the required sheet piles and pipe piles had been installed. Precise
field measurements were required to ensure that the wales and
struts fit within the sheet piles and missed the contained pipe piles.
Underground obstructions, both known and unknown, posed
challenges daily. A duct bank, which provides power to the adjacent
Harrah’s Casino and Audubon Aquarium, was identified
before the project started and ran through the middle of the site.
The vital and dangerous duct bank was excavated and exposed at
several locations to identify its exact location and avoid conflict.
Several unknown utilities were also encountered and subsequently
identified without incident. Other frequent obstructions included
old pile caps, timbers and miscellaneous debris. In addition to the
underground obstructions, as many as four trains would pass within
a few feet of driven pile and sheeting locations on any given day.
With no daily train schedule available, Boh Bros. would have limited
advanced warning to move equipment safely out of the path of
the trains. Frequent conflicts with underground obstructions and
train schedules required Woodward and Boh Bros. to continuously
work together to expedite solutions.
The addition on the north side of the building increased the pile
variety by requiring Boh Bros. to drive over 70 each treated timber
piles ranging in length from 65 to 70 feet as well as additional long
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
At one point, Boh had one crawler crane
rig, two low overhead rigs, one sheeting
rig and one pile fill crew all working at the
same time
104 | EDITION 6 2019 www.piledrivers.org
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