Project: AES Power Plant, Guayama, Puerto Rico

Description: The project consists of 34 drilled shafts from 48 inches to 132 inches in diameter and 45 feet deep for high power transmission line connecting the new AES power plant to the existing Puerto Rican grid. The work was carried out through a variety of soil conditions, from very soft soil to very hard rock. Work areas were from sea level up to several miles in to the mountains. 132 inches diameter drilled shaft were required to install two monopoles to clear existing high power lines. Whole scope was completed in six (06) weeks.

General Contractor: Duke Engineering & Services a Duke Energy Company.

Owner: AES Corporation a Global Power Company.

Location: Guayama Puerto Rico.

Tower 10E and 10W are 132 inches in diameter by 40 feet deep drilled shafts. About 30 feet of silts-gravels and soft clays and 10 feet penetration into hard rock. a 14 to 18 feet long permanent casing was used in the upper part to protect the integrity of the shaft while drilling.
The remaining are four (04) leg tower as shown above. Diameter ranged from 48 to 96 inches and between 15 to 35 feet deep.

Project: Brownig lake power plant expansion project and TENASKA-GATEWAY 845-Megawatt Combined-Cycle Facility, Mt. Enterprise, Texas

Description: These two projects consists of many drilled shaft foundations to support all the different equipment required for each project switch yard. A.H. BECK provided both project with a turn key foundation construction package.

General Contractor: a J.V. between Black & Veatch and Zackry construction corporation on both projects.

Owner: CPS of San Antonio and TENASKA

Location: San Antonio and Mt. Enterprise, Texas.

San Antonio CPS switch yard pictures.
TENASKA gateway switch yard picture.

Project: Replacement of bridge over Jourdan river , Gulfport, Mississippi.

Description: This project consists of 97 drilled shaft foundations 60 inches in diameter, between 90 and 113 feet of depth. Scope includes an Osterberg cell load test for design verification.

General Contractor: L & A Contracting Co.

Owner: Mississippi Department Of Transportation

Location: Gulfport, Mississippi

Project: Super Conducting Super Collider Tunnel Access Shafts

Description: Project consisted of installing 14 tunnel access shafts varying in diameter from 18 to 28 feet and depths to 270 feet. Also secant piles were installed down to into the rock to stabilize the overburden.

Owner: DOE - US Department of Energy

Location: Waxahachie, Texas

Project: US 59 intersection with Beltway 8

Description:Project consisted of 142 drilled shafts up 120 inches in diameter and 100 feet deep. Due to the lack of room in between existing US 59 main lanes the designers had to use single large diameter and deep drilled shafts and single column design to support the upper structure. The reinforcing cadges for these shafts where up to 120 feet long and weighting up to 40,000.00 pounds. The shafts were excavated using Bentonite and the slurry displaced method of drilling in order to stabilize the soft sandy silt soils.

Owner: Texas Department of Transportation

Location: Houston, TX.

Project: I-40 Rio Grande River Crossing

Description: Project consisted of 88 drilled shaft 84 inches in diameter, slurry displaced method up to 120 feet deep. Soil consisted of pure sand and approximately 20 feet of SCG (Soil, Gravel and Cobbles). 35 feet of permanent casing was installed on each shaft. Due to the large diameters and depths of the shafts 2500 bbl's ( 105,000 gal ) of bentonite drilling mud was used on site.

Owner: New Mexico Department of Transportation

Location: I-40 @ Rio Grande River Crossing, NM

Project: Maraven/PDVSA Cardon Refinery Upgrade, Venezuela.

Description: Project consisted of about 2400 drilled shafts up 64 inches in diameter and 45 feet deep. Due to the lack of room in between existing pipe sleeper ways trenches, engineers had to use drilled shafts design to support a variety of structures ( new piperack, power & control cable bridges, conveyors, cooling water pipes support, etc.), above the old pipe trenches or beside the cooling water open discharge channels. The shafts were excavated using dry method of drilling on a very high compacted caliche soil with strenth up to 400 Kg/cm2. It was necessary custom tailored long reach drilling rigs to drill up to 90 feet away from the access roads and over the existing pipelines. Top production was 125 completed drilled shaft per week using two (2) units, and a total duration of nine (9) months.

Owner: Maraven / PDVSA

Location: Cardon, Venezuela

Project: Pharr / Reynosa International Bridge

Description: Project consisted of 400 - 60" diameter 60'deep slurry displaced drilled shafts extending from the Rio Grande river, 3 miles into the interior of Mexico.

Owner: Grupo Marhnos, Mexico.

Location: Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Project: Lake Lewisville Intake Structure & Bridge

Description: Project consisted of 12 drilled shafts, up to 52 inches in diameter and 110 feet deep. This foundations give support to the water intake structure, the water pipeline and the access bridge to the intake structure. Soil layers consisted of clay and sand over a sand stone. Casing and Slurry displaced method were used to keep integrity of holes, with 50 feet of water depth. Penetration up to 10 feet in to the 14,000 PSI sand stone using recirculation drilling method. Concrete for the project was pumped from the dam, 550 feet away.

Owner: Upper Trinity Regional Water District.

Location: Dallas, TX.

Project: Rio Piedras Section of the Tren Urbano - Puerto Rico

Description: The project consists of 1018 drilled shafts up to 48 inches in diameter and 92 feet deep as part of the temporary structures to support the main shafts massive excavation. The very tight work area has forced the use of soldier piles and lagging to protect adjacent building around excavation areas.

General Contractor: KKZ/CMA jv. - Kiewit - Kenny - Zachry / CMA.

Owner: Tren Urbano - Department of Transportation and Public Works - DTOP

Location: Puerto Rico.

Ponce de Leon Avenue, at the Rio Piedras area. Tren Urbano's underground section runs along this avenue with a north - south direction.

Tren Urbano committed to keeping traffic flow through Ponce de Leon Avenue.

After KKZ/CMA had demolished some existing buildings, A.H. BECK proceeded to drill next to the existing structures. This location was designated as the south-west entrance of the South Shaft.

Various drilling rig configurations were mobilized for this job (rubber tire mounted, crawler mounted and crane attachment) in order to address any possible situation arising from a design & build fast track project. This area was named the North Shaft.

Once KKZ/CMA started their massive excavation, steel piles are expose and lagging is placed in the South Shaft.

Another view of a massive excavation at the North Shaft.

Along with a vacuum truck for transporting drilling fluids between the storage tanks, the processing plant and shaft locations, a complete Drilling Fluids Process plant is also part of the equipment setup.

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