CASE HISTORY

DRIVECAST™ - Northern New Jersey

 “David B. Johnson, PE, LLC Chooses DRIVECAST to Create the Answer for Challenging Deep Foundation.” 

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The Situation:
- A major food manufacturer in New Jersey needed to add significant space adjacent to an existing warehouse to house process equipment.  The foundation construction for the project presented a few significant hurdles.  Due to excessive vibration, timber piles installed close to the existing warehouse raised concern for structural damage.  Although originally specified, drilled mini-piles proved to be cost prohibitive.   Additionally, the shallow ground water starting at approximately 5 feet below grade, presented its own challenges. Needing a piling system with 160 kips capacity plus lateral stability, long time certified installer David Johnson of Dover, NJ worked with EAS Geotech engineer Nate Seguin to create an effective and efficient deep foundation solution. 

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The Strategy:
- DRIVECAST high-capacity displacement piles were the perfect choice to meet all the necessary criteria for the new warehouse addition foundation.  
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The soils profile at the site presented some challenges as the first 5-6 feet of soils were comprised of old landfill, followed by several feet of soft organics/peat, then layers of clay, sand, and gravel to 30 - 40 feet below grade.  The weathered rock layer just above the bedrock provided suitable bearing material for the piles. 

As DRIVECAST is a grouted displacement pile, David Johnson and his crew needed to be creative to solve the shallow ground water situation.  First, all the old fill was removed, then the soft organic/peat layer was excavated to place 5 ft long x 2 ft diameter sections of pipe to create an extended grout reservoir for installation of DRIVECAST.   This method solved the problem of the peat layer and ground water interfering with the grout take during installation.  
DRIVECAST RS4500 (.337 wall) piles were specified.  The 7-foot lead sections had two, 12”/16” helices configurations.  The 7-foot extensions were configured with one 12”/16” helices assembly.  The piles were terminated with welded steel bearing plates.- 

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The Result:
- Forty-five DRIVECAST piles were installed to support the new foundation. They were installed to an average depth of 30 feet.  Additionally, grout was added to the interior of the DRIVECAST pile to help increase the lateral stability.   A total of 62,000 pounds of Portland cement was utilized during grout production.  The required 160-kip capacity was achieved and the foundation system was installed with no impact to the existing structure. 
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Kudos to David Johnson and his team for creating this forward-thinking deep foundation solution. -

by Keith Dolan

CHANCE Materials Used:

• RS4500.337 - 12"/16" - 7' Leads
• RS4500.337 - 12"/16" - 7' Extensions