Tap House Boardwalk
and Boardwalk Surf Shop
Sun Pile Foundations is the winner of the PDCA Project of the Year
Award in the category of Land – Less than $500,000
By Michael R. Jahnigen, Sun Pile Foundations, Swamy Avasarala and Santosh Mummaneni, Aver Technologies, Inc.
Auger cast piles have been the preferred choice for many
engineers as the foundation for small to medium structures
in urban environments to mitigate the possible vibrations
and other issues related to pile driving operations. However,
with proper monitoring and installation processes, driven piles can
be both a cost-effective and safe alternative to auger cast piles.
Sun Pile Foundations Inc. (SPF) is a nationally reputed pile driving
company with emphasis in pre-cast concrete pilings specialized in
large, groundbreaking commercial projects. Aver Technologies, Inc.
(AVER) is a geotechnical engineering firm specialized in deep foundations
and instrumentation and has been providing consulting since
1998 throughout the mid-Atlantic and mid-west regions.
Project background
SPF was contracted by Sens Inc. of Berlin, Md. to install a deep
pile foundation for a condominium. The condominium is proposed
to be used as Taphouse Boardwalk and Boardwalk Surf shop with
residential condos in the upper floors. The initial construction of
the building will be two stories with the first floor being a parking
garage and an additional three floors are proposed to be added at a
later date by the project owner Avi Siboney.
SPF suggested a value engineer lump sum contract that utilized a
jointed concrete pile, soldier pile, pile monitoring, PDA testing, pre- and
post-survey construction survey with complete vibration monitoring.
Project location
The project consisted of installing 93 twelve-inch square
prestressed precast concrete piles, 70 feet long to a design bearing
capacity of 100 tons with a 2.0-safety factor to support the building.
In addition, a retaining wall with 29 soldier pile or pin pile with
timber lagging was also installed to facilitate excavations for grade
beams. A Junttan HHK4A hammer was used to install foundation
and shoring concrete piles for this project.
Means and method of foundation installation
Foundation of the residential structure was initially intended to be
auger cast piles, owing to onsite location and proximity to adjacent
Overview of project site
64 | QUARTER 2 2015