- Challenging soil conditions
- Complex site conditions, including wetlands, rail lines, and underground fuel lines
- Effective ground improvement solutions developed
Challenge
Prologis, a leader in logistics real estate development, turned to Melick-Tully, a Division of GZA, to provide the geotechnical engineering services needed to develop a large, strategically located property with very challenging soil conditions and complex project requirements.
The project involved construction of a 540,000 square foot warehouse building and a new 1900-foot-long rail siding in poor soil conditions. The site was part of the former Kapkowski Road Landfill and subsurface conditions consisted of the landfill materials overlying a layer of peat and organic silt, in-turn underlain by competent silts and sands. Adding complexity, the new rail lines required a 500-foot wetland crossing and construction across twin 14-inch diameter jet fuel lines to nearby Newark International Airport.
Solution
We performed subsurface explorations to develop design solutions for the ground improvements; these included dynamic compaction and surcharging for pavements and improvements, and support of the building and portions of the new rail spur on controlled modulus columns (CMCs). We also monitored and instrumented the ground improvement and provided on-site observation of the earthwork and foundation construction.
Benefit
Our experience with similar soil conditions and success with ground improvement techniques helped move the development along more quickly than if more traditional ground improvement techniques had been implemented.