Design and Monitoring of a 23 Storey Condominium Using Rammed Aggregate Pier Support

Julia Brown, Mark Tigchelaar, Neil Isenegger, Mike Pockoski

In the proceedings of: GeoEdmonton 2018: 71st Canadian Geotechnical Conference; 13th joint with IAH-CNC

Session: Soil Mechanics and Foundations (Case Studies)

ABSTRACT: A 23-storey tall residential condominium tower is currently under construction in Waterloo, Ontario. The condominium consists of a 23-storey tower and two attached 3-storey podiums. The combination of the tall tower and shorter podiums resulted in extreme differential loading between the tower raft foundation spread footings under the podium. This presented risk of excessive settlement across the raft footprint and between the tower raft and podium footings. In order to limit the total and differential settlements, Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier® ground improvement was used under the raft foundation. The spacing of the pier elements varied to provide a variable stiffness profile, greatly reducing the potential for differential settlement. This paper will present the design and construction methodologies along with results of verification testing of the ground improvement system used for this project and will review initial settlement monitoring data to corroborate the design.

RÉSUMÉ: Une tour d'habitation de 23 étages est actuellement en construction à Waterloo, en Ontario. Le condominium se compose d'une tour de 23 étages et de deux podiums de trois étages. La combinaison de la grande tour et des podiums plus courts a entraîné une fondation de radeau sous la tour et des semelles étalées sous le podium, ce qui présente un risque de tassement excessif sous le radier et de tassement différentiel à l'intérieur du radeau et entre les podiums et la tour. Afin de limiter les tassements totaux et différentiels, l'amélioration du sol de Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier® a été utilisée sous la fondation du radier. L'espacement des éléments de la pile variait pour fournir un profil de rigidité variable, réduisant considérablement le potentiel de tassement différentiel. Ce document présentera les méthodologies de conception et de construction ainsi que les résultats des tests de vérification du système d'amélioration du sol utilisé pour ce projet et passera en revue les données initiales de surveillance du peuplement pour corroborer la conception.

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Cite this article:
Julia Brown; Mark Tigchelaar; Neil Isenegger; Mike Pockoski (2018) Design and Monitoring of a 23 Storey Condominium Using Rammed Aggregate Pier Support in GEO2018. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{geo2018Paper516,author = Julia Brown; Mark Tigchelaar; Neil Isenegger; Mike Pockoski,title = Design and Monitoring of a 23 Storey Condominium Using Rammed Aggregate Pier Support ,year = 2018}