercially available service in thelate 1980s (Osterberg, 1989)"

Jan 1, 2004

By Brian M. Fraley

"Portions of the Catholic Total Abstinence Fountain in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pa., were in “imminent danger,” according to a restoration services request for proposals (RFP) issued by the City of Philadelphia in August 2014. Open voids in the subsurface beneath the foundation were causing ongoing settlement of the fountain.The fountain was unveiled in 1876 as an ornamental drinking fountain for the Centennial International Exhibition, which celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Its creation was commissioned by the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, an Irish temperance organization that advocated for total abstinence from alcohol. Ironically, the fountain ran dry decades ago.The now-defunct fountain features a 100 ft (30.5 m) wide granite base with three steps in the shape of a Maltese cross. The centerpiece — enclosed by a 40 ft (12.2 m) diameter basin — is a 15 ft (4.6 m) tall statue of Moses perched atop an iglooshaped marble mound. Four subsidiary statues rise from granite pedestals at the tips of each arm of the cross, including Archbishop John Carroll, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Father Theobald Mathew and Commodore John Barry.Natural and Man-Made DamageThe City of Philadelphia’s RFP called attention to three “high priority structural areas.” It was noted that Moses, Father Mathew and the steps surrounding the fountain had been documented as public hazards. The long-term effects of water infiltration had set in, eroding mortar joints and causing some stones to jut out. Furthermore, the stone base supporting the 16 ton (14.5 tonne) statue of Moses was in danger of collapsing. The statue of Father Mathew had been struck by lightning in 1910 and was repaired with an iron and metal pin anchor system, which had succumbed to corrosion. The city considered the statue of Father Mathew as the most threatened of the statues. Mike Miluski, P.E., vice president of Compaction Grouting Services (CGS), recalled “the fountain was in pretty bad shape” as he walked onto the site in August 2016 and immediately recognized the challenges ahead."

Jan 1, 2017

By Sameh M. Khella

This paper discusses the application of deep CFA piles for the foundation of structures in different ground stratifications with a focus on the application in Queensland region. Design, construction techniques and quality measures implemented during these procedures are described. Testing methods and verification of capacity, integrity and performance of these piles are also demonstrated. Case studies for this application are presented with an appreciation of this solution within the provided project conditions of each case. Examples of successes and challenges encountered over the course of application of deep CFA in Queensland are mentioned. Limitations of the technique and less favourable situations for its implementation are also highlighted.

Nov 1, 2022

By William M. Dalrymple, William P. Owen, Benjamin S. Rivers

For the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), geophysical applications have played an important role as part of a successful multidisciplinary approach to subsurface characterization for the design of high value structures. Since at least the 1950’s, geophysical methods have been deployed to guide the exploration drilling program and to maximize the return on drilling investment by increasing the amount of data obtained from test borings. Geophysical applications saw increased use beginning in the 1990’s, during the seismic retrofit of the state’s toll bridges and the replacement of the west span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Over the intervening years, increases in computing power and increasingly sophisticated commercial off-the-shelf software applications have allowed Caltrans to leverage advancements and perform geophysical investigations of increasing complexity and scale. Ultimately, the goal of these efforts is to maximize return on investment, whereby increased investigation costs at the design phase are offset by reduced uncertainty regarding subsurface conditions, leading to reduced cost overruns related to change orders and unforeseen site conditions during construction. These objectives are consistent with the recent Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative to incorporate Advanced Geotechnical Methods in Exploration (A-GaME) into routine engineering practice. Caltrans is an implementation partner of the A-GaME initiative, and Caltrans’ practices represent a model toward the institutionalized geophysical site characterization practices for other transportation organizations. The authors provide a retrospective on 70 years of experience with geophysical applications for transportation infrastructure, with examples and observations on potential future direction of the industry.

By Hyun. I. Park

Although numerous investigations have been performed over the years to predict the behavior and bearing capacity of piles, the mechanisms of these behavior and bearing capacity of piles have yet to be entirely understood. Bearing capacity is difficult to predict, because it is affected by many parameters, which have complex relationship with each other. The present paper describes the application of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) in dynamic load tests to predict the resistance of driven piles. The tip, shaft, and total pile resistances can be predicted only for piles with available corresponding measurements of these values. The design methodology composed of ANN and genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to find the optimal neural network model to predict pile resistance. The results of this study indicate that the neural network model serves as a reliable and simple tool for predicting the capacity of driven piles.

Jan 1, 2006

By Chris L. Powell, Russell J. Denny.

"The remotely located Cockatoo Island iron ore mine off the Kimberly coast in Western Australia, which has been in operation since 1951, was recently expanded up to 50m below sea-level using staged construction of a rock-filled seawall around the open cut mining operation. The most recent stage of the seawall expansion required a seepage reducing cut-off barrier to be installed through the seawall into underlying seabed sediments. A line of grout holes at 1m centres was proposed to form the seepage barrier, with grouting extending 17m below the top of the seawall. Top hammer drilling techniques were used to penetrate the 12m deep rockfill to seabed level, and permeation grouting carried out within the rockfill to fill voids and stabilise material around grout holes. The local 10m tides meant that tidal washout of fines and grout would be a major risk, and so a combination of cementitious and chemical grout was used to create rapid gel times. Following permeation grouting, holes were re-opened to allow jet grouting to hydraulically mix and grout permeable seabed sediments below the seawall. Using the duplex jet grout system in a single pass to 17m below platform level, the jet grouting was extended upwards into the seawall fill itself to overlap with the earlier permeation grouting. Finally a soil/cement mixed capping trench was installed using slurry trenching techniques with soil/cement/bentonite mixed backfill in order to complete the grout treatment. The approach taken allowed considerable onsite flexibility in technique. An automated slurry batching plant allowed adjustment of mixes to suit the varying subsurface conditions which were encountered during the works.IntroductionLate in 2013 Wagstaff Piling was engaged to install a seepage barrier through a rockfilled seawall built to allow expansion of sub-sea iron ore mining operations on Cockatoo Island off the remote Kimberley coast in the North West of Western Australia. Earlier stages of seawall construction had used a variety of different construction techniques with varied success, and the history of sub-sea 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 expansion stages that adopted clay core and sheet pile seepage barrier solutions. In Stage 4, an innovative grout curtain seepage barrier solution was selected to ultimately provide the necessary cut-off to allow access to high grade ore, while protecting the mine from inundation by the sea."

Jan 1, 2016

By Monica Prezzi

"Auger cast-in-place (ACIP} piles and drilled displacement piles are being increasingly used as foundation elements for structures, particularly in projects requiring accelerated construction or involving the rehabilitation of foundations of existing, overstressed structures. Auger cast-in-place piles (also referred to as continuous-flight-auger piles) are widely used to construct the foundations of all types of structures. There are many different types of drilled displacement piles, with the installation methods varying according to the equipment used. Depending on the specific rotary piling technology used, responses ranging from those associated with non-displacement to those associated with full-displacement piles are obtained. Conventional pile design methods do not account for how the various construction techniques involved in auger piling change the soil state around the pile during installation and, hence, cannot accurately estimate the pile resistance in a consistent way. Research on this subject, identifying the different variables that must be accounted for in design and linking these variables to installation methods, is lacking. This paper describes the different piling methods available for auger cast-in-place and drilled displacement piles, the equipment used to install them and the quality control processes typically used. It also reviews some of the design methods currently used.IntroductionDeep foundations are extensively used in geotechnical engineering practice. The wide spectrum of piling methods results in a variety of pile types. Each type behaves differently, depending on the installation or construction methods. On one end of the spectrum are non-displacement piles, the classicql examples of which are bored piles or drilled · shafts. These piles are constructed by removing a cylinder of soil from the ground and replacing it with concrete and reinforcement. On the other end are full-displacement piles, such as closed-ended pipe piles or precast reinforced concrete piles, which are typically driven into the ground. Driven piles preload the materials below the toe of the pile and displace the soil surrounding the pile shaft laterally during the installation process. Therefore, displacement piles are, in general, more likely to have a stiffer response than non-displacement piles. This is true particularly in the case of sandy soils where displacement causes densification."

Jan 1, 2005

By Masaru Sakakibara, Ngo Tuan Anh, Mitsuo Nozu

"In the southern region of Vietnam and the southern United States, numbers of Deep Mixing (DM) columns have been installed to increase the stability of slopes and mitigate ground settlement. However, in some cases, there were some quality problems for in-situ cement mixing such as inclusion of unmixed lumps. According to the investigations by the X-ray diffraction analyses, electrical conductivity (EC) test, and careful observations of in-situ mixing quality, it has been observed that the existence of expansive soil and its high EC value cause the insufficient in-situ mixing. The countermeasures to address these problems have been taken.INTRODUCTIONIn South Vietnam, under the guidance of numbers of references and standards (Miki, 1998, JGS, 2000, Kitazume et.al., 2001, BS 2005), Deep Mixing (DM) has been used in recent years for soft clay improvement to increase the stability of slopes and to reduce consolidation settlement (Nozu 2005, Tung et.al., 2009, S. T. G. Peng et.al, 2009). However, at the initial phase of the DM operation, the authors have encountered some unusual phenomena such as (1) lower strength and inclusion of unmixed lumps (Figure 1), (2) less amount of up-heaved soil, and (3) sticking of large lumps of clay to the mixing blades. In regard to the above (3), Photo 1 shows one of the countermeasures against the sticking. By means of the placement of additional plates, the stuck clay has been reduced significantly.Subsequently, we have noticed that the quality of DM columns has not been so good, which meant that there have been some unmixed lumps in the column despite high cement dosage such as more than 300kg/m3. The authors also have encountered the similar incidents in Vietnam and United States during the deep soil mixing work. For example, Photo 2 is the core samples taken from the DM test column in northern Vietnam adopting cement injection during penetration (CIDP) procedure. To solve this problem, various tests and investigations have been performed so far (Nozu 2010, 2012)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Filippo Maria Leoni, Gianluca Pianezze

"As part of the Southeast Louisiana (SELA) drainage program, designed to reduce flood damages in the City of New Orleans and surrounding parishes, the SELA-22 project entailed the construction of a concrete covered canal along Jefferson Ave. and Prytania Street. The scope of the required soil improvement was to replace the soil between two parallel lines of sheet piles with a soil-cement mass to eliminate under-seepage, thus creating a so called bottom plug, and provide structural support for the concrete box culvert. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New Orleans District, selected the jet grouting technology for the construction of the bottom plug to a maximum depth of approximately 40 ft, and for a total length of approximately one mile. The specialty geotechnical contractor proposed to accomplish the task utilizing their proprietary and innovative elliptical bi-fluid jet grout technology which, by limiting the overlap between adjacent columns, allowed a reduction of the overall number of installations. Approximately 2,400 elliptical jet grout columns were installed in a very challenging environment, especially under a logistical point of view. This paper will summarize the main features of the project, focusing on the innovative technological solution adopted to maximize productivity and on the several challenges faced in such limited and complicated logistical conditions.INTRODUCTIONThe Southeast Louisiana (SELA) drainage program has been designed with the purpose of reducing flood damages in the City of New Orleans and surrounding parishes. This will be accomplished by constructing new pumping stations and better drainage canals throughout. The program was authorized in 1996 by the United States Congress and administered under a project cooperation agreement between the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) and the USACE.Prompted by the severity of damages associated with rainfall flooding in southeast Louisiana, the SELA program consists of several individual project components. The proposed work is located on both the east and west banks of the Mississippi River in the Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, as well as in portion of St. Tammany Parish."

Jan 1, 2017

By Robert Bachus, Jamey Rosen, Fabio Santillan, Georgette Hlepas

"A seepage barrier of length 4,800 feet and maximum depth 144 feet is being installed at Bolivar Dam in Ohio. This project is owned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and contracted to Treviicos South. Many data types are being collected, synthesized and analyzed on a nearly real-time basis to monitor and track dam construction using several technologies including an enterprise relational database and web-based Geographical Information Systems. These data are being collected by both the owner and contractor and managed by the data subcontractor, Geosyntec Consultants. Each of the owner and contractor brings their own list of goals and desires to the data management program, and the subcontractor’s duty is to address these goals with minimal compromise by either party. The owner requires comprehensive, transparent and timely access to data in both “executive summary” and detailed formats. The contractor requires immediate analysis of disparate data to determine (for example) if a given excavation meets the specified tolerance and continuity requirements. This paper will describe the tools and methods used to store, analyze and visualize these data and discuss how each party’s needs were met in a collaborative system.INTRODUCTIONThe 4,800 foot long seepage barrier under construction at Bolivar Dam requires the collection, organization, and sharing of several types of data. These data include drawings and borehole logs that existed prior to construction; data collected during construction (seepage barrier panel composition and verticality data, slurry quality control and quality assurance data, grouting records, etc.); and instrumentation data collected and reviewed throughout and beyond construction. Each of these data streams require input and review from the Owner (United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), responsible for quality assurance and the ultimate consumer of the data), the Contractor (Treviicos South, responsible for the construction of the seepage barrier, its quality control and analysis of the data per the Contract Specifications), and the Data Management Subcontractor (Geosyntec Consultants, responsible for organizing and presenting the data to meet the needs of the Owner and Contractor). While all parties work with the same common goal, i.e.: producing a high quality product in an efficient manner making dam safety paramount during construction, and require immediate and comprehensive access to these data, the needs and desires of the parties differ. The challenge presented to the Data Management Subcontractor is to synthesize these data into a series of tools and reports that meet each of these needs."

Jan 1, 2017

"What can we do in ground engineering to reduce damage to the environment, to repair historic pollution, to reduce our demand on basic resources and to reduce the carbon footprint of our industry? Some developments in geotechnical engineering are already heading in the right direction. These include reductions of ground pollution from grouting, improved dewatering procedures and advances in mix-in-place processes, ground improvement and jet grouting.There is increased interest in certain promising technologies (for example, drilled partial or full displacement piles), but this approach remains for the moment somewhat avant-garde. These piles require substantially greater power to install, and the overall sustainability balance for general application has yet to be shown to be in their favour. They are particularly suited to polluted sites where the problem of dealing with spoil would be costly and where, in the past, driven cast in-situ piles would have been employed. Drilled displacement piles offer some environmental benefit over driven piles in that they cause far less drawdown of potentially contaminated near-surface ground into sensitive, underlying aquifers.There is also great interest in various means of increasing the frictional capacity of bored piles, both conventional auger and continuous flight auger (CFA) piles, by threading or ribbing the soil/pile interface. The increase in adhesion capacity allows reduction in the pile dimensions necessary for a specific load. This obviously leads to less construction waste, but also to less permanent material consumption in the piles and also in the pile caps.The role of ground improvement remains significant for brown land sites and lower capacity foundations. Information technology (IT) has improved the quality assurance of stone column construction, for example. From the sustainability point of view, this is a good news method; here is no cement, no pollution and little obstruction to future redevelopment. We now need to introduce recycled crushed materials instead of natural aggregate as general practice and the technique’s green credentials will be really compelling."

Jan 1, 2009

By Jeffrey Goodwin P. E., Melih Demirkan Ph. D. P. E., Kevin Tehansky P. E.

Just an hour drive down MD 301 from National Harbor, construction to replace the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas ‘Mac’ Middleton Bridge (HNB) began in spring of 2020. The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) contracted with Skanska-Corman-McLean (SCM) to deliver a new US 301 bridge spanning 1.9 miles from Maryland to Virginia over the Potomac River aiming to improve capacity, safety, and access of the roadway. The project area presented a geotechnical design challenge due to the installation of new bridge foundations in the problematic soils of the Atlantic Coastal Plain alluvial deposits. With the existing bridge remaining in service during construction, and the site’s logistical constraints placing new pile driving operations near existing abutments and piers, a complex instrumentation and monitoring plan was developed to ensure public safety throughout the project. This paper discusses the geological conditions of the project area, the collaborative approach of various design team members to develop an appropriate monitoring plan utilizing various instrumentation, an understanding of baseline conditional movements of the existing bridge, and impact response of adjacent construction activity to help deliver effective new bridge foundations while protecting the old ones.

Oct 1, 2022

By Paul R. Lear

Sustainability continues to be an important aspect of remediation and infrastructure projects. Deep soil mixing (DSM), a common construction and remedial technology, can easily incorporate the following sustainability best management practices (BMPs), including Minimizing Total Energy Use and Maximizing Use of Renewable Energy; Minimizing Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Maximizing Use of Machinery Equipped with Advanced Emission; Minimizing Water Use and Impacts to Water Resources; Beneficial Reuse of Materials/Reduction of Materials and Waste Reduction; Use of Local Labor and Supplies. This paper focuses on the sustainability of DSM treatment and provide carbon footprint calculations at least one completed DSM project which used these sustainability BMPs to demonstrate the environmental impact of the sustainability.

Sep 8, 2021

By P. Seethalakshmi, Yatakuri Yaswanth Naidu

The use of a single pile, group of piles with pile cap, piled raft foundation system, etc., are prevalent in transferring the superstructure load from the soft soil layers to the firm underground layers to reduce the settlement and improve the bearing capacity. The recent development of disconnected piled raft foundation has gained greater importance in improving the load transfer mechanism among the pile, raft, and subsoil by reducing the vulnerability of the greatest axial force on the pile head which leads to pile failure. The present study aims at analyzing the performance of unreinforced and Geogrid reinforced disconnected piled raft foundations under vertical loading using the commercially available finite element software PLAXIS-3D. A parametric study was conducted on unreinforced and reinforced disconnected piled raft foundations to explore the effect of varying pile stiffness as well as the inclusion of Geogrid layer on the load vs settlement, the load sharing ratio of piles and raft, and the distribution of axial load and bending moment along the length of the pile. The Mohr-Coulomb model was used for the granular cushion layer while the Modified Cam Clay model was used for soft clay underlain the sand layer. Raft and piles were assumed to be rigid and linear elastic. The results showed that axial force taken by piles with higher stiffness was maximum while settlement at the bottom tip of the pile with higher stiffness was maximum in both reinforced as well as unreinforced disconnected piled raft systems.

Sep 1, 2022

By Amr M. Sallam

A case history of utilizing a mat foundation enhanced with ?settlement-control? piles to support a high-rise building in Downtown Orlando is presented. Original geotechnical engineering studies, performed by others, recommended pile foundations due to difficult soil conditions and highly variable loads. The value engineering study performed by the authors provided alternative foundation system of the mat foundation enhanced by ?settlement-control? piles. The alternative foundation system required few iterations of structural and geotechnical analysis. A target stiffness for the settlement-control piles was selected by the structural engineer. Pile load tests were performed to verify the recommended pile geometry. A total of 81 auger-cast-in-place settlement-control piles 45-foot long 16-inch diameter were installed. A total of 24 columns were monitored for settlement, which showed substantially less settlement than predicted. It is the authors? opinion that the ?settlement-control? piles increased the mat stiffness, relieved the concentration of contact pressures around heavily loaded columns, and reduced potential differential settlement. Mat foundation with settlement-control piles provided border-line foundation solution between shallow and deep foundations and has the potential to be widely used in Central Florida for similar subsoil and loading conditions; however a thorough analysis using three dimensional Finite Element Modeling may be needed to refine the geotechnical evaluations.

Jan 1, 2009