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Project: The Meridian at Brentwood. |
XTREME ENGINEERING
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LOCAL ENGINEERING
FIRMS DETAIL THEIR MOST CHALLENGING PROJECTS.
Engineering in St. Louis has a long and storied history and includes
some world renowned and historically-significant structures including
the Eads Bridge, the Gateway Arch, Union Station, and the main terminal
at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
To find out what our local engineers have been up to lately, the
editor asked our area’s leading engineering firms to tell us about
their more recent and most challenging engineering projects. Here’s
some of what they told us:
When the Don C. Musick Construction Company hired Shannon & Wilson
to complete subsurface exploration and recommend a foundation system
for the highly anticipated Meridian project, the local geotechnical
and environmental consulting firm rolled up its sleeves and literally
started digging into the past.
Though the 400,000-square-foot office and retail development planned
to “create a visual presence that would make a statement about the
foresight of the City of Brentwood,” its proposed location at the
southwest corner of Eager and Hanley Roads required both construction
and engineering firms to address a hidden and mostly forgotten footnote
in St. Louis’ colorful history: abandoned clay mines.
Because the old Bausch Clay Mine ran under Meridian’s footprint,
the site would not only call for special measures during foundation
construction, but would also require a foundation system that would
bypass the mine and support a design bear- ing pressure of 75,000
pounds per square foot.
To confirm the old mine’s presence and location, Shannon & Wilson
completed a subsurface investigation, which included two-dozen soil
and rock borings that revealed telltale groundwater and mine timbers.
Tom Abkemeier, Shannon & Wilson’s project manager for the Meridian
project, determined that the ambitious structure would require a
deep foundation.
“We did not want the foundation bearing directly above the mine,”
Abkemeier says. “While we felt that most of the mine had collapsed,
we could not verify how much of the mine may still have had open
tunnels. Therefore, the best method was to bear foundations below
the mine.”
To accomplish this, Musick Construction had to penetrate the mine
and install foundation piers directly into the sandstone beneath
the site. During the installation of the piers, Musick retained
a geologist from Shannon & Wilson to supervise the work and
make sure the excavation extended into the sandstone and that the
sandstone bearing surface was adequately cleaned and dry. Though
they did not encounter unusual conditions as the first several piers
were drilled and installed, later excavations indicated that they
had penetrated the mine beneath the site. As excessive groundwater
began interfering with construction, Musick decided to install 40-foot-long
casings around the piers. These steel casings, which extend almost
to the sandstone’s surface, sealed out the groundwater and
prevented the collapse of the shaft walls. The casings were left
in place permanently to seal off the mine’s tunnels and prevent
concrete from flowing away before it hardened. Piers, originally
designed to bell at the bottom, were redesigned to widen the entire
shaft to the bell diameter. This was necessary to accommodate the
permanent casings.
“The additional cost to Musick was significant, but the permanent
casings for the drilled piers provided the best solution to constructing
a solid foundation for the building,” says geologist Pat Nichols.
The first phase of Meridian is scheduled for occupancy in November
2003 and will be managed by the DCM Management Company, an affiliate
of Don C. Musick Construction.
Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) provided roadway design services to the
St. Louis County Department of Highways and Traffic for improvements
to Jennings Station Road in the southern portion of the City of
Jennings, Mo. Jennings Station Road, an arterial roadway, is a major
connection from north St. Louis County to Interstate 70.
The proposed improvements run from just north of West Florissant
Road to I-70 and include the replacement of a two-lane roadway to
a four-lane roadway from Emma Street to West Florissant Road and
a five–lane roadway from I-70 to Emma Street. St. Louis County and
the City of Jennings are partnering to provide landscape enhancements
on the roadway south of Garesche to improve the aesthetics of the
area near I-70 for a proposed commercial development.
Significant challenges that faced St. Louis County and PB on this
project included:
Land Uses: Existing land uses directly adjacent to the roadway are
a mix of businesses and single-family residential units. The proposed
design integrated these land uses and the transportation needs of
the area. In addition to existing conditions, future and proposed
growth and development were also evaluated to ensure the design
would complement future transportation needs.
Right-of-Way Impacts: PB focused on minimizing right-of-way acquisition
in order to maintain current livability standards. One design aspect
included using modular block walls where project grade changes were
significant to keep right-of-way takings to a minimum. A technique
called Design Visualization, the art of rendering an existing picture
to match future conditions, also was used.
Drainage: The proposed roadway required an extensive enclosed drainage
system that tied into existing structures to remove storm water
from the roadway. This design was challenging in that it required
separating the storm and sanitary water throughout the project.
The project separated the two systems to a point where they tied
back into the combined trunk systems that take the flow to the nearest
treatment plants. This new system will greatly improve conditions
along the roadway by eliminating ponding that occurs during heavy
rainfall, as well as providing a more efficient and aesthetic solution
to the task of removing rainwater.
Minimizing Impacts to Current Traffic: Access management is an important
consideration during and after construction in order to functionally
integrate existing Jennings Station Road with the proposed roadway,
yet continue to serve the community’s access needs. The final design
improves the efficiency of moving cars and other users of the roadway,
including transit users and pedestrians.
PB has completed final right-of-way and construction plans. The
project construction is currently pending due to funding for acquisitions.
| Project:
Page Avenue (Route 364) Extension Bridges. |
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Jacobs Civil is providing professional services for the preliminary
and final design of two bridges on Route 364 (Page Avenue) extension
from St. Louis County across the Missouri River into St. Charles
County.
The bridges will carry 10 lanes of traffic on dual side-by-side
structures (five lanes of traffic with full shoulders on each structure).
The Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park (CCLMP) bridge will be 815 meters
long and span the southern portion of Creve Coeur Lake and Creve
Coeur Creek, an extremely environmentally sensitive area. The Missouri
River Bridge, on which a bicycle/pedestrian path is to be provided,
will be 987 meters long and span from the Howard Bend Levee in St.
Louis County to the bluff on the St. Charles County side of the
river.
The CCLMP Bridge project elements include:
• Final design, plans, and special provisions
for a nine-span post-tensioned cast-in-place segmental concrete
box girder bridge (maximum span 143 m). The bridge is designed to
be built by the balanced cantilever method of erection. Jacobs-developed
software, which considers the intricacies of the specific erection
method, is being used for the design of this structure.
• MSE walls at the end bents
• Closed drainage system for full length
of bridge
• Inspection of lighting system inside
the box girders
• Exterior inspection walkways
• Investigation of methods to ventilate
the interior of the boxes
• Concept design of a sedimentation
lake, including locating, sizing, and development of its operational
characteristics. This lake will help to minimize future siltation
of Creve Coeur Lake, which has become a chronic problem in the past
several decades
Missouri River Bridge project elements include:
• Final design, plans, and special provisions
for the five units of this bridge, including Units 1 and 5 (continuous
composite prestressed concrete girder spans with maximum span of
39 m), Unit 2 (188-m simple span steel tied arch), Units 3 and 4
(continuous composite steel plate girders with maximum span of 95
m)
• Barge impact study in accordance with
AASHTO requirements
• Final scour analysis in accordance
with HEC-18
• Modifications to the Howard Bend Levee
to accommodate abutment construction
• Navigation and aerial beacon lighting
systems
• Two-duct conduit system for Southwestern
Bell Telephone Co.
• Investigation to develop viable access
means for inspection
• A separate 4.1-m-wide bike path structure
adjacent to the westbound roadway Jacobs received a 2001 Quality
Concrete
Award from the Concrete Council for the Creve Coeur Lake Memorial
Park Bridge.
| Project:
Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise. |
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Nidus Center is a 41,000-square-foot plant and life sciences research
building that supports startup entrepreneurs with office and laboratory
facilities for the commercialization of promising new ideas. It
accommodates 24 laboratories with wet/dry capabilities and 22 private
offices along with technical and administrative support spaces.
The Center partners with Washington University, Monsanto, the University
of Missouri-Columbia, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the University
of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, the Donald Danforth Plant Science
Center and Purdue University.
The owner’s design goal was to have the facility designated a “Green
Building” by the U.S. Green Building Council. “Green Buildings”
must meet stringent criteria, including energy conservation, water
conservation, IAQ, environmental impact and construction waste management,
among others.
William Tao & Associates (WTA) designed the building’s mechanical
and electrical systems for energy and water conservation, flexibility,
low maintenance, and low environmental impact. The innovative HVAC
concept, an integrated lab/office HVAC system with thermal recovery,
uses only 65 percent of the energy used by conventional lab building
ventilation systems, and provides flexibility to convert lab to
office and vice versa without major system changes.
Of the 50 buildings that were submitted in the first pilot of the
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Program, this
was one of only 12 buildings in the country that received LEED Certification.
By virtue of the LEED certification, the Nidus Center is the first
building in Missouri to be designated a “Green Building.” This distinction
demonstrates, in measurable terms, Monsanto’s and the design team’s
commitment to sustainable design. Integrating lab and office ventilation
systems reduced the initial cost for air handling equipment. The
energy reclaim feature also resulted in lower loads and smaller
chillers and boilers, another initial cost reduction. Coupled with
lower cost for maintenance and energy, the life cycle savings attributable
to the concept are estimated at $1,650,000. This is more than the
initial cost for the entire HVAC system!
Coincident environmental benefits from energy savings are impressive.
Over 20 years, the WTA integrated system concept will considerably
reduce greenhouse gases and acid rain chemicals from burning fossil
fuels and electric power generation.
In early 2002, Woolpert LLP began design for a major renovation
of the Morris University Center at SIU-Edwardsville. The building
serves the student population and houses the kitchen, cafeteria,
restaurant, ballroom, student offices, conference center, student
newspaper, bookstore, and more. The project included renovation
of approximately two-thirds (130,000 square feet) of the building
and the addition of a new 7,000-square-foot kitchen for the facility.
A majority of the 30-plus year-old MEP infrastructure was either
replaced or updated in the project. From an engineering perspective,
the project presented significant challenges.
The challenges began with in-the-field verification of existing
conditions. While the existing documents were a good starting point,
modifications had been made over time that were not reflected on
the record drawings.
Another challenge was designing new or upgraded systems that would
accommodate the existing constraints of the building, such as structural
elements and the location of Mechanical and Electrical rooms. The
location of the kitchen exhaust, for instance, was made difficult
due to the outdoor patio space located directly above the new kitchen.
A three-story chase had to be constructed to allow for the exhaust
fans to be installed in an existing penthouse on the roof.
The project was constructed in multiple phases while the building
remained operational throughout the construction period. A detailed
construction schedule was developed around the functions necessary
in the building and the school-year calendar. Specific HVAC, Electrical,
and Plumbing systems had to remain operational, while the systems
adjacent to them were replaced. In addition, systems serving an
area under construction were actually located on other floors or
other areas of the building from the space under construction, which
complicated the coordination of the work.
With any renovation project, the construction budget is always a
constraint. Fortunately, the owner worked diligently with Woolpert
during the early stages of the project in defining the scope of
work, establishing existing conditions, and expressing their constraints
and preferences. At this point the project is essentially complete
and is within budget.
MB Properties retained Reitz & Jens in spring, 1997 to provide all
geotechnical engineering and construction quality control services
required for the development of the Fountain Lakes Commerce Center
in St. Charles County, Mo.
The development is located on 540 acres in the 100-year floodplain
of the Mississippi River near the intersection of I-370 and Elm
Road. The site is being raised out of the 500-year floodplain by
adding up to 15 feet of fill from on- and off-site borrow sources.
The on-site borrow pits were used to create lakes with depths up
to 20 feet below existing ground surface and 10 feet below the permanent
groundwater table. The project included excavating and placing approximately
1.5 million CY of on-site fill materials, and importing an additional
1.5 million CY of fill material to the site.
Reitz & Jens’ responsibilities include geotechnical investigations
and providing recommendations to the planning, design and construction
team on how to address the many difficult geotechnical parameters
that affected this development. This included the presence of wet,
high plastic clays throughout the site; long-term consolidation
of the natural soil deposits created by the placement of fill over
the entire site; the effect of mixing waste lime sludge into the
mass fills; and constructability and long-term operational issues
associated with excavating lakes up to 10 feet below the permanent
groundwater table while maintaining bank stability and the integrity
of the natural soil liner in the lake bottom.
The most difficult geotechnical aspect of the project was the on-site
high plasticity clays. These clays had liquid limits from 70 to
more than 100, with most plasticity indexes over 50. Due to the
large amount of fill needed, the developer wanted to use as much
of the high plastic clay as possible in the general fills without
the need for lime stabilization or other treatment. Reitz & Jens
developed a plan that included using the untreated high plastic
clays from the on-site lakes as deeper fills, with the last five
feet of fill being imported low plastic material.
Reitz & Jens also performed all floodplain studies, and obtained
both City of St. Charles and FEMA approval for raising the site
out of the floodplain via a Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR).
The firm also provided all floodplain studies, design and permitting
services required to relocate approximately 5,000 lineal feet Cole
Creek, a major tributary to Dardenne Creek. To obtain permits, the
relocated creek channel had to be designed to create a natural creek
with riffles, pools, bio-stabilized slopes, wetland dwell areas
and naturally vegetated riparian.
Maintaining the architectural integrity of a prominent historic
property in downtown St. Louis was just one of many challenges facing
Ross & Baruzzini, a leading engineering, architectural design and
consulting firm, which was the prime engineer for the renovation
of the 23-story, 300,000-square-foot Civil Courts building landmark
originally constructed in 1929.
Additional considerations included completing all work while the
building was fully occupied by nearly 1,000 people each day, including
lawyers, court staff, and the general public, as well as 20 circuit
judges presiding over a full docket of court cases. And, asbestos,
lead-based paint, PCB’s and hazardous waste had to be abated without
risking contaminating the building’s occupants.
An elaborate, 17-phase approach proved to be the project’s key to
success. Taking advantage of the building’s perfectly symmetrical
architecture with vertical feeders for radiator piping, adequate
chases and a never-used elevator shaft, Ross & Baruzzini recommended
a phased approach to renovate and abate the tenant spaces of the
building in vertical quadrants, rather than by traditional floor-by-floor
phasing.
Ross & Baruzzini’s plan spanned more than two years and involved
ongoing collaboration with the City of St. Louis and a committee
of building occupants. Each phase included a detailed description
of work to be done and interrelated responsibilities for the general
contractor, mechanical contractor, electrical contractor, and plumbing
contractor, as well as the building owner and architect/engineering
firm.
“This level of detail not only required planning ahead, it demanded
the full cooperation throughout each phase of everyone involved
in the project, from the courts staff and city representatives to
each individual worker,” says Armen Kayarian, for the City of St.
Louis Board of Public Service, who was personally on-site every
day. “The project also benefited greatly by maintaining a consistent
design team throughout every phase of the work. This level of commitment
was an extraordinary accomplishment that positively affected the
entire job.”
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