PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
1.2 million square foot convention center constructed in downtown Nashville.
Services:
With the support of Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and members of the Music City Center Coalition, the Nashville Metro Council authorized funding for construction of a new 1.2 million square foot convention center (Music City Center) in Downtown Nashville. The Music City Center site encompasses six contiguous city blocks (15.8 acres) bordered by Fifth and Eighth Avenues South and Demonbreun Street and the Korean Veteran's Boulevard extension.
The Nashville Metropolitan Development and Housing Authority (MDHA) was charged with assembling various teams for all construction aspects of the new convention center project including architectural, construction management, and geotechnical services. Based on the vast portfolio of successful projects completed in the downtown area and staff qualifications, TTL was selected as the firm to provide seismic analysis, geotechnical engineering, environmental consulting, and construction materials testing services for the Music City Center project. Geotechnical Investigations involved the advancement of 78 borings across the footprint of the Music City Center with bedrock refusal depths varying from one foot to 17.5 feet. Recommendations for site preparation, blasting, shoring and foundation designs were presented with regard to observed rock qualities at predetermined depths. Environmental services included a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for the six city blocks within the Music City Center footprint and a Phase II Environmental Screening study involving collection of soil/groundwater samples from 21 environmental borings advanced at predetermined locations across the site.
Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium - Montgomery, AL
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Riverwalk Stadium
Services:
TTL provided geotechnical engineering consulting and construction materials testing services for Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium, home of the Montgomery Biscuits, an AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The site was developed utilizing features of several past on-site historic structures including a U-shaped railway depot built in the 1890s. TTL was part of a project team that overcame the challenges of a confined site, challenging subsurface conditions, as well as project scheduling and budget constraints. TTL was able to employ a number of geotechnical engineering techniques in overcoming the challenges on this unique site including; subgrade stabilization by undercutting, the installation of underdrains, as well as the placement of a geogrid on the subgrade. Shallow footings, drilled shafts, mat foundations, and surcharging were all used on this project.
The Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium project was honored by receiving the 2005 Alabama Grand Award for Engineering Excellence as awarded by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Alabama.
The ICON - Nashville, TN
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
22-story condo & retail center
Services:
The ICON in the Gulch is a 22-story condominium and retail center that symbolizes a modern trend in urban lifestyle. The ICON is located in a part of downtown Nashville where formerly economically depressed parts of the inner city have been redeveloped with sophistication and elegance and where heightened levels of commercial attraction blend comfortably with an emphasis on environmental conservancy and sustainability. Beneath the glitz and glamour, the geotechnical conditions encountered by TTL, Inc. as we performed field explorations and monitored the foundation construction of the ICON are consistent with the image evoked by a place called "the gulch". Challenges for the foundation design on this project included:
• variable intervals of mixed fill from earlier generations of development
• the presence of a historic retaining wall located along the northern limits of the site
• a highly weathered and irregular bedrock surface within karstic limestone
Column loads associated with ICON approached 2,700 kips; consequently, foundation systems were proposed to derive their capacity from the underlying bedrock. Two foundation systems were considered: drilled piers and micro-piles. A review of the rock core obtained indicated inconsistent and varying rock qualities of poor to excellent. Consequently, due to the weathering characteristics of the bedrock, allowable bearing capacities would be limited resulting in large diameter piers and unquantifiable amounts of rock excavation within the drilled pier to achieve the desired capacity. With that in mind, a micro-pile foundation system was selected and proved to be an advantageous design due to the limited size of the micro-piles and the embedment depths necessary to achieve the required design capacities. The micro-piles consisted of 7 inch to 9-5/8 inch piles providing a capacity on the order of 300 kips to 500 kips each, respectively.
The project design successfully addressed specific client demands and the existing site conditions while allowing for protection of the historic retaining wall.
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Health and Sciences
Building - Tifton, GA
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
New two story building constructed on shallow concrete foundations, structural steel frame and masonry.
Services:
TTL performed the subsurface investigation and provided foundation recommendations as well as general site preparation recommendations during the design phase of the project. Additionally, TTL provided construction monitoring and testing during the site grading, foundation installation, concrete placements, masonry construction, structural steel erection and parking lot construction. TTL performed IBC Special Inspection services for the project.
Lowes Regional Distribution Center - Valdosta, GA
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Original construction was a 785,000 square foot distribution center with associated parking and truck docks built in 1996. An addition was constructed in 2005-2006 that consisted of a 350,000 square foot addition to the main building, a 250,000 square foot appliance storage warehouse and associated truck docks, trailer storage yards and automobile parking.
Services:
Geosciences, Inc. (now TTL, Inc) was the geotechnical consultant and provided all construction materials testing services on the original site and facility. TTL provided supplemental geotechnical engineering and all construction materials testing and NPDES storm water inspection and sampling on the addition. Geosciences, Inc. (now TTL, Inc) has also provided geotechnical engineering and materials testing services for numerous Lowe's retail stores including stores in Dothan, AL; and Thomasville, Moultrie, Waycross, Valdosta and Albany, Georgia.
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital - Nashville, TN
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
TTL was responsible for evaluating the complex subsurface conditions and developing recommendations for the safe excavation and support of the new construction.
Services:
For this project, exploration emphasized deep rock coring and air-rotary drilling. Foundations were rock bearing and required detailed inspection to confirm the required bearing capacity for the heavy column loads. The site was located on the campus near the existing hospital complex.
The structure excavation was immediately adjacent to three streets and an eight-story parking garage. Groundwater inflows were considerable and creative solutions were investigated for the handling and possible use of the water. Construction required full-time inspection and testing by experienced technicians. Typical activities included inspection of reinforcing steel placement, monitoring concrete placements, molding of concrete specimens for testing and structural steel inspection. Floor slabs were post-tensioned and were tested for compliance with flatness and levelness criteria (Ff/Fl).
