Category: Soil Stabilization
Rehabilitating Soils to Increase the Bearing Capacity Under Milk Storage and Grain Handling Facilities
Silos are storage systems designed to contain massive amounts of weight within a concentrated area and vary in size, ranging from 20-80 feet tall with diameters of 12-30 feet. Some storage facilities have more than one or two silos sitting in a small area. When the silos are full, the significant weight can impact settlement of the foundation and/or the foundations of nearby structures.
In addition to the consolidated weight of tanks that hold liquid and grain storage bins, the surrounding processing facilities get a lot of traffic as well. There is a constant stream of trucks, mostly loaded with heavy cargo, coming and going from the facility. When there is a rail spur next to the facility, the soils underneath and around the grain bins, silos, and mission critical buildings are taxed with even more weight. Consequently, there is a lot of weight consolidated into a relatively small area around these crucial, very busy facilities.
After heavy rainfall like…
Soil Stabilization under 100-Year-Old FDNY Firehouse
Fire stations are critical in serving the diverse needs of the community where they are located, as well as the fire department they report to. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) protects more than 8,000,000 New York City residents living and working in a 320 square mile radius. The FDNY is the largest fire department in the United States.
The FDNY serves the five boroughs of New York City and includes 255 fire stations. Each fire station’s differences relate to the size of the firefighting apparatus housed within it and the facility’s location, which is largely driven by the need to minimize response time. The FDNY Engine Companies are tasked with securing a water supply and extinguishing the fire while the FDNY Ladder Companies conduct search and rescue, forcible entry, and ventilation at the scene of a fire.
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Zero Excavation Inflow & Infiltration Restoration At the Naval Air Station in Pensacola after a High Water Event
Ever since the U.S. purchased Florida from Spain in 1821, the site where the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Pensacola currently stands has provided a base for military operations. In 1826, construction began on the Pensacola Navy Yard and it eventually became one of the “best-equipped naval stations” in the U.S. During this period, the Navy Yard was used for docking and repairing the warships of that period. When the Navy saw the advantages of aviation in combat, Pensacola became an aviation training station in 1914 and the station was built on the side of the old Navy Yard. In 2014, NAS Whiting Field celebrated 71 years in operation and is considered to be the “backbone of the Navy’s flight program” and is still one of the most important Navy bases in the U.S.
Combating Microbial Corrosion in Tunnels
Microbial corrosion, or microbiologically-influenced corrosion (MIC), is “the gradual damage to metal caused by the metabolic activity of microorganisms.” This corrosive damage has caused billons of dollars of damage to our water systems, especially our storm water and sewer systems, although MIC can happen wherever metal and water meet. Finding a solution for repairing corrosive damage depends on where it is occurring, why it is occurring, and how disruptive or expensive a repair or replacement will be.
There are several different types of bacteria responsible for MIC in metals located in soils and water; all are classified as either aerobic (requires oxygen) or anaerobic (oxygen is toxic). Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) is anaerobic and is responsible for most of the corrosion caused to steel in sea water; whereas, iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria are aerobic and are most often responsible for the rapid corrosion and pitting at welds in stainless steel. Microbial corrosion can also occur in plastics,…
Foundation Damage Caused By Melting Snow and Ice
The winter of 2015 will go down in the history books as one of the snowiest. In fact, as of March 15, 2015, Boston had accumulated a total of 108.6 inches of snow. This was the most amount of snowfall since the city started tracking weather back in 1872. It has also been a brutally cold winter across the entire Northeast. Once again, Boston broke records, averaging only 16.1 degrees in February.
After a long season of shoveling, snow blowing and digging out the car in order to go anywhere, warmer weather is a welcome signal that spring is almost here. Experts predict that this spring’s runoff from melting snow and ice will be the worst we’ve had in the last 15 years. Unfortunately, melting snow and ice can cause damage to houses and other buildings and may uncover some unwelcome cracks in the foundation. As a…
