Hayward Baker will be the geotechnical contractor for the compaction grouting. The article draws a HORRIBLE comparison between compaction grouting and the ‘top kill’ that BP tried to stop the oil leak in the gulf. Honestly, sometimes reading what the media writes about engineering is a little scary. I’m sure Hayward Baker is thrilled to have their name mixed in there with the most hated company on the planet right now! [Source: Nashville Business Journal via AGC SmartBrief]
Failures
Massive Sinkhole in Louisiana’s Bayou Corne
A sinkhole formed at the beginning of August near a brine production operation in Bayou Corne near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The sinkhole, now referred to as a slurry hole, measures roughly 600 ft by 300 […]
Press Releases
Nicholson Acquires Terra Drilling
Pittsburgh, PA: Nicholson Construction Company has acquired the capital stock of Terra Drilling Company Inc., a geotechnical contractor headquartered in Hudson, MA.
The acquisition strengthens Nicholson’s position in the New England market, where Terra Drilling has completed hundreds of piling, earth retention, and grouting projects since it was founded in 1984. [Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release. [/Editor]
Failures
City of Vancouver sues over failed shoring
The City of Vancouver is suing a developer, excavation contractor and their consulting engineer for the costs of repairs, overtime for city employees and lost revenue from parking meters etc stemming from an apparent failure of a shoring system that formed a 30-meter sinkhole. No mention of the developer’s name or the engineer, but the contractor was Matcon Excavation and Shoring. The site will be the future home of high-rise condominiums…if the City lifts it’s stop work order.
The failure of the shoring caused a break inf a 20-cm water main ultimately flooding the site. It also necessitated the closure of the adjacent street. Of course this invites the whole chicken or the egg scenario. The defendants will probably argue that the water line failed first causing the failure of the shoring, but of course the City Engineer, Tom Timm was not shy about fingering the shoring as being deficient.
"It’s some kind of a failure of the shoring system . . . either a design issue or the way it was put in place."