Clemson Advanced Material Innovation Center
Value engineering from augercast piles to aggregate pier ground improvement.
When Wurster Betterground was consulted on this project, it was initially planned for deep augercast piles, including some that were battered to prevent a retaining wall from sliding.
On deeper analysis and with coordination from the project engineers, Wurster Betterground provided guidance on a re-design of the foundation system. This re-design provided 6,000 PSF bearing capacity with variable diameter aggregate piers to a maximum depth of 30 feet below grade. WBG also utilized finite element analysis (FEM) to design the support for an added tower crane foundation. The FEM was used to ensure foundations adjacent to the crane mat would not cause an asymmetric settlement of the crane foundation and introducing the risk of angular distortion to the tower crane.
Commercially, AMPiers provided approximately 80% reduced price compared to the augercast solution. Additionally, the aggregate piers were installed efficiently to allow schedule savings to be realized.
