Texas Hi-rise To Be Demolished After 16-in of Settlement

September 23, 2009 rockman Failures Comments Off on Texas Hi-rise To Be Demolished After 16-in of Settlement
padre-tower

padre-tower A partially completed luxury condominium development on South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast is slated for demolition after it has settled by 14 to 16-in, more than double the settlement of the attached parking garage. The developer, Ocean Tower LP is seeking $125 million in damages from the geotechnical engineering and structural engineering firms. They determined repairs were not “economically feasible” and a lawyer for Ocean Tower LP estimated the developer had invested about $65 million in the project.  Source: NY Times via ASCE SmartBrief.

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Deleware Forced to Redesign Unfinished Bridge Because of Consolidation Issues

January 25, 2008 rockman Project Related Comments Off on Deleware Forced to Redesign Unfinished Bridge Because of Consolidation Issues

[Update 2/10/08] Updated the name of the bridge. [/Update]

DelDOT is putting the new Indian River Bridge over out to bid. The current bridge is said to be in danger of failing between 2008 and 2012 according to the Army Corps of Engineers, seems to be related to scour. From what I hear, the tidal currents at that inlet being spanned over are tremendous, with water velocities on the order of 35 mph.

In 2005, Mactec, a geotechnical firm, provided a geotechnical report and associated recommendations to DelDOT for how to construct the 45-ft high approach embankments for a 1,400-ft long bridge in light of a 60-ft clay layer (sounds like pre-loading). However, the embankments are not settling as Mactec predicted (not sure if its more or less, probably less meaning slower) and are "shifting laterally" (squeezing?) so the DOT is going with a longer bridge to span the problem soil. More after the break.

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