Vibro Replacement, Dynamic Compaction & Vibro Compaction Case Histories for Petroleum Storage Tank Facilities

Nelson Beaton, Jeff Scott

In the proceedings of: GEO2010 Calgary: 63rd Canadian Geotechnical Conference & 6th Canadian Permafrost Conference

Session: T2-A

ABSTRACT: lacement, Dynamic Compaction & Vibro Compaction Case Histories for Petroleum Storage Tank Facilities Nelson Beaton & Jeff Scott Geopac West Ltd., Richmond, British Columbia, Canada ABSTRACT Three tank farm ground improvement case histories are presented illustrating the benefits and effectiveness of ground improvement for foundation support of petroleum storage tank facilities. Each case history is unique in terms of initial site conditions, soil type, performance criteria and the ground improvement techniques utilized to meet the required post treatment foundation performance. The three case histories include a Vibro Replacement stone column application in Richmond BC, a Dynamic Compaction/Preload application in Edmonton AB and a Vibro Compaction application near Fort McMurray AB. Each application exceeded its objectives in terms of specified in-situ testing requirements and returned exceptional performance results. RÉSUMÉ Les avantages et l'efficacité de l'utilisation des techniques d'amélioration des sols pour supporter des réservoirs de produits pétroliers sont illustrés au travers de trois différents chantiers. Chaque chantier est unique en termes de conditions initiales des sols, de types de sols, de critères de performance à obtenir et de technique d'amélioration des sols utilisée pour obtenir le bon comportement de la fondation après traitement. Le premier chantier consiste en un chantier de Vibro Remplacement à Richmond, BC, le second détaille un chantier de Compactage Dynamique à Edmonton, AB alors que le dernier se situe à Fort McMurray, AB où la Vibro Compaction a été utilisée. Chacune de ces applications a dépassée ses objectifs et a démontrée un niveau exceptionnel de performance. 1 INTRODUCTION Soil reinforcement and ground improvement offer economical solutions to foundation design challenges and can be attractive alternatives to more time consuming and costly options such as excavate and replace or deep foundations. There are several innovative ground improvement techniques available that can provide distinct advantages when applied to specific soil and structural loading conditions. Industrial tank farm construction is one of many development sectors that can benefit from the application of soil improvement. Heavy storage tanks generate large uniform loads that require effective support and load distribution within the foundation soils. Ideally, storage tanks would be founded on dense soil strata, however tank farms can be located along waterways or on sites where loose or soft soils are present. Supporting heavy loads on poor or marginal soils while maintaining total and differential settlements within acceptable limits is one of the main geotechnical design challenges. Storage tank ground improvement applications are designed to improve the poor initial ground conditions in order to deliver reliable and maintenance free foundation performance over time. This paper presents three Canadian ground improvement case histories for petroleum storage tank facilities: 1) Vibro Replacement techniques applied at YVR Jet Fuel Tank Farm #2 in Richmond BC, 2) Dynamic Compaction and surcharge techniques applied at Petro-Canada #400 Tank Farm in Edmonton AB and 3) Vibro Compaction techniques applied at CNRL Horizon Oil Sands SE Tank Farm near Fort McMurray AB. Each case history highlights the project's geotechnical information and foundation design loading conditions, the ground improvement methodologies utilized based on soil, structure and performance requirements and the QA/QC programs with their results. 2 YVR JET FUEL TANK FARM # 2 The Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation (VAFFC) is constructing a second jet fuel tank farm, YVR Jet Fuel Tank Farm #2, at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) in Richmond, British Columbia. The project consists of developing an approximate 6.0 acre parcel of land located adjacent to the YVR north runway and close to the existing jet fuel tank farm in the northeast corner of Richmond Sea Island, as shown in Figure 1. Phase 1 of the development will accommodate four new fuel tanks, each measuring an approximate 31 metres diameter and 15 metres height, as well as relatively small and lightly loaded ancillary structures along the eastern edge of the tank farm site. Consideration was given to allow for the expansion of two additional fuel tanks to be constructed as Phase 2 at a future date. 2.1 Site Conditions The Vancouver International Airport is situated on Sea Island in Richmond BC, within the estuary of the Fraser River. Sea Island is a typical Fraser River Delta soil profile, characterized by saturated alluvial deposits. These deposits are considered to be young from a geological perspective (Ji et al, 2009). A site specific soil investigation showed the native soil stratigraphy to be relatively uniform in terms of thickness 33

Please include this code when submitting a data update: GEO2010_109

Access this article:
Canadian Geotechnical Society members can access to this article, along with all other Canadian Geotechnical Conference proceedings, in the Member Area. Conference proceedings are also available in many libraries.

Cite this article: