Helical Drilling installed over 250 Geopier Rammed Aggregate Piers® in just one week, allowing the general contractor of the Newport Health Center project to proceed with footing/slab construction immediately thereafter.
Site subsurface conditions included unsuitable fill, loose natural soils, and soft organic silt. Suitable natural bearing soils were as deep as 17 feet below grade and the groundwater table was about 10-feet-deep. Faced with these difficult subsurface conditions, and combined with up to 4 feet of grade-raise fill and the anticipated structural loads, the project team determined that supporting traditional shallow footings and slabs-on-grade on the existing unimproved soils would have led to excessive settlement.
After considering several foundation support solutions including excavation/replacement and driven piles, the team proceeded with shallow footings and slabs-on-grade after Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier (RAP) ground improvement. The Geopier RAP solution offered substantial cost savings, simplified foundation construction, an expedited construction schedule, and a displacement installation method that did not require dewatering or generate excess spoils.
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View the Geopier Impact Rammed Aggregate Pier construction video below.
