Half Mile Long Ore Shed: Ground Improvement in “Low Headroom”

Schedule is critical on most projects and managing geotechnical challenges and risk impacts to structures requires a team effort. As discussed in a companion paper, coastal geologies are generally not well suited for large stockpiles of material. Due to project schedule constraints, it was necessary to build a one-half mile long storage structure housing up to 15 m-high stockpiles of ore while detailed evaluation of potential ground instability was ongoing. Once the shed was erected, ground improvement to 18 m deep was needed to limit vertical and, more importantly, lateral deformations of the building foundations. This paper will review the evaluation of site conditions under large stockpile loads and the anticipated deformations. Furthermore, the paper will review the installation challenges, solutions, and instrumentation measurements completed during operation of the facility.