Piling Industry Canada Issue 2/Directory 2012

directory Issue 2 | 2012

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Our support systems extend far below the surface The only company that offers you all four types of support systems:

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Table of Contents Canada Published by

Piling Industry News............................................................................................................ 6 Revitalized Expressway Versatile contractor deftly changes horses mid-stream on Winnipeg’s Disraeli Bridges Project.................................................................................................10

DEL

Communications Inc.

Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada R3L 0G5 President & CEO: David Langstaff

Welcome to Emerald City Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. and partners overcome challenges to construct three condo towers simultaneously..................................................14

Getting it Done Liebherr piling and drilling rig LRB 255 enables efficient and timesaving drilling work on a jobsite in Quebec.........................................................................22

Special Centre pull-out section 2013 Piling Industry Canada Directory Carry On DYWIDAG Strand Anchors allow unobstructed travel on Canada’s Highway 63...........................................................................................................................26

With the Times Sonic drill becomes latest tool in pile driving.....................................................30

Publisher: Jason Stefanik Managing Editor: Carly Peters carlypeters@mts.net Sales Manager: Dayna Oulion dayna@delcommunications.com Advertising Account Executives: Jennifer Hebert Michelle Raike

Production services provided by: S.G. Bennett Marketing Services www.sgbennett.com Art Director: Kathy Cable Layout & Design: Dana Jensen Advertising Art: Julie Weaver © Copyright 2012, DEL Communications Inc. All rights reserved.The contents of this pub­lica­tion

Hear the Boom Strength in design, versatility in application, the MANTIS crane is a niche machine.............................................................................................................................. 34

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While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein

Over the Years 40 years of successful dynamic pile monitoring....................................................36

Fits Like A...

The world ’s largest guide sleeve on order............................................................40

and the reliability of the source, the publisher­in no way guarantees nor warrants the information and is not responsible for errors, omissions or statements made by advertisers. Opinions and recommendations made by contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher, its directors, officers or employees.

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Canadian addresses to:

Golden Gate Bridge..........................................................................................................42

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Return undeliverable DEL Communications Inc. Winnipeg, Manitoba

Working 9-to-5

Canada R3L 0G5 Email: david@delcommunications.com

New York City’s new pedestrian underpass revolutionizes working commute.............................................................................................................................46

A Sheet Piling Solution

Printed in Canada 12/2012

ESC brings their quality production and product to North America............. 48

www.pilingindustrycanada.com Index to advertisers.............................................................................................................54 4 PIC Magazine • December 2012

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Northstar provides piling services including design, supply, and fabricating across Western Canada with track and truck mounted piling units for both driven and helical piles. Northstar also offers pile installation with it’s unique patented Exca-Drivers (excavator Mounted Pile Driver). With these units Northstar is capable of driving piles up to 18m in length, switching attachments to install helical piles, or operating as an excavator all in under 30 minutes! This can de done all while navigating the most difficult of terrain.

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Piling Industry News Canada TDW LAUNCHES 24-INCH MULTIPLE DATASET INSPECTION TOOL T.D. Williamson (TDW), a world leader in pipeline services and equipment, announced that it has added a new 24-inch diameter inline inspection tool to its existing fleet of Multiple DataSet (MDS) tools. MDS technology allows geometry, metal loss, seam assessment, mechanical damage prioritization, bending strain, and more, all in a single inspection.

The new 24-inch tool – which includes deformation (DEF), axial Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL), SpirALL™ MFL (SMFL), Low Field MFL (LFM), and XYZ Mapping – features more than 1,000 sensors but is less than 14 feet (4.27 metres) long.

“Multiple runs have been executed with this particular tool since its inaugural run in July,” says Eric Rogers, TDW director of strategy and business development for its Pipeline Integrity Solutions division. “The tool has performed as expected in every instance, and our customers are particularly excited that this much-requested tool diameter is now part of our MDS fleet.”

In August, TDW used the 24-inch MDS tool to conduct a 304-mile crude oil inspection for Koch Pipeline Co., L.P. This inspection will be used to assess the long seams, pipe body, mechanical damage and any other anomalies capable of being detected and sized within the numerous datasets.

The 24-inch MDS tool continues a TDW tradition of introducing ground-breaking inline inspection technology to assist pipeline operators in improving pipeline integrity. SpirALL™ MFL technology was introduced in 2009, followed shortly by the first MDS platform.

Founded in 1920, TDW delivers safe integrity solutions for onshore and offshore applications. Experts provide hot tapping and STOPPLE® plugging, pipeline cleaning, integrity inspection, pigging and non-tethered plugging, and pig technology services for any pressurized pipeline system in the world.

Pile Dynamics celebrates 40 years of engineering and innovation Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI) commemorated its 40th anniversary on October 12, with a series of events that showcased its past achievements and cheerfully welcomed the future.

The day started with field demonstrations of PDI’s latest technologies to a group of invited guests, including International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC-IAFD) director of operations Tony Marinucci and PDI’s representative in China Frank Ko. Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP) was conducted on two drilled shafts installed earlier that week on the grounds of PDI’s headquarters. PDI also demonstrated a combination of wireless transmission of dynamic pile testing data (SiteLink®) with real time pile capacity calculation (using the signal matching software iCAP®). Pile driving was simulated with a small SPT hammer that transmitted data to the guests seated in PDI’s lecture hall; CAPWAP®6 PIC Magazine • December 2012

like results were instantly displayed for each of the hammer blows, to the delight of the audience.

In the afternoon, Pile Dynamics employees and guests attended a celebration held at the beautifully renovated Allen Theater in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Fittingly, the expansion of that facility is supported by foundations that were dynamically tested using PDI’s Pile Driving Analyzer®. Several guests had strong connections to PDI’s beginnings and were instrumental for its success. Among them was Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) engineer Jawdat Siddiqi (ODOT funded the original academic research on dynamic foundation testing), Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Professor Emeritus Tom Kicher, Cleveland State University Professor Emeritus John Tomko, and the lecturers for the afternoon.

The invited lectures were preceded, to the applause of the audience, by the release of a new video showcasing Pile Dynamics products and

by PDI President Garland Likins’ recounting of PDI’s story from its early days at the Civil Engineering Department of CWRU and continuing to the present.

Silas Nichols, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Principal Geotechnical Engineer, spoke about trends in foundation engineering from the perspective of FHWA, followed by Gregg Lowe, president and CEO of Freescale Semiconductors and formerly with Texas Instruments, who spoke on the future of electronics in our everyday life and tied it into progress that stems from innovations from companies like PDI. Dr. Adel (Tony) Saada, Professor Emeritus at CWRU, spoke on the impact that research conducted there had on soil mechanics and foundation engineering. PDI recognized Dr. Saada’s 50 years of teaching with a plaque and a gift towards the construction of a new soil mechanics laboratory at CWRU. Also recognized were Frank Ko, for 25 years of friend-

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Piling Industry News Canada ship and partnership between Earth Products

services and solutions to our valued customers.

The award is the third in as many years for

China and Pile Dynamics, and Mohamad Hus-

KB International products are consistent with

Roussy’s remarkable patented sonic drilling

sein and Marcia Giterman, for more than 30

ECA’s mission and meet all the criteria for in-

technology. In 2008, Roussy was recognized

years of distinguished service to PDI.

novative products. Both companies have been

by the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition, sup-

The afternoon was followed by a festive din-

involved in the highest profile projects in North America. From Ground Zero to Levee Restora-

ported by Natural Resources Canada (a fed-

ner and a cake made to resemble a stack of various PDI testing instruments. Pile Dynam-

tion in the post Katrina era and from Bridge,

ics (www.pile.com/pdi) thanks its many loyal

Stadium, Casino and High Rise Building foun-

clients and supporters that made this a happy

dations, ECA and KBI have led the way to the

anniversary indeed.

successful completion of these projects.

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Ray Roussy’s Sonic Drilling Technology Wins Third Award The National Ground Water Association (NGWA), a nonprofit organization composed of U.S. and international groundwater profes-

bringing productive and innovative equipment,

sionals, recently announced that Ray Roussy,

D.A. McIntyre

and Sonic Drilling Ltd., has won its 2012 Tech-

PE, president of the Sonic Drill Corporation nology Award.

Construction Ltd.

This award recognizes an individual’s major

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8 PIC Magazine • December 2012

eral government ministry), with its prestigious award for “best new drilling technology” and a $10,000 prize. Then, in 2010, Roussy accepted a coveted Manning Innovation Award and a $10,000 prize for his development of modern sonic drilling technology.

“I’m delighted to win this third award from such a respected organization as the NGWA,” says Roussy. “After spending more than 30 years on sonic drilling technology, I can’t express how much I appreciate seeing the technology being recognized by my peers for what it can do.”

Roussy holds numerous patents on his engineering successes with both sonic drilling technology and, more recently, on using a sonic drill to install geothermal loops. Today, around the world, his sonic drill rigs, manufactured by the Sonic Drill Corporation, have become world leaders in environmental investigations, mineral exploration and geothermal drilling (and other applications).

“The sonic drill has so many advantages – it can drill three to five times faster and provide

contributions to the groundwater industry in

continuous core samples of overburden mate-

the development of ideas, tools, and/or equip-

rial,” explains Roussy. “The sonic drill ultimate-

ment. The award will be presented in Decem-

ly provides advantages that translate into profit

ber at the NGWA Groundwater Expo and an-

for the industry. It’s been my life’s work to bring

nual meeting in Las Vegas.

this technology to the marketplace.” n

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Canada

Revitalized Expressway Versatile contractor deftly changes horses mid-stream on Winnipeg’s Disraeli Bridges Project

By Vincent Jue

Aerial view showing the overpass above and river bridge below. Source: PCL

The official opening of the Disraeli Bridges Project on October 19, 2012 came exactly 52 years after the original opening in 1960. The bridges make up a major portion of Winnipeg’s two kilometre Disraeli Freeway, a major central artery, and include an overpass crossing the Canadian Pacific Railway’s main, line and a bridge across the Red River.

The city originally planned to simply rehabilitate the existing overpass and river bridge. However, as part of its successful bid, the design and 10 PIC Magazine • December 2012

construction team from Plenary Roads Winnipeg, a group consisting of PCL, Tetra Tech WEI, Stantec, Borland Construction and Plenary Group, proposed building two new structures adjacent to the existing overpass structures.

The revised plan required new foundations for the new structures, as well as additional construction phasing, which added $45 million to the original $140 million estimate. However, it avoided a 16-month freeway

Dusk view of foundation construction for the new river bridge adjacent to the existing structure. Source: Soilmec

Crews install new foundations below existing structures during an overnight closure by working through the existing bridge deck.

Source: PCL

closure and allowed the existing traffic flow to be maintained throughout construction.

PCL enlisted Winnipeg-based Subterranean Manitoba Ltd. to perform the foundation work for the entire project, which included both drilled caissons and drilled and driven piles. Precast concrete piles were used where loading and soil conditions permitted. Steel piles were used where there was the possibility of settlement or bank stability issues, and where higher capacities or longer lengths were needed. Reinforced concrete caissons were used to support portions of the overpass where frame-like portals allow traffic to pass underneath, as well as the western end of the river bridge.

Subterranean’s personnel played a major role in developing the construction plan. The close proximity of the new structures to the old meant several new caissons had to be installed below portions of the existing structures. This occurred at three points where the old and new structures meet, specifically on both ends of the overpass and one end of the river bridge. Because the drilling equipment would not fit below the existing structure at those locations, the Subterranean crew set up on the existing bridge and telescoped through.

Experience and flexibility The company’s experience and expertise also provided the flexibility to accommodate a late change in the river pier foundation design. The original foundation plan for the river bridge called for reinforced concrete caissons for the two midstream piers in addition to those for the large, solid pier on the western bank. The plan was to provide midstream access for the drilling rigs by building a temporary rock bridge out from the shore.

However, with the expectation of water levels in the 2011 construction season to be two to three metres higher than usual, PCL and Subterranean decided to operate from barges instead.

The switch to barges reduced the amount of torque that would be available for drilling, potentially cutting production rates in half. The construction season was short and timing was critical, so the pier foundations in the river were redesigned to use driven H-piles.

Five large drilled caissons were installed to support the pier on the western shore. They are about six feet (1.83 metres) in diameter and have an average depth of 37 metres, including a 4.5 metre rock socket. The site geology is quite variable at the river crossing where the drilling took place.

Open water for the first 3.5 metres is followed by alluvial silt and clay for approximately five metres, then silt and glacial till including large boul12 PIC Magazine • December 2012

Foundations for the new river bridge are immediately adjacent to the existing structure. Source: Soilmec

ders, gravel, and sandy layers. Because of the difficult soil conditions, Subterranean used a Soilmec SA-40 hydraulic crane attachment mounted on a SC-100 crawler crane.

The SA-40 is the largest hydraulic rotary rig produced by Soilmec, providing 413 kNm nominal torque and 250 kN crowd force capacity powered by a 480 kW SC-100 diesel engine. The SA-40 is capable of drilling up to 13 feet (4000 millimetres) diameter and can reach a maximum depth of 308 feet (94 metres). All its features are monitored by Soilmec’s Drilling Mate System (DMS), which provide the operator in-cab instrument control and interaction with the equipment to ensure the maximum rig production capability.

Containment measures The soils were the most significant challenge Subterranean crews faced on this project. In addition to boulders and the layers of different soil types, operation of a gas plant along the river some 50 years ago left significant soil contamination on the site. Therefore, great care had to be exercised during excavation in that vicinity.

PCL, Subterranean, and Tetra Tech together developed a multi-layer site protection system to ensure containment of all contaminants during all processes. Among other measures, crews used a containment sleeve during drilling for the five large caissons and collected excavated material in vacuum trucks for disposal.

The foundation work for the new Disraeli Bridges began early in 2011, and was completed in October. It was followed on each structure by erection of the steel stringers and placement the concrete deck. Traffic was then shifted to the new structures in stages, beginning in June.

The last phase of the structural work on the Disraeli Bridges project consists of removing the deck of the old river bridge and demolishing a portion of each of the old piers. Following that a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge will be constructed on the smaller, refurbished old piers as part of Winnipeg’s 274 kilometre “Active Transportation” network. The entire project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2013.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Vincent Jue is a vice president with Soilmec North America. Soilmec manufactures of drilling and ground engineering construction equipment. You can reach him at vjue@champion-equipment.com. n

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Canada

Welcome to Emerald City Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. and partners overcome challenges to construct three condo towers simultaneously

By Dawn Tattle

The Emerald City Condominium project by ELAD Canada is part of an award-winning major community plan located in Toronto, Ontario. This condominium project offers spectacular panoramic views of Toronto and provides easy access to the Sheppard Subway, major highways, and shopping. The three towers include 1,200 units, and are up to 36 stories in height with four levels of underground parking. They include amenity and retail space, and the buildings connect to the adjacent TTC Subway Station.

PCL Constructors Canada was retained by ELAD Canada as construction managers, while the design/build contract for

Anchor Shoring Bauer BG40 rig drilling CFA piles.

Concrete is pumped into the centre of the hollow stem auger from the top as the auger is extracted.

14 PIC Magazine • December 2012

Canada the shoring and deep foundation work was awarded to Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. The schedule developed by PCL and ELAD for the project was very aggressive and required an early start of construction with the fast track design pushing to keep ahead of the site work to achieve the milestone dates. PCL facilitated the coordination between owner, consultants, and contractors to ensure the site work was able to continue while the design was being optimized, ensuring no delays to the project.

Both the design and construction aspects of the subsurface work presented many challenges to overcome. Among them were difficult soil conditions and close proximity of the excavation to streets and subway structures.

Attenuating site congestion also posed a challenge, with construction of all three towers occurring simultaneously and being serviced by a single access point. Various foundation designs were investigated and through iteration and testing, an optimal design incorporating a combination of structural caissons and Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piles was finalized. Developing a constructible and economical foundation design required teamwork from all parties in the construction team to arrive at the final solution that was installed

by Anchor Shoring.

Test frame for CFA load testing. The CFA pile to be tested is located under the centre of the frame. There are two reaction piles at each end.

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THE SHORING As the boundaries of the site are situated immediately next to streets, an existing TTC subway entranceway to the north and a parking structure to the east, earth retention systems were required to allow for excavation of the four levels of underground parking. There was a total of 34,500 square feet (3,200 square metres) of shoring required for this project with different types necessary to address the specific site conditions.

A pile and lagged shoring system was installed by Anchor Shoring next to streets and utilities. This type of system consists of steel beams installed in vertically drilled holes spaced at three metre centres. Once a required steel beam is placed, the hole is backfilled with a concrete toe and lean mix above. The soil between vertical steel beams is retained by horizontal wood sections known as lagging.

This lagging is installed behind the flanges of adjacent steel beams and wedged in place as the excavation progresses.

Servicing Canada and USA

Piling Industry Canada • December 2012 15

Canada

Aerial photograph of Emerald City site looking north. Anchor Shoring Bauer BG28 and BG40 drill rigs are drilling CFA piles at the top of the photo (yellow machines).

The lagged and caisson wall shoring along the north wall is also visible.

Adjacent to the existing TTC subway entranceway the allowable shoring movements were set at the very stringent limit of only three millimetres. As a result, a lagged system could not be used and a more rigid caisson wall system was required. This system was also used along the site boundary adjacent to the existing parking structure to the east. A caisson wall is composed of a series of interlocking drilled holes that are backfilled with a weak concrete mix having a typical design strength of two to four MPa. Steel soldier piles are placed at specified intervals inside the wall to provide lateral and vertical support.

Site work on the shoring began in May 2011. Anchor Shoring drilled over 300 vertical 16 PIC Magazine • December 2012

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Canada holes for the lagged and caisson wall shoring systems using a combination of Bauer, Watson, and Texoma drill rigs selected to suit the access, soils conditions, and tight schedule.

Shoring systems, whether they are lagged or caisson wall systems, typically require additional lateral bracing either inside the confines of the site with steel framework or beyond the site boundaries with tiebacks. Tiebacks are composed of small diameter holes drilled at an angle beyond the shoring with steel strands and grout placed in the holes. Once the grout reaches its required strength, the strands are stressed to introduce a preload into the system that resists movements of the wall during the excavation phase.

Tiebacks are the preferable method by which to brace shoring systems because of their minimal impact on the excavation and formwork phases of construction. At this site, it was possible to install tiebacks next to the streets and existing parking structure. Unfortunately, they could not be used in the caisson wall due to the presence of the existing TTC structure behind the wall. In this area, a complicated internal steel bracing system of rakers and walers was unavoidable. Further, due to the exceptionally stringent movement limit criteria imposed on the system, it was also necessary to preload all the rakers to further reduce the possibility of movements.

The shoring design, monitoring, and inspection were carried out by Terraprobe Inc. The monitoring and inspection results veri-

18 PIC Magazine • December 2012

fied that even with the exceptionally stringent criteria, the shoring performed well within the specified limits.

THE FOUNDATIONS The originally considered foundation design system consisted of augered caissons terminating at roughly 16 metres below ground surface.

To support the building loads, caissons up to 2,300 millimetres in diameter would be required. The large diameter temporary steel liners, which would need to be installed for these caissons, were problematic due to the stringent vibration criteria imposed on the area of the site in the vicinity of the existing TTC structure.

These concerns led to the exploration of Continuous Flight Auger Piles (CFAs) as a possible foundation solution. A CFA pile, also known as an Augercast pile, is constructed by drilling to the required founding depth with a full-length hollow-stem auger. The auger has a hollow interior and a steel casing with continuous flights welded the full length along its exterior. The auger set up is mounted on a drilling rig. Prior to drilling each hole, a plastic plug is placed in the base of the hollow stem of the auger. Once the required depth is achieved, high slump, 30 MPa concrete is pumped into the centre of the auger from the top, displacing the drilling plug. The auger is extracted with the rig while the high slump concrete is pumped down the centre of the auger replacing the soil and thus ensuring that the perim-

eter of the hole remains stable at all times.

In order to verify the capacity of the piles to be used in the design, it is necessary to install a CFA specifically for load testing purposes. This was done as early as possible in the project to provide verification of design parameters and allow for any modifications that mayhave been required as a result of confirmed site conditions. In addition to the test CFA, four reaction piles were installed to provide uplift resistance during loading of the test pile.

Installation of the load test and every production CFA pile was carefully monitored for rate of auger extraction, concrete pressure and volumes to verify quality of the finished CFA pile. The Bauer rigs used by Anchor Shoring on this project were outfitted with monitoring equipment which plotted this information on a real-time basis allowing both the operator and the McClymont and Rak geotechnical inspector to confirm that there were no issues such as necking or over-pouring of concrete during the installation. A permanent record of the installation was also generated. The onboard computer measured pump strokes, flow, and pressure through a series of electronic sensors strategically placed on the concrete lines and pump. These sensors were read two times per second to ensure precision. The drill rig’s computer was programmed to respond to this information by adjusting the extraction and pour rate, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

The test CFA was successfully loaded to 200 per cent of its design load of 1,300 KN which allowed the design to be finalized and installation of production piles to begin. Anchor installed 1,350 CFA piles 600 millimetres in diameter varying in length from 13 metres to 24 metres as required to suit the load requirements. These were drilled from approximate sub-grade level. Two drill rigs were used for this work to expedite the schedule and accommodate the different drill lengths. A BG28 was capable of installing the shorter piles, while a Bauer BG40 was required for the 24-metrelong piles. A total length of 23,000 linear metres were installed by Anchor on this project.

Every pile installed was subject to full time inspection and verification by an inspector from the geotechnical consultant, McClymont and Rak to confirm that the monitoring results generated from the production piles were consistent with the load test and initial integrity tests.

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Canada The CFA pile solution provided considerable time and cost savings compared to the large diameter caissons and was the preferred foundation system wherever feasible at this site. Fortunately, it was possible to use CFAs for almost all foundations of towers 2 and 3. However, there were areas at tower 1 adjacent to the caisson wall and existing TTC structure where CFAs could not be used. The rakers constructed to brace the caisson wall created interferences, requiring foundations to be drilled from a much higher elevation, only three metres from existing grade.

This would have required CFA drill depths beyond even the limits of the largest available drill rig proposed for this work, the Bauer BG40.

Therefore, Anchor proposed that additional boreholes be completed to determine if there was a bearing stratum at a lower elevation that would provide a higher bearing value for caisson design. The soil at this lower bearing stratum was found to be composed of Sandy Silt Till materials with blow counts in excess of 100 blows per 300 millimetres. This provides a bearing capacity 40 per cent greater than is available in the upper stratum levels, and allowed the caisson diameters to be reduced to a maximum diameter of 1,300 millimetres with a resultant drill length of 30 metres. Accordingly, in areas where CFAs could not be used, caissons could be installed with Bauer drilling equipment. The benefit of this equipment is that it has the ability to install casing ahead of the auger without the need for vibratory equipment.

There were 130 structural caissons required of which 62 were up to 30 metres long and up to 1,300 millimetres diameter in order to satisfy the high loading requirements. Further analysis of soil conditions revealed areas where it was possible to found caissons with reduced loading at a higher bearing level. In light of this and to further increase the design efficiency, the required drill length of the remaining 68 caissons was reduced to 18 metres. To address the challenging ground conditions, Developer: ELAD Canada Construction Manager: PCL Constructors Canada Inc. Shoring, Caisson & CFA Contractor: Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. www.anchorshoring.com ELAD Canada VP Construction Shahar Davidi Senior Operations Manager Adrian Stetter Project Manager Ron Weinstock

PCL Constructors Canada Inc. Construction Manager Sean Donovan Senior Project Manager Eric Des Gagne General Superintendent Shawn Millican Site Superintendent Wayne Nivins

Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. Project Manager Toben Jerry Operations Manager Mike LeSage Site Superintendent William Westlake

Project Consultants McClymont and Rak Engineers Inc. Ladd Rak Terraprobe Inc. Tim Orpwood, Mike Porco Jablonsky, Ast and Partners Robert Asman

20 PIC Magazine • December 2012

differing caisson lengths and schedule demands Anchor provided two Bauer drill rigs, a BG40, and BG28, for the caisson installation work. This work was further supported by a LS 208 service crane that was used to place the caisson reinforcing cages.

Conclusion The decision to use varied lengths of CFA piles to suit the different loading conditions, and supplementing this solution with caissons founded at the lower dense stratum, provided an optimal foundation design system. Implementing this alternate design resulted in costs on the order of $1,000,000 less than the cost of installing all the caissons at the original large diameters. Movements of the shoring were minimal and the system performed in accordance with the design and the specified limits. The shoring and foundation work was successfully completed in phases to suit the aggressive schedule prepared by PCL, with the last area completed in August 2012. The high productivities and ambitious schedule milestones achieved in the shoring and foundation installation procedures would not have come to fruition without the proactive work and cooperative effort of the geotechnical consultant McClymont and Rak, and the structural consultant Jablonsky, Ast and Associates.

Completion by PCL for the first tower is scheduled for November 2013 with the last of the three towers to be completed April 2014.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dawn Demetrick – Tattle, P. Eng. President, Partner, Anchor Shoring & Cassions Ltd. Prior to joining Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. as a partner in 1986 Dawn was a project engineer for a structural engineering consultant. This experience in overall building structure design provides Dawn with the insight necessary to create innovative solutions to soil retention and foundation problems. In 1997, Dawn assumed her role as President of Anchor Shoring.

Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. is a highly respected contracting firm specializing in innovative soil retention and engineered foundation solutions. They have completed over 4,000 projects including such high-profile, complex projects as the Air Canada Centre, BCE Place, Hospital for Sick Children, MaRS Discovery District, Royal Ontario Museum, the Bahen Centre for Information Technology (University of Toronto), Maple Leaf Square Condominiums, Windsor Casino, Airport Rail Link, West Diamond Grade Separation and numerous TTC infrastructure projects.

Dawn focuses on quality control, innovation in designs, superior client service, and rigorous health and safety programs. Dawn makes professional development in both the business and technical aspects of her field a priority for herself and the other members of the Anchor team.

Dawn received an award in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters Category of the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 awards in November 2008 and again in the Professionals Category in 2010. Dawn also received the University of Toronto 2T5 award in 2010. She is on the board of directors for the Toronto Construction Association and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. n

Canada

Getting it Done Liebherr piling and drilling rig LRB 255 enables efficient and timesaving drilling work on a jobsite in Quebec During deep foundation work on the site of an iron ore mine in the Canadian province of Quebec, the Liebherr piling and drilling rig, type LRB 255, once again demonstrated its excellent performance characteristics. The mine is operated by the U.S.-based firm Cliffs Natural Resources and is situated in Pointe-Noire in the bay of Sept-Iles.

Adaption of jetty facilities The core of the project of the building company Dexter Quebec Inc. is the construction of a multi-user dock capable of accommodating larger ore-carriers of over 200,000 tonne capacity in the future. In the first phase the jetty facilities had to be reinforced to be prepared for heavier loads. Therefore a total of 10 casings with a diameter of 640 millimetres were vibrated down to be embedded in the rocky layer of the seabed.

The maximum drilling depth was 42 metres with the seabed lying approximately 20 metres below sea level. The ground consists of about 20 metres of clay followed by black granite which had to be penetrated another two metres. The job was carried out using the Kelly drilling method.

Tasks of the LRB 255 One of the main tasks of the LRB 255 was to clean the casings with a rock bucket and to drill them about half a metre further into the rock with a progressive auger. Subsequently, another one and a half metres of uncased borehole were produced in the partly very hard ground – the rock strength was between 150 and 180 mpa. Moreover, the machine had to drill at an inclination of 18.5 degrees backwards and 9.5 degrees forwards.

22 PIC Magazine • December 2012

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Canada only possible due to the automated rotary drive of the LRB 255, which allows presetting of the drilling speed (rpm), pull-down speed and force, thus guaranteeing continuous drilling progress over a long period of time.

additionally had to be put on a wooden platform. A crane was used to bring the platform into the correct position and to move it in the desired direction depending on the drilling requirement.

Furthermore, the piling and drilling rig had Restricted space to be completely assembled and disassembled Another difficulty was the positioning of several times because the piles were spread the piling and drilling rig on a jetty. Since over the entire jetty facility. This was the only space was extremely restricted it proved to be way to move the machine below the ship loadChallenges and technique particularly challenging to find enough room ers. Hence, preparation times prior to drilling The extensive drilling times of more than for the swing movement. In order to avoid the were relatively time-consuming but were retwo hours without a break were especially tracks of the ship loader crane, the LRB 255 duced to a minimum due to the high mobility demanding for man and technology. This was of the LRB 255.

The Liebherr piling and drilling rig was able to complete the job to the customer’s utmost ONTARIO satisfaction within the scheduled period of LOUISIANA erpipe Inc. is a steel pipe distributor of new 3320 3607 I-10 Miles FrontageRoad, Road RR#3 time and within budget. Thanks to its exceld used structural steel pipe. We have two Port Allen, Louisiana lent performance as well as its various fields of Mount Hope, Ontario 70767 ge stocking locations of Seamless, ERW, application the LRB 255 recommends itself for L0R 1WO Toll Free: (877) 468-7473 further demanding deep foundation tasks in iralweld and DSAW pipe.

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Highly efficient LRB 255

Thanks to the high output of the LRB 255’s powerful engine one pile was completed within four to six hours. Thus, the customer was able to save a significant amount of time as previously up to three days were required for the same work. Hence, one and a half to two piles were finished every day.

3” –48" 48”OD ODininaavariety varietyof ofwall wallthicknesses thicknesses 3" OD OD –min ing Pipe 80,000 yield seamless pipe for are in all both locations. are stocked stocked in three locations. cro Piling.

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www.interpipe.com 24 PIC Magazine • December 2012

Canada

Carry On DYWIDAG Strand Anchors allow unobstructed travel on Canada’s Highway 63

Canadian Highway 63 crosses the province of Alberta from north to south, through the Athabasca oil sands region near Fort McMurray. Due to the growing oil sand industry, the two lane road had become increasingly overloaded and was expanded by the addition of two lanes in 2006.

In one of the sections of Highway 63 that runs through one of Canada’s largest mining areas, long term slope movement was identified. As a result, the owner decided to carry out slope stabilization measures simultaneously with the widening of the section.

During the geotechnical analysis, a deep failure zone was detected on both sides of the highway that had to be stabilized using permanent anchor walls. Due to the steep drop off of the slope, the owner decided to use Double Corrosion Protected (DCP) DYWIDAG Strand Anchors as proposed by DSI. In fact, the installation and coupling of strand anchors in steep terrain is safer than the installation of bar anchors.

DSI had especially adapted the strand anchors to the extreme weather conditions and also supported the contractor during the onsite tests car26 PIC Magazine • December 2012

ried out on the anchors. DSI supplied load cells for the tests to collect the data necessary for fine tuning the anchor forces.

The anchors had to be bonded through three different overburden zones into the prevailing limestone. Since soil conditions along the complete anchor wall were non homogeneous, and the limestone in the soil varied in elevation by up to seven metres, it was very difficult to accurately predetermine anchor lengths. Due to the depth of the failure zone, especially long anchors with free lengths ranging from 16 to 31 metres had to be used.

Initially, the strand anchors were installed at the east side of the Highway. Afterwards, the drilling and installation work was carried out at the three rows of soil anchors on the western wall. All in all, 578 4-0.6-inch and 12-0.6-inch DCP DYWIDAG Strand Anchors were installed, tested

Canada

Project Info Owner: Alberta Ministry of Transportation, Canada General Contractor: Graham Construction, Canada Contractor: Beck Drilling & Environmental Services Ltd., Canada

INTRODUCING THE NEW X EDITION FROM JUNTTAN INTRODUCING THE X XEDITION FROM JUNTTAN INTRODUCING THENEW NEW EDITIONfor FROM JUNTTAN A completely new decade piling A completely A completelynew newdecade decadefor for piling piling

• It is based on all the unsurpassed features of the • It has a unique, purpose-built piling rig control system, • It is based on all the unsurpassed features of the It has a unique, purpose-built piling rig control system, world famous Junttan pile driving rigs Junttan X control system, that controls all the vital rig • It is based on all the unsurpassed features of the • • It has a unique, purpose-built piling rig control system, world famous Junttan pile driving rigs Junttan X control system, that controls all the vital rig functions, and provides plenty of useful features for world famous Junttan pile driving rigs Junttan X control system, that controls all the vital rig • It incorporates modern manufacturing technologies functions, and provides plenty of useful features for adjustments, operation, and maintenance functions, and provides plenty of useful features for • It incorporates modern manufacturing technologies and materials for extended reliability adjustments, operation, and maintenance • It incorporates modern manufacturing technologies adjustments, operation, and maintenance and materials for extended reliability • It has a brand new under carriage that ensures high and materials for extended reliability • It has a brand new under carriage that ensures high • It has a completely renewed hydraulic system for stability and easy transportation • It has a completely renewed hydraulic system for • It has a brand new under carriage that ensures high stability and easy transportation optimal performance and versatility • It has a completely renewed hydraulic system for stability and easy transportation optimal performance and versatility optimal performance and versatility

Subcontractor: Beck Drilling & Environmental Services Ltd., Canada Consulting Engineers: Thurber Engineering Ltd., Canada DSI Unit: DYWIDAG-Systems International Canada Ltd., Eastern Division, Canada DSI Scope: Supply of 578 4-0.6-inch and 12-0.6-inch DCP DYWIDAG Strand Anchors, load cells and equipment; technical assistance on site and tensioned using jacks provided by DSI. The anchors were installed into 225 millimetre boreholes and had design loads ranging from 630kN to 1,180kN. In order to provide additional corrosion protection, the ground anchors were post grouted and fitted with anchor caps at the upper ends.

Despite the difficult access and the fact that work had to be carried out in unfavourable weather conditions during the winter season, the contractor was able to successfully complete the installation of the ground anchors. n

3801—53 Avenue 3801—53 Avenue Lacombe, Alberta 3801—53 Avenue Lacombe, Alberta Canada T4L 2L6 Lacombe, Alberta

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Piling Industry Canada • December 2012 27

BUILDING A POSITIVE FUTURE TOGETHER

AUTHORIZED DEALER:

Equipment Corporation of America (ECA) was founded in 1918 as a provider of construction, industrial and material handling equipment. Today, ECA focuses primarily on the Foundation Industry and is a premier distributor of Drilling Equipment for Large Diameter Drilled Shafts, Small Diameter Drills for Earth Retention, Dedicated Piling Rigs and Pile Driving Equipment and Accessories. We offer a full array of new equipment manufactured by the Bauer Machine Group and Affiliated companies, supports a large and diverse rental fleet, and provides parts and service from their five locations. Just as in 1918, ECA is the premier provider of reliable and innovative products, services and solutions to the construction industry.

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ECA is consistently represented on nearly every major and high profile project across the U.S and Canada, and in a variety of capacities. Our success stems from the diversity of our product lines, our best-in-class service and our specialized knowledge to adapt equipment to a variety of projects.

➭ New and Used Equipment Sales and Rentals ➭ Large Diameter Drill Rigs ➭ Soil Mixing@ Slurry Wall Equipment ➭ Earth Retention & Micropile Drills ➭ Fixed & Telescopic Mast Mobile Piling Rigs ➭ Pile Driving Equipment - Diesel - Air - Hydraulic Impact - Free Hanging Vibratory Hammers - Excavator Mounted Vibratory Hammers ➭ Drilling Tools and Accessories ➭ Overburden Drilling Systems ➭ Sectional Casing Systems ➭ Equipment Service and Rebuilding ➭ Welding & Fabricating ➭ Field Service Fleet ➭ Parts, Accessories, Replacement Drill Teeth

This knowledge and demonstrated success has placed our people and equipment in crucial roles when and where they are needed most. Like the widening projects of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes levy restoration in the Gulf area after Hurricane Katrina, Ground Zero and the replacement of the Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis post-collapse Stadiums?

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Canada

With the Times Sonic drill becomes latest tool in pile driving

By Nancy Argyle

Award-winning sonic drilling technology, de-

1910. Constantinescu formulated the “Theory

use in the petroleum industry with the intent of

veloped and commercialized by Canadian en-

of Sonics” which was published by the British

speeding up drill times.

gineer Ray Roussy, is most often used for min-

Admiralty in 1913 and, during that same year,

During the 1960s, more research, money,

ing exploration, geothermal installations, and

he demonstrated a prototype of a rock drill

and testing went into creating a sonic pile driv-

environmental investigations. Since pile driv-

working on a percussion system, with much

er. Amazingly, the rig of that time period gen-

ing hasn’t ever been its number one use, many

success. Unlike pneumatic drills, Constanti-

erated a whopping 1,000 hp from two former

readers might be surprised to learn of its use

nescu’s vibratory prototypes were capable of

army tank engines. The end result was a small

today and its secret and complicated past.

boring through hard granite rock, quietly and

measure of limited success but not enough to

smoothly. However, once WWI ended, there

pave the way towards commercialization.

Significant effort and just as many setbacks

was little interest or funding to pursue further

From 1974 to 1983, approximately 12 rigs,

development.

using early sonic technology, were constructed

It’s a story of determination and ingenuity

Around 1946, Drilling Research Inc., in the

and used in different applications by Hawker

that spans more than 100 years beginning with

United States, became interested in sonic drill-

Siddeley, a British aircraft manufacturer with

the efforts of George Constantinescu, a Roma-

ing development and, for the first few decades,

Canadian offices. Unfortunately, these first ma-

nian intellectual who immigrated to England in

research was conducted almost exclusively for

chines experienced frequent breakdowns and

30 PIC Magazine • December 2012

8 0 0. 3 4 8.1 890

sonic sidegrip ®

h mc- u s .co m Find the right combination of man and machine and you’ve got what it takes to increase productivity, reduce costs and drive profits. The Sonic SideGrip® vibratory pile driver delivers it all with two unique side-gripping jaws and one bottom jaw that provide unmatched dexterity for handling, driving or extracting just about any style of piling. Choose from a range of models with 40 to 100 tons drive force for 18 to 55 ton excavators. Grab the future and drive your success.

Canada lacked appropriate tooling to withstand the associated vibratory forces.

The recession of the early 1980s discouraged any more development work but, in 1983, the sonic torch was picked up by Canadian engineer, Ray Roussy, who had been working at Hawker Siddeley. By servicing and upgrading the early drill heads, Roussy was able to make them more reliable and, at the same time, he constructed a number of additional sonic drill heads that were similar but improved. Most of these drill rigs are still in use today with drillers referring to the “Roussy head” on their machines.

To prove out his new technology and to carry out long-term reliability testing, Roussy used his backyard to build a sonic drill head and drill rig for himself and formed his own contracting company, Sonic Drilling Ltd. For many years now, Sonic Drilling Ltd. has operated successfully from the Vancouver, B.C. area, keeping a fleet of rigs fully contracted out on a busy schedule and proving, through real world usage, that the sonic drill head was reliable. Roussy’s backyard rig, now more than 27 years old, is still working everyday on projects along with its younger siblings.

With three decades of research and development to stand on, Roussy was awarded a number of patents for his improvements to sonic drilling technology and, today, he is president of the Sonic Drill Corporation, a company that manufactures the world’s most advanced and tested sonic drills.

Nowadays, Roussy is not the least bit surprise when he hears that one of his sonic rigs is doing pile driving. After all, the sonic rig was originally envisioned for this very purpose but, truth be told, seven out 10 sonic rigs are purchased for mineral exploration, not pile driving. In use in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and across North America, in the past three years, Roussy’s technology has won three separate prestigious awards for innovation.

With his patented technology deployed around the world, Roussy can finally claim credit for not only improving on the efforts of those who went before him but of perfecting and bringing a highly-sophisticated sonic drill to market.

Why use a sonic drill for pile driving when another would do?

Working or living near a construction site can generate more than a few headaches but none worse than listening to piles being driven into the ground. The repetitive percussions and thumping ground vibrations are enough to make most people reach for the nearest bottle of painkillers.

Despite the headache factor, though, piles are integral to the foundation of any building.

Normally, concrete piles are formed by drilling a hole with a large, heavy, high-torque auger but the sonic drill’s quiet, economical hum makes urban projects a breeze. Using sonic drilling technology, pile holes can be drilled with high-frequency, low-amplitude vibrations along with high-pressure water to clear the cuttings.

The sonic vibrations are much higher than the natural frequency of the surrounding soil and are not transmitted beyond the immediacy of the hole – unlike a pile driver hammer which can cause severe vibrations to be transmitted a considerable distance.

With a sonic rig, as the outer casing is vibrated out of the hole, concrete is forced to flow into the void created by the casing. With concrete and soil particles now intermingled, an extremely strong bond can be created, once the concrete has cured.

In other pile driving applications, such as a recent condominium complex being built in New Westminster, B.C., the sonic was brought in to drill 32 PIC Magazine • December 2012

80 holes for staggered steel piles that would be angled up a hillside. The 80 holes were drilled with piles inserted in approximately 10 days – accomplished quickly, with far less noise and a minimum of site disruption.

Whether pile driving, testing out the soil beneath a gas station or mining for gold, sonic drilling technology offers a number of essential advantages including: • Drills three to five times faster • Drills easily through mixed overburden material • Uses no drilling mud, can drill dry or with water or air • Less mess on site means less mess to clean up (cheaper) • In most cases, no casing is required unless there is a likelihood of hole collapse once the drill pipe is removed • On tracks, sonic drills can be manoeuvred into tight urban spaces • A variety of sizes and models are available – there’s even a sonic drill that will fit inside a 20-foot shipping container Coming full circle, the modern sonic rig is once again being considered for pile driving use on projects such as low-rise commercial buildings, warehouses and residential developments. Certainly, it can be an economical option with its smaller size, weight and truck-mounted or crawler versatility.

Another promising use for the sonic drill is the installation of micropiles, either by vibrating the piles directly into the ground or by drilling first and casing through any difficult material followed by a micro-pile inserted inside the casing.

In any case, for workers and residents alike, there’s one important benefit – no rush for painkillers. Instead of the incessant pounding of a pile driver, there is only the quiet hum of a sonic rig in action.

About the Writer Nancy Argyle is a former reporter, government issues analyst and senior disaster communications professional who now concentrates her time on providing marketing support for a number of clients in the drilling, manufacturing and aviation sectors. She can be reached at info@argyleandassociates.com n

Canada

Hear the Boom Strength in design, versatility in application, the MANTIS crane is a niche machine

Telescopic boom crawler cranes have long been considered a niche ma-

ings seen from lifting on unleveled ground conditions; and a powerful

chine because of comparatively small populations and concentrated ap-

diesel engine and hydraulic system that allows for multi-function opera-

plications such as tank building, power transmission construction, and

tion – while picking and carrying – on often unprepared jobsite terrain.

foundation, but this segment of the crane market is now growing in

These basic design features, which are not prevalent in other telescopic

popularity and population. The MANTIS telescopic boom crawler crane

boom crawlers, have allowed the MANTIS to be applied as one of the

was introduced in 1979 and since then has proven the concept that a

most versatile cranes on a construction project.

telescopic boom crawler to be one of the most versatile cranes available

The versatility of a purpose built telescopic boom crawler can be dem-

to construction market.

onstrated when looking at the application of building a bridge. Produc-

The MANTIS crane is set apart from the rest of the market because

tivity, flexibility, and utilization are extremely important factors in the

of its design approach. The initial concept was to be more than just a lift

justification of adding a piece of equipment to a project. The telescopic

crane - it was designed to be a lift crane that could pick and carry its full

boom crawler provides an opportunity to take a different look at ma-

load chart and perform lifts in less than perfect, level conditions. After

chine application and utilization for a traditional project. Many times a

all, the earth is not flat. This guiding premises in design and develop-

bridge construction project is approached with the requirement of mul-

ment, leads to a crane with: Robust structure throughout to take the dy-

tiple, different cranes because of different applications, not because they

namic loading that the crane can receive through its intended application

are all used at once. Lattice boom cranes have always been prevalent for

of full load chart pick and carry; a strong boom that withstands the load-

pile driving and lift work, set at each end of the bridge, but setup time

34 PIC Magazine • December 2012

Canada

for assembling boom is long, and the boom length is rarely changed to optimize the crane for the lifts required because of the time and labor required. The MANTIS telescopic boom crawler can arrive at a jobsite and be ready for production work in several minutes to several hours (depending on the size of the crane) and no crew is required for main boom assembly. Low ground pressure and high gradability allow the crane to navigate worksites with less ground preparation than may be required for conventional crawlers or rubber tired cranes. These more traditional cranes often have relatively poor performance and require assist equipment in challenging and unprepared terrain. The MANTIS has proven performance in various piling applications including vibratory, and impact hammers either hook suspended or on lead systems. Quick rig-up and rig-down of such piling systems allow the MANTIS to quickly change from a foundation crane to a lift crane as the project progresses.

When considering the ease of changing telescopic boom configurations and the ability to quickly navigate the grades around the bridge project site, and even place the crane on a barge – with barge charts available from the manufacturer - it is possible to optimally position and configure the telescopic crawler crane for lifts involved with building forms, handling concrete, and setting beams and other structure. This can often be done with a smaller capacity telescopic boom crawler crane because of the ease of changing position and configuration of the crane. Another beneficial application of the telescopic crawler on the bridge project is its functionality in working under the bridge and being able to telescope and lift into the main bridge structure from below. Obviously, a fixed

boom crane cannot efficiently work underneath and into bridge structure, yet even as the bridge deck is installed, crane work is often required from below. The other, more traditional view would be to place a rough terrain crane below to do such work, but this also is less than optimal because of the required setup on outriggers on often constrictive locations underneath the a bridge. MANTIS cranes have strong lifting charts with the crane’s tracks retracted, and even with no counterweight (allowing reduced tails wing in a limited clearance location). Such versatility once again allows the contractor the ability to optimize the crane’s configuration to provide the optimal configuration of the crane to suit the job requirements.

Bridge construction is one of the many applications where a telescopic boom crawler crane can provide a contractor opportunities to save time, reduce equipment on the jobsite, and optimize the utilization of the machine throughout the project – ultimately saving the contractor money and improving the bottom line of the project. TADANO MANTIS Corporation has experienced sales, support, and engineering staff that have proven the company’s ability to offer innovative solutions to contractors for diverse applications such as tunnel construction, hydro-electric and wind projects, bridge building, foundation work, and pre-cast concrete construction. The telescopic boom crawler crane is emerging from long time niche markets to now be a proven and effective multi-purpose crane that is an economically feasible solution to many of today’s construction challenges and projects. n Piling Industry Canada • December 2012 35

Canada

Over the Years 40 years of successful Dynamic Pile Monitoring

By Frank Rausche, PhD, P.E. and Garland Likins, P.E. Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI) commemorated its 40th anniversary on October 12, with a series of events that showcased its past achievements and cheerfully welcomed the future. When PDI was born in 1972, the design of a typical pile driving installation included at best a static soil analysis to estimate bid lengths and a driving criterion calculated by a dynamic formula. Today high strain dynamic pile testing (dynamic pile monitoring and dynamic load testing), as standardized by ASTM D4945 and mentioned in specifications, standards, norms and industry guidance documents all over the world, is the state of the practice for foundation quality assurance procedures.

Dynamic pile monitoring The Case Method was conceived during the late 1960s, when electronic measurements became routinely possible on construction sites, with the primary objective to obtain a reliable bearing capacity estimate based on measurements taken during driving or restrike. Since then, both the soft-

SPT Analyzer

Because not all SPT hammers are created equal

Improves reliability of SPT test results

Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI) commemorated its 40th anniversary on October 12, with a series of events that showcased its past achievements and cheerfully welcomed the future.

Complies with ASTM D4633

Quality Assurance for Deep Foundations Cleveland, OH USA +1 216-831-6131

www.pile.com/spt 36 PIC Magazine • December 2012

ware and hardware that embed the Case Method (the hardware is known as Pile Driving Analyzer® or PDA) have been continuously improved. PDA instrumentation is cableless, reusable (thus with a low per pile cost) and allows testing during or after installation without significant pre-planning, leading owners representatives, designers and construction managers to use it as a quality assurance tool on thousands of construction sites every year. In Canada, geotechnical engineers have relied on dynamic monitoring results since the early 1970s.

Dynamic pile monitoring results stem from the analysis of how, during driving, a stress wave propagates down the pile and reflects back to a point where pile top force and velocity measurements are being collected by accelerometers and strain transducers. Dynamic monitoring results include capacity at the time of driving, driving hammer performance, driving stresses, and an evaluation of pile integrity by the ß-Method. Much has been published about capacity evaluation by the Case Method and driving stress control; evaluation of integrity by the ß-Method has been discussed to a lesser extent. This article devotes some more attention to this important aspect of dynamic testing.

The ß-Method for integrity evaluation was developed and published (Rausche and Goble, 19791) after PDA data taken at a construction site on prestressed concrete piles of up to 73 metres (240 feet) length clearly indicated pile distress along the pile shaft. Rejecting all piles including those apparently suffering only minor distress would have been unreasonable.

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Thus an equation was derived which related an integrity factor β (100 per cent for no damage and zero per cent for a complete break) to the stresswave reflection magnitude. Since damage occurred at great depth, the equation considered the effect of soil resistance above the damage. It was recommended that if, in theory, a loss of cross section was greater than 20 per cent but less than 40 per cent (80 per cent >ß> 60 per cent) then all information available would be reviewed before rejecting the pile. A theoretical cross section loss greater than 40 per cent (ß< 60 per cent) was considered major damage since reflections from the pile toe could then not be observed. All parties involved in the project accepted this approach, and the project was successfully completed. Since then, damage in test piles in job sites throughout the world has been detected by the ß-method and verified by extraction, substantiating the original recommendations. Furthermore, since the pile bearing capacity and integrity are closely related,

Canada the Case Method bearing capacity determination combined with the β-Method has proven to be a powerful tool.

The closer a change of soil resistance or impedance is to the pile top, the earlier the reflection will arrive. Given the wave speed in the pile, known from the PDA measurements, the defect location is determined from the time of stress wave reflection from the defect. The PDA automatically searches for damage and calculates the ß-value and its associated location. A major defect close to the pile toe would be classified as toe damage. Test engineers are, however, advised to always visually inspect the data for such an early stress wave arrival.

Interpretation of dynamic monitoring results Both maximum pile toe compressive stresses and maximum tension stresses in the pile are calculated from the pile top measurements using stress wave propagation theory. Throughout the monitored pile installation, these stress maxima are of particular interest. To prevent any pile toe damage or tension cracks, the hammer energy or stresses can be reduced if the stress values indicated by the PDA are excessive. Traditionally, only selected test piles are monitored, and this information provides the basis for an economical and safe installation criterion for production piles.

While the basic methods of data interpretation are based on solid theory, the variety of hammer, pile and soil conditions require that the user has a thorough understanding of foundation construction methods, geotechnology and the basic theory behind various results.

Thus training and continued education are important to correctly implement and use the dynamic monitoring results.

Applications Pile with toe damage – Figure 1 shows measurements of force and velocity of two records (velocity has been multiplied by the pile impedance, Z, a proportionality factor which is the product of cross sectional area, mass density and wave speed). A pile toe reflection is evident as the second increase of pile top velocity relative to the pile top force (e.g. at the second solid vertical line in Figure 1 top). Figure 1 bottom shows the record a few blows later with an automatically generated PDA indication of toe damage. This pile was extracted after having

Figure 1: Force and velocity records before and after first PDA indication of pile toe damage.

Figure 2: Extracted pile.

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Canada been driven for quite some distance (more than 800 blows) after the damage was first noticed by the PDA and then extracted. Figure 2 shows the extracted pile.

Pile with damage along its length – If measurements have been made throughout the pile installation, then data interpretation yields a summary of stresses, hammer performance parameters, pile bearing capacity at the time of testing and pile integrity factor, β. In this example, a 14-inch (360 millimetre) square prestressed concrete pile of approximately 20 metre length suffered substantial damage approximately five metres above the pile toe when reaching a depth of almost 13 metres. Figure 3 shows PDA results versus pile toe penetration: in the left graph maximum pile top compression stress (less than 20 MPa) and maximum tensile stress (in the beginning reaching nine MPa); in the middle graph hammer stroke and energy transferred to the pile; in the right graph bearing capacity at the time of driving and the ß-value (BTA). The capacity reaches 1500 kN towards the end of the installation and then decreases while the ß-value (BTA) suddenly drops to less than 60. Note that for the damaged pile, bearing capacity assessment has to be done with caution and should, as always, involve CAPWAP® analysis.

Figure 3: Summary of PDA results.

Swedish practice In Sweden, where piles are often driven to very hard rock and where the major concern is assessment of pile toe integrity, practically all projects

Figure 4: PDA record of steel pipe pile with toe damage.

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Canada The original ß-Method is useful for any pile type including non-prestressed concrete, timber, and steel piles. now involve pile monitoring during restrike to assure sufficient bearing capacity and an intact pile. Before implementing the Case Method in 1979, expensive inspection tubes were installed in the piles to confirm integrity. Since the ability to assess damage by dynamic monitoring was implemented, these inspection tubes are no longer used. It should be mentioned that in Sweden, as is common in many other parts of the world, the piles are not prestressed.

Steel pile example The original ß-Method is useful for any pile type including non-prestressed concrete, timber, and steel piles. The latter are very common in Canada, the U.S. and many other countries.

Steel piles may suffer defective splices, bends, tears or twists when driven past obstructions, or collapsed pile toes when they are improperly driven with too many hammer blows into rock.

Figure 4 shows the record of a steel pipe pile driven to such a hard layer. The data clearly indicates an early increase of velocity relative to force prior to the strong increase of force caused by high end bearing. Figure 5 shows the extracted pile. Obviously, pile driving could have been stopped earlier when, in addition to

Figure 5: Extracted pile.

the reduced ß-factor, reductions in both PDA calculated bearing capacity and blow count indicated that the pile was damaged.

Summary Dynamic pile monitoring as a quality control and assurance method has worldwide acceptance, because it provides construction professionals with a complete evaluation of the foundation without a prohibitive cost burden. Together, calculated bearing capacity, pile stresses, hammer performance and the ß-integrity factor provide the basis for rational decisions for pile acceptance.

Footnote 1 Rausche, F., and Goble, G., 1979. Determination of Pile Damage by Pile Top Measurements, Behavior of Deep Foundations, ASTM STP 670, pp 500-506. n

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Canada

Fits Like A...

The world’s largest guide sleeve on order

By Michael Schwartz

IHC Hydrohammer has won a contract to design and supply the

water. Horizontal piling is also available. An accelerated ram weight

world’s largest available guide sleeve, part of an order placed by Seaway

means that a higher blow count can be attained with a relatively low

Heavy Lifting (SHL) for IHC Hydrohammer’s S-2500 piling hammer.

oil flow; the oil can be biodegradable if needed. The sleeves can be

The guide sleeve, at 6,500 millimetres, will assist Seaway in installing

adjusted to suit any pile diameter through the design feature of a flat

monopile wind turbines of the same diameter.

anvil.

SHL works with operators in both the offshore wind market and the

Increased safety provisions have been incorporated into the S-2500

oil and gas sector. Leading up to this order, announced in early Sep-

Hydrohammer, as signals from the hammer sensors are centrally pro-

tember, SHL had identified a need for a large power sleeve in its facility

cessed in the control box. If the length of the ram stroke is too long or

for offshore wind turbine installation. While oil and gas projects need

too short, the hammer is stopped. If the hammer/pile positioning is

components to deal with dimensions of say 2,500 millimetres, the in-

incorrect, the hammer cannot be started. In addition, real-time moni-

creasing demands of the wind turbine industry have led to an order of

toring is possible because the piling data are directly printed on site or

this size.

stored in a data logger. This allows a detailed analysis of the driving

The S-2500 Hydrohammer, which is equipped to reach 2,500 kJ of

operation to be conducted.

impact energy, is the largest piling hammer ever built by the compa-

The net energy/blow figures range from 270kNm to the maximum

ny. It combines a 126 tonne ram forged in one piece comprising ram

2,500 kNm, when 29 blows/minute are possible. Hammer weights in-

weight, ram pin, and piston rod with a fully enclosed hammer housing.

cluding ram are 254 tonnes in air and 200 tonnes fully submerged in

Its design makes it versatile enough for all forms of piling and founda-

salt water. Operating pressure is 300 bar (350 bar maximum) while an

tions, while the energy it supplies is the same both above and below

oil flow of 4,800 l/minute is required.

40 PIC Magazine • December 2012

Canada The S-2500 Hydrohammer, which is equipped to reach 2,500 kJ of impact energy, is the largest piling hammer ever built by the company.

Engineering BV provides project management, design and engineering services in support of the marine operations of the two HLVs. For this project, there were no structural alterations required for the vessels.

I HC Hydrohammer will deliver the new guide sleeve to SHL in one year’s time.

The order coincides with several projects off the UK, Germany, and Denmark with which the company is involved. To put the 6,500 millimetre guide sleeve for SHL into context, most projects are for diametres from 3,000 millimetres to 4,700 millimetres, although they do include one contract with Seajacks Ltd for 80 monopiles requiring 5,500 millimetre piling.

SHL has realized that more power will be needed for its projects. It is this anticipation of future orders needing extra power that lies behind SHL’s choice of the S-2500, rather than for a specific project. The ordering of the new power sleeve increases the technology available to clients, not just in the sense of pure power but also in terms of the combinations of sleeves and hammers available. The new power sleeve is a straight purchase, the company having rented sleeves for the previous three-four years.

The two companies have been working together for over 20 years. The increasingly stringent requirements for greater piling capabilities, often for higher and unconventional structures, have in turn created other demands. Piling may have to take place in the presence of hurricanes, rising sea levels, earthquakes and extreme temperatures. Complex problems may suddenly occur. All these factors mean the need for continuous update of IHC Hydrohammer’s range of equipment, with sustainability

Seaway Heavy Lifting’s HLVs SHL provides marine transportation and construction services to the offshore oil and gas industry; Seaway Heavy Lifting Contracting Ltd operates the heavy lift vessels HLV Stanislav Yudin and Oleg Strashnov with a revolving lift capacity of 2,500 mt and 5,000 mt respectively as well as a full array of ancillary equipment. In turn, Seaway Heavy Lifting

another aspect.

Wim van der Velde, CTO, Seaway Heavy Lifting, sums up his company’s choice of the S-2500, “The new piling hammer increases the technology available to clients, not just in the sense of pure power but also in terms of the combinations of sleeves and hammers available.” n

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Piling Industry Canada • December 2012 41

United States

Extreme Pile Installation Replacing Doyle Drive, the south access road to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge

By Peter Faust, Malcolm Drilling Company, San Francisco, CA The existing south access road to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, known as Doyle Drive or Presidio Parkway requires replacement. Built in 1936 it is the primary highway and transit linkage through San Francisco between counties to the north and south.

The roadway is tucked into the natural contours of the Presidio and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the nation’s largest urban parks. The bridge is the result of the Golden Gate Bridge engineering team headed by Joseph B. Strauss of Chicago and principal engineer Charles Alton Ellis who was chiefly responsible for the design of the suspension bridge.

The old steel truss structure will be replaced by a new concrete castin-place bridge. The foundation design of the new bridge is based on drilled mono shafts below each bridge column. Most shafts required large diameter permanent steel casing to be installed under strict vibration limitations since several historic landmarks are in the direct vicinity of the project alignment.

SUBSURFACE CONDITIONS The area occupied by the Presidio is generally hilly, sloping down northwards to the Bay. In the western half of the project route, two bluffs rise steeply to about 80 feet (25 metres). The two bluffs are separated by a valley 60 feet (18 metres) deep and 1,500 feet (457 metres) wide, which is spanned by the old and new Bridge.

Overburden soils in this valley are made up of artificial fill, slope debris, ravine fill and Colma Formation, a fine to medium-grained sand unit with clay beds. The Bay Muds encountered in the project area are typically soft clayey silts, becoming medium stiff with depth.

42 PIC Magazine • December 2012

The basement rocks underlying the overburden belong to the Franciscan Formation. The Franciscan Formation, described as Shale, Sandstone, Serpentine and Greywacke is extremely variable in hardness, fracturing and weathering. The material can vary from very hard to very soft, can be slightly to very intensely fractured and almost not weathered to totally decomposed within relatively short distances both laterally and vertically. Rock strength can vary from too weak to be tested to Serpentine layers with UCS of 15,000 psi (103MPa) or higher.

Groundwater levels in the area are typically no more than 10 to 20 feet (three to six metres) below the ground surface.

CONSTRUCTION The main viaduct bridge is supported on six bents with one 12 foot (3.7 metres) shaft underneath each bent. Abutments and one on-ramp are supported by smaller diameter shafts not discussed in this article.

The Doyle Drive Viaduct is the first highway bridge structure in California supported by 12 foot (3.7 metres) diameter drilled shafts.

The client designed all six Viaduct shafts with permanent 1.5 inch (38mm) wall thickness steel casing. The total weight of the longest 170 foot (52 metres) casing was in excess of 400,000 pounds and required multiple splices to facilitate handling. Full penetration welding for such large casings takes time even while utilizing multiple welding crews. The risk of casing freeze-up during such extended welding time increases the risk of not advancing the casing to depth. The ground conditions on site included massive layers of non-cohesive materials which further increases this risk. The installation of such long 12-foot (3.7 metres) diameter steel casings by vibratory methods was ruled out

United States

due to noise and vibration issues. Moreover, even without these restrictions utilizing the largest Vibro hammer would have been a major challenge. Impact driving was considered very risky since the vibrations limits which the adjacent historic brick structures could withstand may be exceeded by the required powerful pile driving hammers.

To eliminate the risk of vibration entirely, Malcolm decided to utilize the largest available oscillator to advance the casings without inducing any ground vibration. The oscillator method also enables the casing to be turned during the splicing operation to reduce set-up. This was the first time such a large oscillator was used throughout the world.

Therefore no comparable performance data was available. To complicate matters, schedule and site lay-out restrictions required the deepest shaft to be constructed first. One can imagine that almost everybody involved in the project anxiously awaited the first casing installation.

The crew used a spherical grab to excavate the overburden within the casing with. The grab was operated by a brand new 200 tonne duty cycle crawler crane, equipped with two synchronized 33 tonne winches for the extraction of this 44 tonne tool. The client designed the permanent steel casing to prevent caving in the upper very loose dune sands and soft clay layers and to provide the best possible means for a defectPiling Industry Canada â&#x20AC;˘ December 2012 43

United States

free construction of such large mono-shafts. The advantage which the oscillator installation method offers by using temporary instead of permanent casing was not utilized by the client in the shaft design or installation procedure. More so, the design required all casings to be installed five to 10 (1.5 to three metres) foot into the underlying Franciscan formation. Through the casing, the drilling contractor would then drill an “open hole” rock socket an additional 35 to 45 feet (10 to 14 metres) into the bedrock.

Specifications required the mandatory use of polymer drilling fluid for all cased shafts as well as the uncased rock socket. Since material strength in the Franciscan formation can vary widely, the casing tip is the most vulnerable section when penetrating the rock. The team decided to attach additional carbide reinforced teeth to the casing tip to aid the installation and to provide sufficient cutting clearance.

To drill the 11.5 foot (3.5 metres) in diameter rock sockets up to a maximum depth of 200 feet (61 metres) below grade, Malcolm utilized one of the largest rotary drilling rigs, a Bauer BG 40. Several tools had to be custom build or shipped from overseas for these extreme shaft dimensions.

Extreme seismic loads and very tall bridge columns resulted in a very dense reinforcement configuration with individual shaft cages weighing up to 150 tonnes. Malcolm designed a custom tipping frame and unique suspension system to handle and splice these exceptionally long and heavy rebar cages. The site crew also attached additional stiffener rings to each cage section to safely support and transfer the cage loads. They also suspendedthr pile rebar cages over the casing using a custom built suspension frame and hydraulic jacks. Loads added to the suspension system by the fresh concrete were factored into the capacity of the system.

The concrete supplier developed a concrete mix with special emphasis on maintaining workability for the extended duration of the tremie concrete placement operation. Total placement duration was not controlled by the extraction of casing (since permanent) but by the successful supply of concrete which was transported across the city of San 44 PIC Magazine • December 2012

Francisco. Traffic restrictions, as well as unforeseen road blockades due to accidents, rallies, or simple day-by-day rush hour traffic were the challenges. The ‘high-performing’ concrete mix had the characteristics of a self-consolidating concrete (SCC). About 50 per cent of the Portland cement was replaced by a blend of ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly-ash which improved the workability and remarkably reduced the bleeding and segregation tendency. The ½ inch crushed stone represented about 50 per cent of the total aggregate in the mix.

A variety of chemical admixtures was used to control and maintain the workability for the extended placement duration. Concrete trial test month ahead of the first pour were required to develop the mixture and fine-tune the dosage of all four different admixtures. The mix proved to be one of the most successful ‘high-performance’ concrete mixes used by Malcolm Drilling and is now a standard mix throughout the company.

QUALITY CONTROL Standard specification for any transportation project in California require the integrity testing of every shaft constructed with the Slurry Displacement Method including Gamma-Gamma NDT testing.

This test uses a radioactive probe which is lowered into a single (PVC) access tube and measures the amount of reflected photons.

These are related to the energy level of the surrounding material and can be calibrated to the relative concrete density in a two to four-inch radius around the probe. Since access tubes are placed at the shafts perimeter, any sudden change in density might reveal a potential anomaly on the outside of the shafts, affecting the structural integrity of the entire shaft.

Additional Cross-Hole-Sonic-Logging (CSL) testing might then complement the Gamma-Gamma testing to determine the extent of the potential shaft anomaly through the core of the shaft. The CSL method is using ultrasonic waves which travel between access tubes across the shaft core and measure the signal arrival time and transferred energy. Sudden signal time or energy changes along the shafts

United States

length will reveal variable concrete density and might therefore indicate potential anomalies in the shafts concrete core. The client tested all shafts on this project with both method. They revealed only very little potential for anomalies. One minor near-surface concrete repair had to be performed and some so called “administrative deductions” for minor anomalies without any structural risk were imposed by the client.

Since the shaft design was based entirely on load transfer in the rock socket section, one of the main focuses during construction was directed towards the cleanliness of the shaft socket. The client employed visual inspection by a Shaft Inspection Device (SID) camera for every shaft. The acceptance criteria were very strict with less than ¼ inch (63 millimetres) of sediment over a maximum of 50 per cent shaft base.

These criteria required the use of specially fabricated cleaning buckets, polymer sedimentation aids and air lifting to ensure contract compliance. Given the nature of the soil-type material rather than a classic hard-rock socket at the shaft base, there is definitely the need for material specific criteria to avoid unnecessary and potentially harmful shaft base cleaning procedures in the future.

CHALLENGES Engineers know the Franciscan formation to be very variable in strength and sometimes, especially in large excavations, showing caving rock behavior. Local instabilities can easily create unstable excavation conditions which cannot be retained with drilling slurry and could jeopardize the entire shaft construction. This condition occurred in one shaft which required partial backfilling of the rock socket with lean concrete and the re-drilling of the rock socket to the specified depth and diameter. Predictable drilling conditions and procedures as well as efficient cleaning of the shaft tip are keys to successful completion and compliance with the specification in such ground conditions.

Such large shafts with single concrete volume of up to 600 cubic yards also require detailed planning for every construction step.

Equipment is getting so big and requires not only sufficient footprint

for set-up, but also stable working platforms. At times, support piles are required to transfer the installation forces. Oscillators able to install 12 foot (3.7 metre) casings can induce up to 990 tonnes of downward pressure into surrounding soil immediately adjacent to the shaft being drilled.

Support equipment like service cranes and slurry holding tanks soon exceed “normal” dimensions and numbers which our industry is familiar with when constructing “extreme” shafts. Lay-down areas have to be planned and constructed with extreme care and foresight.

CONCLUSION Drilled shafts of this diameter and depth require a different perspective and approach than the “normal” foundation pile due to size and weight of all materials as well as required installation equipment. They also require special considerations of the borehole wall stability, both in caving soils and potentially caving rock. The new 12 foot (3.7 metres) in diameter oscillator has proven that it can effectively advance steel casings to such extreme depth of 170 feet (52 metres) using a vibration free method.

This installation method does not only allow construction in environmental sensitive areas but further enables the replacement of commonly used permanent steel casings with reusable temporary segmental drill casing. Temporary drill casings could also be further advanced into unstable or soft rock conditions, as previously demonstrated on the seven-foot (2.1 metres) diameter shafts for the Benicia Martinez Bridge in California.

With the new generation of powerful hydraulic rotary drill rigs, shaft socket can be drilled in fractured rock formations to extended depths even deeper than 200 feet (61 metres). Malcolm could demonstrate that temporary and permanent casing installation methods provide a superior construction technique in regards to pile integrity.

This method has the best track record in anomaly-free pile installation as compared to other slurry displacement methods. n Piling Industry Canada • December 2012 45

United States

Working 9-to-5 New York City’s new pedestrian underpass revolutionizes working commute

by Jillian Mitchell

New York is go, go, go. This bustling metropolis is known for its culture, development, and diversity—and lack of cheap parking. But beneath the busy Manhattan streets, a complex web of development is poised to revolutionize the way thousands of New Yorkers commute to work.

Sixty feet below Ground Zero, teams are hard at work to create the World Trade Center (WTC) Pedestrian Tunnel, a venture that New Yorkers are dubbing the East-West Connector.

The 300-foot-long passage under West Street (Route 9A) is part of a larger permanent WTC Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) Transportation Hub project, a plan to revamp downtown Manhattan transportation systems.

Stretching a quarter of a mile, the underground Transportation Hub is designed to accommodate 250,000 pedestrians per day—the temporary station accommodates up to 50,000 daily pedestrians— the pedestrian underpass will connect the new PATH station (a transportation hub involving 13 subway lines ) with the World Financial Center in Battery Park City.

As the New York Times reports, “the tunnel extends west from the $3.2 billion Transportation Hub and will be framed by 100 sculpted steel arches created in Luxembourg and Spain that weigh about 25 tons apiece. A 275-foot 46 PIC Magazine • December 2012

stretch on the north side of the 1,300-foot passageway will house 50,000 square feet of retail shops along the concourse and a mezzanine level, from which a balcony will look down on the connector. The south side will be a stone facade, behind which lies the 9/11 Memorial, the heart and soul of the site.”

An integral member of the WTC Pedestrian Tunnel project team, Parsons Transportation Group (PTG) was responsible for engineering, managing the infrastructure group, providing systems/communications design, and supporting other engineering disciplines to create a sustainable design (the project will achieve a LEED-certified equivalent rating) that incorporates advanced security strategies and blast-resistant structures. Recently, the WTC Pedestrian Tunnel project was awarded with the 2012 Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Outstanding Project Award.

“The ueam is extremely honoured to receive this award,” said Tom Barron, Parsons Transportation Group president in a press release.

“We are proud to be recognized for our efforts to not only help New York recover from the events of 9/11, but also to deliver something new to the community that its citizens can be proud of.”

As the WTC website reports, in 2003, the Port Authority opened its first temporary entrance to restore service to the WTC site.

In June 2007, a second temporary entrance opened on Church Street, replacing the initial entrance. This entrance was in place until early 2008, when it was replaced by a third temporary entrance on Vesey Street near West Broadway. The shifting of the entrances allows the Port Authority to maintain consistent service to the WTC site during construction of the permanent transportation hub’s main, groundlevel structure.

Funded by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the concourse is expected to open along with the PATH station in early 2014.

Above ground, on the 16 acres that constitute Ground Zero, four innovative towers, a transportation hub and a memorial are being constructed. Located between Towers 2 and 3, the new 800,000 square-foot transportation hub and pedestrian tunnel will work together to create a state-of-the-art multimodal station which will include:

United States • A multi-story central transit hall designed in the style of Grand Central Terminal, incorporating a lower concourse, an upper (balcony) concourse, a public waiting area, and first-class retail amenities.

• Enhanced permanent PATH facilities and services incorporating three full-service extended 10-car platforms, as well as an additional platform to accommodate service needs and five tracks.

• An integrated network of underground pedestrian connections from the lower and upper concourses, which will lead to adjoining New York City Transit subway stations and the proposed MTA Fulton Street Transit Center through the Dey Street Corridor. Pedestrians also will be able to access locations on and around the WTC site, including the five WTC office towers, the Memorial and Museum, Hudson River ferry terminals, the World Financial Center, PATH trains, 13 subway lines, and the proposed JFK rail link.

• Retail facilities of approximately 200,000 square feet within the transit hub and the pedestrian concourses to accommodate a wide variety of restaurants and stores. n

Drilling & Piles Ltd. Fort Macleod. Ab.

Ph: (403) 553-4084 Fax: (403) 553-2834 info@westcodrilling.ca www.westcodrilling.ca

Piling Industry Canada • December 2012 47

United States

A Sheet Piling Solution ESC brings their quality production and product to North America

Since the late 1980s ESC has been designing and producing sheet piles,

has now established production facilities capable of producing over

and they have become a leading manufacturer of cold rolled/formed

100,000MT per year of sheet piles and tie rods.

sheet piles, supplying a global network. The group has an international

The ESC approach to sheet piling is orientated on the customers re-

reach having designed and supplied sheet piles to projects in New Zea-

quirements. ESC believe that simply supplying a product is insufficient,

land, Antarctica, Afghanistan, Australia, Chile, China, Haiti, Kenya, Pap-

therefore the level of support a customer receives when they are consid-

ua New Guinea, Singapore, Egypt, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Indonesia,

ering purchasing ESC products is unprecedented. This ranges from gen-

Cambodia, Iraq, India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,

eral advice on the client’s options to full engineering support and design,

Qatar, Taiwan, The Netherlands, and Jamaica, amongst others. Agents

and includes necessary accessories such as painting, tie rods, and other

are established in most regions around the world and production facili-

items associated with sheet piling works. ESC refers to this as a sheet pil-

ties in Malaysia, China, and The United Arab Emirates ensure produc-

ing solution.

tion times are fast and product quality guaranteed to all international

A sheet piling solution is a performance based package that includes

clients.

all the elements essential to provide the client with a complete solution to

The objective of ESC’s move in to North America is to use their wide

their sheet pile requirements, rather than just supplying a product.

range of expertise to provide customers with efficient and quality prod-

Simply put, rather than just selling sheet piles, ESC consider the cli-

ucts and services that meet their stated and implied requirements. ESC

ent’s needs from all aspects, and then provide a solution to meet those

48 PIC Magazine • December 2012

8 00.3 4 8 .1890

sonic sidegrip ®

h m c- u s .co m Never give the competition a chance to one-up you. Diversify your business, increase productivity and reduce costs with the Sonic SideGrip® attachment. Its two unique side-gripping jaws and one bottom jaw deliver unmatched dexterity for handling, driving or extracting just about any style of piling, even in limited access areas like indoors and under bridges or power lines. And because it’s an attachment, the Sonic SideGrip® offers the versatility you need without having to buy a new pile driver. Powered by the auxiliary circuit of your excavator, the Sonic SideGrip® produces high-frequency vibration for dynamic driving forces of 40 to 100 tons. Grab the future and drive your success.

United States

needs. This may include engineering design, corrosion control, construction issues, planning, or simply general advice.

in order to cater for virtually every sheet pile application, including; - High strength combi wall systems for deep water quays - Cutoff piles for dewatering cofferdams for underwater bridge piers

Products and Applications

- EU or CRZ piles for permanent bridge abutments

ESC produces a wide range of sheet piles and retaining wall solutions

- Wide profile piles for deep basement works

The PIPE MILL with FAST SERVICE Producing: 24”-192” OD .312”-2.00” Wall Lengths up to 80 ft.

Straight Seam - DSAW 20 ft. Lengths in Stock

RAMMING QUALIT Y

TM

- Custom piles for oil tank farm containment walls - Trench piles for pipeline works - CRU piles for temporary construction works - Grouted cutoff piles for polluted ground water containment

800-821-3475 Fax: 815-964-0045 PipeSales@ArntzenCorp.com

Shipping Nationwide and Canada

ArntzenBC_AD_Blue_BG_06_11_09.indd 50 PIC Magazine • December 2012 1

- U piles for temporary hard ground sewerage shafts

7/8/11 2:05:36 PM

- EU or CRZ piles for river and canal training works The latest trends in hot rolled sheet pile technology are producing thinner and wider sheet piles. Meanwhile, improvements in steel quality are resulting in thicker plates being used for cold rolling/forming of sheet piles. The result is that the divide between hot rolled and cold form sheet piles is becoming increasingly blurred, and there is increasing crossover in applications.

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Dans une entreprise où le service est l’élément clé pour la réussite de votre projet – vous ne pouvez vous contenter du minimum.

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United States

ESC believe that simply supplying a product is insufficient, therefore the level of support a customer receives when they are considering purchasing ESC products is unprecedented.

This is good news for the consumer, as it provides a wider range

virtually every application, in accordance with the relevant standards

of sheet pile alternatives for almost all project types. ESC is con-

from the region.

stantly working to modify existing designs to better meet customer requirements, and to introduce new pile ranges which suit different

Manufacturing

applications.

ESC sheet piles are produced using both cold forming and cold rolling methods.

Engineering Services

The cold forming process uses a brake press to bend a flat plate

The level of engineering support for a project may range from tech-

into the required profile. Press braking is a discrete process that pro-

nical advice on installation equipment, right through to full design re-

duces individual piles per process operation. Clutch mechanisms and

ports. The engineering team have diverse qualifications and experience,

strengthening plates are then welded to the body of the sheet pile in

but generally focused on civil, structural, and geotechnical applications.

order to achieve the desired finished product. This simple but effec-

The ESC Engineering Departments are equipped with state-of-the-art

tive process allows ESC to use the same machinery to produce and

analysis software, plus a considerable library of technical publications

almost infinite scope of products suitable for a wide range of end

and international standards. Using these, designs can be provided for

uses.

52 PIC Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ December 2012

United States The cold rolling method uses multiple pairs of contoured rollers to progressively form strip into the required sheet pile profile. The rolling process is continuous and the piles are cut to the required length as they come off the production line.

Documentation As part of an extensive quality control program, all sheet piles supplied by ESC are marked with a unique number and accompanied by a Manufacturing Certificate. This document provides certificates for the raw material used in the piles, traceability for the raw material through the manufacturing process, quality inspection documents, and independent test certificates.

ESC also have extensive quality control procedures, manufacturing procedures, and inspection and testing procedures, which are fully documented and available for submittal to customers on request.

ESC piles are produced in accordance with the latest North American standards (ASTM), as well as ISO 9000 quality management systems, but other standards can be applied on request.

Relationships ESC sheet piles have been used on sites controlled by some of the most well known names in engineering design, including Mott MacDonald, Beca, Clough, Halcrow, Hatch, MUC, Gibb, Parsons, KBR, Maunsells, Jacobs and many others. They have also established working relationships with manufacturers of steel, paints, cathodic protection systems and all other items usually associated with sheet piling works, in order to provide complete packages to customers. n

ESC IS A LEADING MANUFACTURER OF COLD ROLLED/ FORMED SHEET PILES Supplying a global network since the late eighties and Now available right here in North America!

ESC can provide you with a competitive sheet piling solution. ESC produce a wide range of sheet piles and retaining wall solutions, including engineering design, corrosion control, construction issues or simply good old fashion general advice.

• High strength combi wall systems for deep water quays • High strenth combi wall systems for deep water quays • Cutoff piles for dewatering cofferdams for underwater bridge piers • EU or CRZ piles for permanent bridge abutments • Wide profile piles for deep basement works

• U piles for temporary hard ground sewerage shafts • Custom piles for oil tank farm containment walls • Trench piles for pipeline works • CRU piles for temporary construction works • Grouted cutoff piles for polluted ground water containment • EU or CRZ piles for river and canal training works

Call us now for pricing and advice on your next project.

Phone +1 (281)-205-7261 Fax +1 (281)-205-7263 6046 FM 2920 RD Suite 136 Spring, TX 77379 info@ESCSteelinc.com

Piling Industry Canada • December 2012 53

Index to Advertisers American Piledriving Equipment

51

Interpipe Inc.

24

Arntzen Corporation

50

Junttan Oy

21

Bauer-Pileco 13

Mississippi Valley Equipment Company

17

Bay Shore Systems Inc.

Northstar Inc.

11

Bermingham Foundation Solutions

9

Canadian Pile Driving Equipment

27

Casagrande USA, Inc. Directory IBC D.A. McIntyre Construction Ltd.

8

Dominion Pipe & Piling

IFC

Dywidag–Systems International Canada, Ltd.

IBC

ECA Canada

28

ESC Steel Inc.

53

5

Pile Drivers Local Union 2404

39

Pile Dynamics, Inc.

36

Pinnacle Drilling Products LP

37

Platinum Grover International Inc.

15, Directory IFC

Roll Form Group

3

RST Instruments

47

Skyline Steel

7

Fraser River Pile & Dredge (GP) Inc. Directory OBC

Soilmec North America

25

Geokon, Incorporated

Verbeek Management Services

38

Hammer & Steel OBC

Waterloo Barrier

18

HCM Contractors Inc.

Watson Drill Rigs

23

Westco Drilling & Piles Ltd.

47

Hercules Machinery Corporation

41 33 19, 31, 49

DEL Communications Inc. and you,

THE KEY TO SUCCESS. We offer outstanding personal service and quality in the areas of: CREATIVE DESIGN | ADVERTISING SALES TRADE PUBLICATIONS | QUALIFIED SALES & EDITORIAL TEAM

DEL

Communications Inc.

54 PIC Magazine • December 2012

Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3L 0G5 Toll Free:1.866.831.4744 | Toll Free Fax: 1.866.711.5282 www.delcommunications.com

LOCAL PRESENCE – GLOBAL COMPETENCE

Your Global Supplier for: DYWIDAG Threadbar® DYWIDAG Multi-Strand Anchors DYWI® Drill Hollow Bar GEWI® Piles (Micropiles) Ductile Iron Pipe Piles DYWIDAG Soil Nails DYWIDAG Tierods DYWIDAG Rock Bolts DYNA Force® Load Monitoring System

DYWIDAG-SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL USA INC. 320 Marmon Drive Bolingbrook, IL 60440, USA Phone (630) 739-1100 dsiamerica@dsiamerica.com

RELY ON DSI www.dsiamerica.com / www.dsicanada.ca DYWIDAG-SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL USA INC.

DYWIDAG-SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL CANADA, LTD

NORTH CENTRAL Bolingbrook, IL Phone (630) 739-1100

NORTH WEST Kent, WA Phone (253) 859-9995

N. EAST / MID ATLANTIC Toughkenamon, PA Phone (610) 268-2221

CENTRAL AMERICA Pompano Beach, FL Phone (954) 532-1326

CANADA WEST Surrey, BC Phone (604) 888-8818

SOUTH CENTRAL Mansfield, TX Phone (817) 473-6161

WEST Long Beach, CA Phone (562) 531-6161

SOUTH EAST Tucker, GA Phone (770) 491-3790

ALASKA: Call North West HAWAII: Call West

CANADA EAST Gormley, ON Phone (905) 888-8988

complete soil mix systems

for rent or sale:

H&S’s extensive experience with a variety of differing subsurface conditions throughout North America, couple with our vast array of equipment and tooling, with multiple locations through the U.S., puts us in a unique position to serve your soil mixing requirements.

• • • •

•

Delmag drill rigs for high torque, larger diameter, soil mixing ABI soilmixing with single, double and triple axis for shoring Scheltzke fully automated grout plants and silos, to minimize labor costs G&H electronic monitoring / recoding / reporting systems for grout flow & pressure, drill depth, RPM, etc.. for quality assurance Soil mix tooling, rods, grout swivels, auger guides and other accessories

www.hammersteel.com

SALES • RENTAL PARTS • SERVICE

800-325-PILE (7453) • (314) 895-4600

Piling, Pile Driving & Drilling Equipment

Missouri

California

Florida

Kansas

Maryland

Minnesota

Texas

800.325.PILE (7453) • 877.224.3356 • 904.284.6800 • 913.681.9295 • 301.906.9030 • 952.469.6060 • 936.257.8790