The PILOT (Port Isabel Logistical Offshore Terminal) fuel storage tank ground improvement project consisted of installing a soil-cement column matrix beneath two proposed fuel storage tanks. A. H. Beck utilized a unique method of soil-cement column installation that allowed for the completely homogeneous soil-cement columns to be installed through challenging subsurface conditions, which were unsuitable for traditional in-situ installation methods. This installation method allowed for the tanks to be constructed at desirable heights atop the unstable ground without the need for a deep foundation and pile cap system. The elimination of the need for a deep foundation system was able to save the owner a significant amount of not only cost but also time.

This section of the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway in Natchez Mississippi crosses Catherine’s Creek and Melvin’s Bayou. Anelevated bridge structure 1720 feet in length was designed to span both streams. The design also had to assume that the future convergence of these two streams would be under the bridge, so up to 60 feet of scour in some areas, had to be factored into the foundation design. Due to this large depth of scour, the original foundation design consisted of clusters of H piles along with drilled shafts, which resulted in a very expensive design.

This project consisted of drilled shaft foundations for three (3) bridges designed to reach a housing development in the mountains south of San Juan, PR. A total of 170 drilled shaft foundations, 36 and 48 inches in diameter and with depths of up to 60 feet, were installed under slurry. This job represented some unique challenges, including environmental restrictions and the effects of the hurricane season.

This section of the new Carolina Bays Parkway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina crosses over SC 544. A. H. Beck Foundation Co., Inc. and Applied Foundation Testing offered an alternate foundation design utilizing Beck’s patented post grouting process, “Post Stressed Pier” US Patent No. 6,371,698. The Post Grouted Shafts were implemented as a value added alternate to conventional drilled shafts. The use of the Post Grouted Shafts resulted in a savings of up to 25 feet per shaft. The final design called for 10 - 54” diameter shafts 66 feet in depth. The first production shaft was instrumented and a full scale load test was run using AFT’s 2000 ton Statnamic testing device for design verification and to establish the grouting criteria.

A. H. Beck Foundation Company was contracted to install the drilled shaft foundations and load test program for the Louisiana Department of Transportation’s new I49 highway project for two at grade road crossings North of Shreveport. The project consisted of 66” diameter drilled shafts 80’ deep installed in the high water table alluvial soils adjacent to the Red River. After installing an Osterberg load test program on the project, it was determined that due to the extensive variability of the founding soils the shafts would need to be deepened an additional 20 feet in length.

This project consisted of 111 drilled shafts up to 96’’ diameter with depths between 20 and 85 feet. The shafts were drilled into rock formations with a hardness ranging from 8,000 to 27,000 psi and RQD’s of 30% up to 100%. Due to the extremely hard rock formations, A. H. Beck utilized specialty tools including a 48” down hole hammer to penetrate the rock. This project had many unique challenges including environmental restrictions, flooding during the rainy season and the effects of the hurricane season.