Project: LNK Terminal Facility Expansion
2400 West Adams Street Lincoln, NE 68524
Architect: Alliance
400 Clifton Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55403
Structural Engineer: Davis Design
1221 N Street Suite 600 Lincoln, NE 68508
Deep Foundation Contractor: WCI Basement Repair
602 West 8th Street Carrol, IA 51401
Lincoln Airport was performing an expansion that would require pile caps inside a utility tunnel with beams running down through the tunnel and being supported by the pile caps.
The original design was to be helical piles but there was also a constraint that no equipment could be used in the tunnel that produced exhaust fumes because the tunnel supplied the air to the terminal.
WCI and Performance Piers came up with a value engineered design that would require the project be push piles. It would also require the pile caps to be larger with an additional pile added to each cap without a counter force to resist the pressure needed to drive the push pile a beam was designed to attach the push pier system too.
The beam was designed to slide along C-Channel that would be bolted to the side of the tunnel. With the assistance of Case Engineering Matt Bono designed a beam that would resist the driving pressure of 68,000 lbs. per pile.
Performance Piers provided WCI the drive stand assembly and selected 3.5” OD pile for the required loads. The drive stand assembly also had a plate designed that would be bolted to the floor of the tunnel as well. The piles were driven to depths of 80’ + to reach the required capacities. The project was com- pleted in approximately one week.
