Summit Office Building
Value engineering Florida office building from Augercast to aggregate piers.
This office building was planned for Augercast piles due to large mats and a high design bearing capacity.
WBG suggested to the general contractor that aggregate piers may be a suitable alternative if loading information could be provided by the structural engineer.
Florida Regional Manager, Luis Gonzalez P.E., spearheaded a coordination between the structural engineer, general contractor, and geotechnical engineer to evaluate the feasibility of an aggregate pier system.
Once loads were provided, it became clear that the large mat foundations were planned to have significantly less contact pressure than the project design bearing capacity. This eliminated the need for a deep piling treatment.
Aggregate piers were installed to a much shallower depth providing significant savings and a more environmentally friendly solution as compared to steel and grout.
The piers were load tested with static plate tests, modulus tests, and a Rapid Load Test (RLT). The testing program confirmed the WBG design team’s assumptions and vertical construction could begin.
