Located in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, the Block 9 Redevelopment project site contains highly-compressible soils in the upper 100 feet with groundwater about 10 to 15 feet below the existing ground surface. The owner prohibited using driven piles to avoid disturbing neighbors of the project and historically, drilled shafts are used in Fargo as a reduced noise and vibration alternative to driven piles. However, developments over the last 20 to 30 years in drilling equipment, load testing and integrity testing resulted in the project team identifying augered cast-in-place piles as a suitable alternative for this project. To reduce the risks...
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Structure Support On Laterally Swept Piles
Anyone who has observed a significant number of piles has seen that, inevitably, the pile is not perfectly straight after driving. In spite of the best efforts of contractors, there are a whole host of reasons for piles to end up out-of-plumb or to have a curve, sometimes referred to as pile sweep. For two, recent projects with numerous swept pile, the available research was determined to be limited in application given the investigated pile sizes, lengths and measured sweep. As a result, the project team chose to perform static load testing to evaluate the ultimate resistance of the swept...
Read MoreOil Well Pad Landslide Repair
Abstract: A wetter than usual spring season caused numerous landslides in the Badland Region of North Dakota, including the failure of the Mormon Butte oil well platform after thirty years of active service. This case study will detail the site investigation, design, and construction of a geologically sensitive site located on U.S. Forest Service land. The main concern was how much failed soil could be removed without compromising the well. Analyses were performed to determine a safe temporary slope to allow for the removal of some of the failed soils. To read more on how the platform was completed and...
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