I'm seeing more and more cases where rammed aggregate piers are being used for uplift anchors. As I understand it, a steel cage is inserted in a drilled hole before stone is placed. The stone is then compacted by compacting through the center of the cage. Doesn't this compromise the integrity...
Corkster, do you have direct experience with the Rapid Impact Compaction? We've talked to Pennine in the UK, who build the RIC units, and they've said they only count on maximum of 10 feet of influence, and then only in very clean coarse granular soils. Where the fines content is higher, the...
I'm a geotechnical engineer working for a ground improvement contractor. We do dynamic compaction, rammed aggregate piers, vibrocompaction, and vertical wick drains, so I have familiarity with most of the reasonable options. My first choice in this situation, if feasable, would be dynamic...
The various post-tensioning bar and strand suppliers can provide that information. One that I know of is diwidag, at the website:
http://www.dsiamerica.com/products/geotechnic/dywidag-bar-anchors/steel-properties.html
I'll admit I'm a relatively older guy at 53, but I read these types of posts and wonder whether its even appropriate to have a computer perform all these functions. Unlike structural engineers, we geotechs work with a material in which every bucketful is at least slightly different from every...
I work for a contractor who designs and installs rammed aggregate piers, but not of the patented "Geopier" variety. Typically, the specifications require the RAP designer to submit design drawings and installation procedures from an appropriately licensed engineer, including calculations that...
We've done dynamic compaction on mine spoil sites also. The dynamic compaciton is typically limited to the upper 30 feet or so, but within that zone is more effective than preloading in compressing the material. Depending on the size of the footprint of the new facilities, you might consider...
I'm with several others here, I'd look for design-build services, with either soil nail or soldier-pile and permanent tiebacks. A cast-in-place permanent facing can be used with soldier piles, while soil nailing more often uses a gunnite facing. With clean sands and gravel, there may be...
As a ground improvement contractor, I've worked on several crane pads recently, up to about 200 feet high. All have been freestanding, on a dedicated spread foundation just outside the limits of the future building. The allowable bearing capacity of these foundations has typically been in the 3...
As I remember my admittedly long-ago soils classes, the size will do little to influence the void ratio. Imagine simple spheres, like ball bearings or bowling balls. Pack them as tight as possible, and you will have an identical ratio of voids to solids. More important is the range of sizes...
