A single-story retail space, located immediately adjacent to an existing retail building, was recently constructed to house the new Aldi store location in Western Massachusetts. The loose fill and native sand conditions were ideal for a Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier® foundation support solution. However, the project team was tasked with providing foundation support with minimal vibrations along the foundation line located immediately adjacent to the existing building.
The project team initially considered helical piles designed in the very loose sand with a capacity of 27 kips. Working closely with the owner and structural engineer, Helical Drilling proposed a Ductile Iron Pile (DIP) design using a working capacity of 40 kips, ultimately reducing the number of piles by 25%. The combined foundation support solution featuring low vibration Ductile Iron Piles along the existing building and the Geopier® system for the remainder of the site provided the most cost-effective foundation support solution while still delivering solid performance and limiting impacts to the existing structures.
A total of 39 friction Ductile Iron Piles were installed in three working days in the loose fill and native soil conditions along the building line adjacent to the existing building. Load testing on the system confirmed performance with less than 0.4 inches of movement at 120 kips (300% of the design load). Vibration monitoring performed during installation recorded peak particle velocities of of less than 0.2 inches/second at close distances from installations.
