Search Documents

By Karen Talbot, Noah Maier, Rob Jameson, Giuseppe Gaspari

A storage and drainage tunnel advancing below I-75 in Detroit, Michigan experienced sudden subsidence. The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was damaged to the extent that its shield, cutting head and extensive interior components needed to be extracted and replaced along with several completed tunnel segments. The tunnel was 16 feet (4.9m) in diameter with crown over 79 feet (24m) deep at the time. The tunneling contractor immediately engaged their designers and specialty subcontractors to develop a scheme to access the machine and repair the tunnel. They required a shaft 99 feet (30m) deep, with unobstructed plan dimension of 50 feet (15m) to accommodate the large components that needed to be removed and replaced. This precluded the application of an internally braced excavation and instead earth support solutions focused on use of a compression ring. Since the completed tunnel section behind the TBM obstructed closure of the compression ring below its invert, this paper describes the innovative access shaft solution employed. A conventional compression ring was constructed using 5 feet (1.5m) diameter drilled shafts down to the tunnel crown. In front of, and to the sides of the tunnel heading, the secant shafts were extended to over 150 feet (46m) depth, creating a horseshoe of support extending 50 feet (15m) below the planned excavation invert. Larger diameter "King Pile" shafts were drilled immediately to either side of the tunnel, overlapped into each end of the secant "horseshoe". The king pile shafts, together with a heavily reinforced ring beam above the crown elevation, acted as a door frame to transfer hoop loads from the incomplete secant arc into reaction supports above and below the tunnel. These oversize king pile shafts were extended and socketed into rock over 70 feet (21m) below tunnel invert. Very tight installation tolerances were necessary to maintain secant shaft alignment to depths exceeding 150 feet (46m). The project operational, geotechnical, and quality data was managed and visualized using a custom GIS interface. This paper will present the design approach employed and review the construction and quality program selected to repair the tunnel.

Oct 1, 2022

By William D. Oder, Seth H. Hamblin, Les R. Chernatskas, Jonathan L. Ernst

Large diameter drilled deep foundations are a widely utilized solution throughout North America and the world. Numerous design and construction techniques developed over the past 100 years have made this type of foundation a robust, reliable, and efficient foundation option to support a wide variety of structures. From bridges, to marine structures, to high-rise buildings, drilled shafts are a time-tested approach for all types of infrastructure projects. Yet, what remains ambiguous in the current state of engineering practice is how to respond when a shaft is constructed that, for potentially different reasons, may or may not meet the design requirements? In this case, what are the best practices for Contractors and Engineers when a structural, geotechnical, or material integrity issue arises during construction? In our experience the answers to these questions are not widely known, but are profoundly important so that engineers can have tools available to confidently and efficiently address concerns, and provide a path forward for the project. This paper seeks to answer the above questions by presenting details of different remediation approaches using the results of several case studies where structural and geotechnical engineering methods, combined with non-destructive integrity testing (NDT), were employed to evaluate the acceptance of “questionable” drilled shafts. Through multidisciplinary techniques like Cross-hole Sonic Logging and 3-D Tomography which enhance the resolution of anomalous zones and defects in concrete, the development of concrete strength estimates from non-destructive testing data, and executing innovative structural and geotechnical analyses to evaluate the as-built conditions, drilled shafts that might have historically been rejected were ultimately accepted by the project team. This paper presents a series of unique case studies that together depict a roadmap for a comprehensive approach to reliably evaluate and guide the industry to address these types of drilled shaft construction issues.

Oct 1, 2022

By Bernardo J. Jiménez Vega, Edy L. T. Montalvan PhD

The experience gained during more than 900 Crosshole Sonic Logging (CSL) tests on drilled shafts shows the importance of establishing proper project acceptance and repair protocols. Drilled shaft evaluation is a multidisciplinary task that should not be left solely to the outcome of the CSL test. This test allows to characterize and delimit areas of different qualities of concrete, and it is important that all the interested parties understand the difference between flaws and defects. The information presented here is intended to give a guideline to contractors, inspectors, engineers, owners and clients on how to deal with acceptance and remediation of defective drilled shafts, detected using CSL tests. A database of flaws is presented depending on their location, intensity and remediation method. Procedures that allow the flaws to be analyzed are presented in order to dismiss or classify them as defects. In many cases, the CSL test may indicate an anomaly, but by coring the concrete and analyzing the structural demands and conditions, the flaw can be classified as non-severe. When flaws are classified as defects, their repair will depend on the area where they are located in the drilled shaft pile. In this document two procedures are described for repairing defects depending on their location. For defects in the drilled shaft head area, the procedure takes into account the interaction between the new and old concrete. For repairing the middle zone of the drilled shaft by grouting, the major concerns are the difficulty of accessing through the drilled shaft at deep depths and the communication between boreholes. For defects at the drilled shaft tip, two proposed remediation methods are presented. Finally, tomography tests are presented to compare the effectiveness of remediation by grouting.

Oct 1, 2022

By Bernardo J. Jiménez Vega, Edy L. T. Montalvan

During the last phase of the Circunvalacion Norte project in San Jose, Costa Rica, preliminary designs for an underpass structure of over 16 km (10 miles) considered drilled shafts as an earth retaining system. Since the project’s execution was delayed and close to the deadline, it was necessary to optimize this structure, with the drilled shafts being the most critical aspect. The key element in order to obtain an improved design was characterizing the job site with a specific site study for seismic demand, and the use of advanced numerical modelling, considering soil-structure interaction. The site investigation comprised the CPT, PMT, MASW geophysical tests, deep exploration drilling, and triaxial compression tests. The terrain was modeled using an advanced constitutive model with hardening plasticity calibrated from the triaxial tests. Plaxis software was used to calibrate the seismic model for the terrain and for the dynamic analysis. Two conditions were considered for the retaining structure: free-head and fixed head. A parametric study with drilled shafts of 1.0 m (3.3 ft) and 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in diameter, and center-to-center spacing of 1.3 m (4.3 ft) and 3.0 m (9.8 ft) was conducted in order to obtain an optimized structure. For each condition of the drilled shaft wall, the computed deformations were compared for two spectrum designs: site-specific spectrum and seismic code generic spectrum. Finally, a dynamic analysis was performed to check the performance of the drilled shafts with optimized spacing using a control earthquake. Based upon seismic performance curves, the analysis showed the possibility of greater spacing for the drilled shafts compared to the original design, obtaining a 32% reduction in the total length of the drilled shafts in the project.

Oct 1, 2022

By Vijaya Bhushan Rao, Ali Semercioglu, Jason Redgers

Large diameter steel water tanks with high storage capacities impart heavy loads deep into the ground, generally requiring deep foundations to adequately support them. The use of ground improvement as a sustainable and cost effective alternative is tempting but the design of the foundations for such heavily loaded, thin-shelled structures have to meet several performance requirements such as bearing capacity, limiting the specified total settlements, typically limiting the radial differential settlement to 13mm over 10m along the circumference and dishing settlement from edge to center of 1/120 as per standard API 650 Appendix B as well as the mitigation of liquefaction induced settlement risk. Any inadequacy in the soil investigation, geotechnical design, or misrepresentation of stresses of the foundations may lead to serviceability compromise or potentially catastrophic failures. Therefore, the selection of the foundation is dependent on the availability of suitable ground report and the limitations imposed by operational requirements. Two such case studies are evaluated and compared in this paper, with tank diameters ranging from 41 to 106m in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, (KSA) which were founded on two types of soils and supported on deep foundations i.e., stone columns and bored cast-in-situ piles.

Oct 1, 2022

By Ryan T. Smith, Anthony Sahj, Alexander T. Darnell

Every second can count when trying to board a departing flight or catch a ride-share to your final destination. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is in the midst of a project that aims to cut about 13 seconds between automated people mover trains (Plane Train) that move passengers between the terminals and concourses. The project involves extending the Plane Train tunnel west from its existing terminus under the domestic terminal. Working from inside non-public areas of the terminal, Keller North America, Inc. (Keller) incorporated systems of micropile-supported steel beams and grillage to both underpin existing columns prior to tunneling and support open-cut excavation at the tie-in of the new to the existing tunnel. Dewatering aided in mining a challenging section at the start of the drive of the mixedface, sequentially excavated tunnel and an automated instrumentation system monitored the performance of the construction and its impact to the terminal. Cut and cover egress and ventilation tunnels required braced support of excavation.

Oct 1, 2022

By Michael Arnold, Jignyash Manyam, Yoav Rappaport

The USACE required construction of over 13 miles of cutoff wall at an average depth of 65 feet for the Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD). To meet project requirements, to provide quality control and make sound operational decisions, automated data capture, retention and visualization is crucial. Accurate and complete data management allows the authors to deliver critical business insights and to improve operational efficiencies. The author’s understood the necessity of capturing all their data, and efficiently processing and displaying it for multiple stake holders, for both internal and external purposes. The authors realized early in the project life cycle that data ownership and management is one of the fundamental features of the construction process. The authors developed their own software and use two in house applications; WEB-BGM online portal and, b-project which store rig production information combined with field quality control. b-project is used to create and deliver the Enterprise Database (EDB) to the USACE. Another biproduct of capturing the production data is the generation of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and also business analytics visual interactive display, developed through Microsoft Power BI. The paper focuses on the business process workflow and various technologies employed and lessons learned from the field operator perspective to achieve higher returns on business software operations.

Oct 1, 2022

By Allen B. Stanton, Parthiv Brahmbhatt, Michael Grimm, Stanley L. Worst

Constructing a circular shaft consisting of secant piles has its own complications which make it more difficult than typical drilled shaft construction. Add to that performing under low overhead powerlines and sitting inside of a 40-foot deep, 50-foot diameter shaft and it becomes more about logistics than the actual drilling. The complexities associated with the Romeo Arm Interceptor Segment 5 Lining project are the focus of this paper, delving into the details that made it work successfully.

Oct 1, 2022

By Marco D. Boscardin, Benjamin H. MacKinney, Kenneth R. Allard, Kenneth A. Pidgeon, Adriane G. Boscardin

This paper presents a case history for a unique application of a system of vertical micropiles with horizontal soil nail bracing and shotcrete facing for underpinning. The system was used to support and protect an existing 2-story hospital building during demolition and renovation. The goal was to limit building movements and have the building remain in use during construction of an abutting addition. Soils at the site consisted of clean, loose to dense, sand and gravel. The original underpinning design was revised after the initial excavation revealed unsuitable soil conditions for traditional underpinning pits. An alternative system consisting of vertical micropiles (hollow bars) through the footing, combined with shotcrete and soil nails was proposed, accepted by the owner, and successfully constructed. Excavation depths were up to 15 feet (4.6 m) below the existing footings. Wall movements were monitored at regular, horizontal and vertical intervals along the hospital wall, and less than 0.6 inches (15 mm) of settlement and 0.1 inches (3 mm) of horizontal displacement throughout underpinning and construction were reported. The challenges with the original proposed support of excavation design and other alternative approaches considered will also be discussed.

Oct 1, 2022

By Martin B. Hudson, Andrew K. Cho, Rolff B. Knobel, Les R. Chernauskas, Jonathan L. Ernst

ABSTRACT The Bruce Museum, located in Greenwich, Connecticut, is home to an extensive display of art and natural history exhibitions. A large addition was designed to be constructed adjacent to the museum requiring new spread footings to be installed up to 16.5 feet below the existing foundations. The soil conditions at the site consist of highly variable sand and gravel overlying weathered rock and sound bedrock. The Contract Documents called for traditional foundation underpinning. Traditional underpinning techniques, however, presented two major challenges on this Project; (1) deep underpinning pits would be required involving multiple levels and staging with tieback support and (2) the highly variable soil and bedrock composition and elevations presented uncertainty in the design and construction of the pits. In lieu of traditional underpinning, Geosciences Testing and Research, Inc. (GTR) proposed an “active” soil nail underpinning system. A major reason that the soil nail underpinning option was feasible, related to the fact that the soil nails and facing could be installed slightly in front of the existing footings rather than directly underneath the existing footings. The soil nail wall design involved one to four rows of soil nails with nail positions and wall depth able to be adjusted “on the fly” as excavation progressed depending on the field conditions encountered. To create the “active system,” the soil nails were pre-loaded to mitigate wall deformations that would be associated with a standard passive soil nail wall design. To evaluate the performance of the active soil nail wall and confirm design assumptions, an extensive automated monitoring, on-site testing and inspection program was proposed and executed by GTR to monitor deformations of the wall and the museum in real-time, evaluate and confirm bedrock and soil bond stresses and ensure that each soil nail was pre-loaded and locked off. Careful analysis, planning, and use of the observational method illustrates the importance of collaboration between design and construction personnel and applying engineering judgement throughout construction. The use of the observational method includes the potential for modifying design based on conditions observed. This paper presents a unique case study of the “active” soil nail underpinning system to support and protect sensitive structures, close collaboration between design and construction facilitated by real-time deformation monitoring, and its successful application as a safe and cost-effective alternative to traditional underpinning.

Oct 1, 2022

By Pete Howell, Patrick Granitzki, Alicia Plinio, Janitha Batagoda

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Red Hook Houses was subjected to damage during Superstorm Sandy. As a result, the NYCHA has an ongoing project known as Restoration Associated with Sandy Recovery Program to improve the resistance against future storms. The specific project included 28 residential buildings and several service buildings within the Red Hook Development. The subsurface conditions within the eastern portion of the site included existing fill material underlain by varying stratums of very loose, loose and medium dense silty sands followed by very soft to medium stiff clay or dense silty sands. The western portion of the site included existing fill material, very loose to medium dense silty sands and organic clayey silts underlain by very soft to medium stiff sandy silts. Based on the geotechnical report, a conventional driven steel pile system was specified containing two pile depths. As part of the project bidding, an alternative pile type was recommended and analyzed to provide quicker installation, reduce vibrations, reduce noise, and provide relatively large cost savings. Due to relatively high lateral loading, an innovative double steel casing drilled displacement piles was proposed as the alternative pile option. Field testing proved the piles capable of the required project capacities and the use of drilled displacement piles as the best alternative for the project and accepted by the NYCHA.

Oct 1, 2022

By Racquel Nottingham, Marc Mastrantuono

Micropiles often provide a favourable solution for many deep foundation problems especially when significant site constraints such as confined construction sites or vibration limitations have been identified. Often the durability of buried steel elements are heavily scrutinized in order to effectively determine the rates of corrosion and methods to reduce this while still maintaining the structural integrity of the engineered solution. Practices such as sacrificial corrosion loss and the introduction of plastic sheaths have become the go-to methods of corrosion protection. Since the introduction of the micropile, other solutions have been developed, namely protection with an adequate grout encapsulation. This paper will explore corrosion protection of micropiles and the guidelines provided in the published codes and norms. Since few codes define the exact way to verify the durability of these micropiled structures, the existing data is presented and the analysis of grout encapsulation as an effective corrosion protection method is evaluated.

Oct 1, 2022

By Ramin Motamed, Fahim M. Bhuiyan, Raj V. Siddharthan

Numerical lateral load analysis based on the beam on Winkler foundation (BNWF) model (i.e., the p-y method) is a simple, and widely used tool to predict lateral responses of drilled shafts from field load tests. The lack of a site-specific p-y model for cemented soil layers such as caliche is one of the major limitations of simulating lateral load tests conducted in Las Vegas Valley. In this study, some of the existing p-y models for rock materials, such as Florida Limestone and Vuggy Limestone have been evaluated to simulate the lateral resistance of caliche. This has been done in the context of four lateral load tests in caliche-dominant sites from the recently constructed Raiders Stadium project in Las Vegas (NV). The uncertainty in characterizing the material properties of caliche has been addressed. The p-y analyses were performed using NVShaft, a MATLAB-based, comprehensive load analysis program. The applicability of the considered p-y models for caliche material was evaluated by quantifying the normalized error margins between measured and predicted lateral responses from the simulations of the mentioned load tests. Correlations between such errors and the depth and thickness of caliche in soil layers affecting numerical predictions were established, for both up to and beyond design load levels.

Oct 1, 2022

By Gerald Verbeek, Erick Baziw

Downhole Seismic Testing (DST) is an extensively utilized geotechnical tool for site characterization. DST provides low strain (<10-5) in-situ interval shear and compression wave velocity estimates. These velocities are determined by obtaining relative arrival times of source waves as they travel through the stratigraphy and are recorded by one or more vertically offset seismic sensors. The DST arrival times have associated measurements errors and resolution limitations, which become more pronounced as the depth interval of analysis is reduced. Baziw Consulting Engineers (BCE) has developed a new DST analysis technique, the so-called DSTPolyKF algorithm, whereby the arrival times of DST data set are used to define a high order polynomial. The main advantages of this new technique are four-fold: 1) the ability to utilize all arrival time estimates irrespective of measurement errors. 2) the ability to analyze the data with user specified and even small (≤ 0.5m) depth intervals. 3) the ability to apply sophisticated data fusion for significantly more accurate DST interval velocity estimation. 4) the use of polynomial regression accuracy parameters to quantify how well the “best fit” polynomial fits the acquired arrival time data sets. This paper outlines the mathematical details of the best fit polynomial where a Kalman filter formulation is implemented. The performance of the DSTPolyKF algorithm is demonstrated by processing real DST data sets.

Oct 1, 2022

By Andrés Miranda, Ronald Rojas

El presente estudio surge del desafío de Compañía minera Antapaccay por procesar 40M t de mineral el año 2021, el 62% del material tendría como origen a minerales del Tajo Norte con valores de Axb de 25-35. En los años 2018 y 2019 los minerales del Tajo Norte tuvieron impacto en el tonelaje procesado debido a su bajo Axb que afectó los resultados de fragmentación en la voladura con 35.8% finos < 1 pulg. Se identificó que, para lograr el objetivo deseado, era necesario invertir en voladura, a fin de obtener mejoras en la fragmentación que conllevaría a incrementar el tratamiento de mineral en la planta y los rendimientos de los equipos de carguío.

Sep 30, 2022

By Israel Huapaya, Juan Crisostomo, Dalia Valladolid

En el presente documento se describe la metodología utilizada para optimizar los procesos de extracción de muestras de roca sólida mineralizada con contenidos de oro correspondientes a un conjunto de vetas en interior mina, incluyendo la optimización del muestreo de fragmentos de roca mineralizada descargada en canchas

Sep 30, 2022

By Enrique Herrera, Manuel Munguía

La Fundición de cobre de Ilo de Southern Perú, arranco sus operaciones en 1960 con el proyecto Toquepala, en 1976 se expandió con el proyecto Cuajone, y en 1995 inició su proceso de modernización con la implementación de un convertidor Teniente y Plantas de Ácido Sulfúrico y de Oxígeno para reducir las emisiones gaseosas de dióxido de azufre al ambiente. En el 2007 se comisionó el proyecto de modernización de la Fundición de Ilo, con la implementación de un horno de fusión “Isasmelt” en reemplazo de los hornos reverbero y convertidor Teniente, y plantas adicionales de ácido sulfúrico y de oxígeno de mayor capacidad a fines de capturar el azufre de los concentrados por encima del 92%, y que se constituyó en el proyecto ambiental con la mayor inversión desarrollada en la historia del país.

Sep 30, 2022

By Carlos Dellepiane, Jorge Arizaca

La máquina Box Hole, está diseñada para realizar perforaciones ciegas, positivas y con inclinaciones exigentes, las cuales no son posibles con productos similares en el mercado. Los sistemas de propulsión autónoma y operación están integrados en la misma unidad, lo cual permite un fácil desplazamiento hacia las galerías, también un posicionamiento rápido. Otra de las ventajas importantes es que, no necesita una losa de concreto para el anclaje de la máquina al terreno. El avance teórico de perforación de la máquina Box Hole es de 1 m/h, el avance de perforación obtenido en campo ha sido de hasta de 1.2 m/h, superando en 20% las expectativas de diseño.

Sep 30, 2022

By Andrés Mesa-Rodriguez, Germán Chen

El calentamiento global es una realidad con el potencial de aumentar la temperatura del planeta por encima de los 2°C para el 2050. Con la finalidad de frenar este impacto nocivo para el medio ambiente naciones y empresas se han comprometido con los objetivos del Acuerdo de Paris firmado en 2015, Orica es una empresa australiana que ha tomado parte en esta ambición, dado que provee al sector minero en más de 100 países del mundo productos explosivos con base en el nitrato de amonio y químicos especializados para la extracción de oro y plata como el cianuro de sodio, conscientes de que ambos productos generan un impacto en el medio ambiente, han diseñado una estrategia para equilibrar las emisiones inducidas por sus fábricas con las eliminaciones naturales que realiza el planeta, sin generar efectos a largo plazo. A esta ambición le han denominado Net Zero Emissions.

Sep 30, 2022

By Juan Acha

El desarrollo de actividades productivas, que tienen como principal insumo el recurso hídrico en la región Tacna hacen de dichas actividades un reto, debido a factores como la variabilidad climática, a la ubicación de la región Tacna en la cabecera del desierto de Atacama y la oferta hídrica disponible con que cuenta Tacna para satisfacer las demandas diversas. Las características particulares de la Región Tacna hacen que sólo se cuente con precipitaciones de importancia en sólo en tres meses del año (Enero a Marzo) y el resto del año sea de estiaje. Los diversos modelos de proyección climática establecen que las condiciones de los parámetros de temperatura y evaporación se incrementarán mientras que la escorrentía superficial disminuirá afectando a las poblaciones más vulnerables, cuyo rubro económico es la agricultura y ganadería especialmente en las zonas altoandinas.

Sep 30, 2022