Lucy Terza of the SC Ports Authority
and Insight Group’s Ryan Keiper coordinated
and recognized the opportunity to
apply the neutral plane design methodology
and performed a value engineered (VE)
option that resulted in pile length reductions
ranging from 12 feet to 32 feet. Using
the results from Kolwalkar’s PDA testing,
the resistance distribution was verified to
be in accordance with the neutral plane
design. High strain dynamic test results in
conjunction with neutral plane analyses
findings were used to develop production
pile driving criterion for each structure.
This accelerated the pile driving schedule,
relieved the contractor of the need to add
additional leads to his pile driving crane,
and saved the project over $480,000.
Summary
The Hugh Leatherman Terminal is one of
the most significant infrastructure investments
in the United States that is currently
under construction. The site is
located within a high seismic zone and
underlain by extremely soft dredge spoils
and marine clays. Due to the anticipated
downdrag forces, the piles were originally
designed with extreme embedment lengths
requiring abnormally long crane leads. The
mitigation of these soft soils by using surcharge
stone caused additional construction
challenges as the pre-augering at each
pile location typically collapsed before the
pile could be fully set. Pile reductions were
critical for constructability issues and provided
the additional benefit of saving substantial
costs for the South Carolina Ports
Authority. The VE design by Insight Group
and SC Ports Authority provided reductions
in the pile lengths in the order of 12 to 32
feet through the use of the Neutral Plane
Design Methodology. PDA results verified
the design inputs and provided additional
confidence in the design change. t
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