TIA Logistics Warehouse
75% reduction in foundation price by replacing deep rigid inclusions with shallow aggregate piers and deep pressure grouting.
Wurster Betterground design-developed a creative solution to provide a 75% savings on the foundation system.
Initially, the project was designed for deep rigid inclusions to depths of up to 80 feet below grade. While a majority of this soil profile did not require improvements, shallow debris layers and deep potential sinkhole infills resulted in a deep rigid inclusion design upwards of $4,000,000 with additional costs for a load transfer platform.
Instead, Wurster Betterground, in cooperation with the project engineers and client, developed a solution involving shallow aggregate piers (~20 ft depth) to treat the debris laden soils with deep pressure grouting to address soft clays and potential sinkholes at depth.
By combining shallow aggregate piers for the upper debris laden layers with deep pressure grouting, significant savings were realized as the overall scope was focused on the layers needing improvement, rather than a “cookie cutter” approach to the site. The estimated savings through the change from rigid inclusions and elimination of the need for a load transfer platform was on the order of 80%!
Significant load testing and post-installation SPTs were performed to ensure the ground improvement provided a suitable bearing capacity and would not result in excess settlements. The over 4,000 aggregate piers were also all individually monitored with WBG’s cutting edge digital quality control system which allowed WBG to target treatment to provide a homogeneous settlement behavior.
