GREAT CANADIAN PROJECTS
The coring barrel makes a new friend
• Excavator mounted mast
• Accommodates any style
of hammer
• Two hydraulic winches
controlled by excavator
Phone: 706-398-1178
www.vulcanhammer.com
First was the underpinning of the Saskatoon Construction
Association building next door to address some structural
concerns as well as the start of the structural cast-in-place
piling. Next, IPS performed shoring and earth retention for
the Queen Street utility corridor using a drilled soldier pile
and wood lagging system.
“There were 21 soldier piles and a lagging system installed
because of the geotechnical constraints and the access the
concrete contractors needed to construct some of their foot-ings,”
said Cote. “It was all rock where we were trying to build.
So, we chose a drilled soldier pile shoring system because we
could break up the rock and remove it. These soldier piles
were 24 inches in diameter and 25 feet deep.”
Crews also encountered a lot of construction debris
and rubble from the previous building, including old lead
drains. All of it had to be removed, which proved to be yet
another challenge.
“We had to do our own hauling because it was downtown
in a very congested area. Some of the moves happened at
midnight and some at 3 a.m. to avoid traffic. That was the
biggest work-around for us.”
Phase three involved what Cote referred to as “value-added
engineering” for the building’s owner. “Originally they
had planned for a mix of cast in place foundations and foot-ings.
Our experience on the shoring wall led us to propose
drilling the piles as opposed to doing footings, which would
have extended the schedule. We were able to save the owner
both time and money by switching some of those footings
over, as well as adapting to changing site conditions.”
IPS installed 16 cast in place piles (16 to 24 inches in diam-eter),
up to 30 feet deep for the structural elements. At the
south end of the site, crews were surprised to encounter a
deep, segregated sand layer.
“We couldn’t drill and install the temporary casing
because of the rocks, so we had to switch nine of the remain-ing
structural piles to beefed-up helical steel screw piles, with
9.625-inch and 10.75-inch shaft diameter with 36-inch heli-ces,
28 feet long installed to 120,000 foot pounds of torque.”
All told, the Monarch Building project involved three
piling types: Soldier pile and wood lagging temporary earth
PILING CANADA 47
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