Case

Studies

GRL Engineers offer a wide range of deep foundation testing and consulting services, nationwide. Most GRL Engineers have achieved Advanced Level or higher on both the PDCA/PDI Dynamic Measurement and Analysis Proficiency Test.

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Dynamic Load Testing on Helical Piles

Challenge: The YWCA of Toledo wanted to add 11,000+ sf of usable space by installing a foundation through the existing basement swimming pool to support two new floors being constructed above it. Due to low clearance restrictions within the building structure, micropiles were used in the initial foundation design. The specialty foundation contractor, Toledo Caisson Corporation, realized potential cost savings by utilizing helical piles for the foundation and provided a…
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Multi-Year Testing on Highway I-69

Challenge: The construction of I-69, a major US interstate highway that starts at the bottom of Texas and travels northeast to Michigan and into Ontario, was a multi-decade endeavor and a massive undertaking for the FHWA. GRL Engineers provided a multitude of testing services throughout the state of Indiana. Some of these projects included notable reconstruction on a 67-mile segment in Indiana, as well as the I-69 Finish Line Project,…
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Offshore Wind Farms in New Jersey

Challenge: GRL Engineers were brought onto a research project related to offshore wind to provide deep-foundation expertise. The New Jersey coastline has been expanding its offshore wind efforts since the signing of Executive Order 28 from New Jersey Governor Murphy in 2020. Addressing the potential in South Jersey for wind farms, studies on glauconite soil deposits have been a focal point for various universities. GRL Engineers conducted a driven-pile test…
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Trinity River Railroad Bridge
Challenge: The Trinity Bridge in Liberty, Texas underwent reconstruction in 2021 to replace the aging components of the 523-foot-long railroad bridge. Originally built in 1904, the bridge connects two of the nation’s busiest ports in the cities of Beaumont and Houston. During construction, one of the drilled shafts experienced issues…
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West Virigina Shaft Bottom Cleanliness Specifications
Because of the relatively shallow bedrock geology, the use of drilled shafts has become a standard practice for the West Virginia Department of Highways (WVDOH) in West Virginia, the “Mountain State”. According to the Drilled Shaft Guidelines provided by the WVDOH, having an assessment of bottom cleanliness is required for…
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Central 70 Highway Project
Challenge: The Central 70 Project is a $1.2 billion endeavor to improve the widely used highway in Colorado. The project was started in 2018 to update the aged highway with 10 miles of reconstructed roads, add a new express lane in each direction, update the viaduct, lower the interstate, and…
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Offshore Wind Farms in New Jersey
Challenge: GRL Engineers were brought onto a research project related to offshore wind to provide deep-foundation expertise. The New Jersey coastline has been expanding its offshore wind efforts since the signing of Executive Order 28 from New Jersey Governor Murphy in 2020. Addressing the potential in South Jersey for wind…
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Scotts Hill Water Tower in Wilmington, NC
Challenge: The small community of Scotts Hill in Wilmington, North Carolina started seeing rapid development of new housing and road improvements in 2023. With neighboring cities nearly doubling in the last decade, Scotts Hill is beginning to see similar growth and is continuing development to accommodate it. Due to the…
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NASA Vehicle Assembly Building
Challenge: In preparation for NASA’s Artemis missions returning to the Moon; the largest single-story building in the world, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, underwent structural upgrades and modifications to accommodate the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. GRL Engineers, Inc. assisted Kingstruction-Advon Joint Venture…
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Radius Dilworth Overlook in Charlotte
Challenge: The Radius Dilworth Overlook is an apartment complex in Dilworth, a Charlotte neighborhood, that broke ground in May 2022. With construction to be completed by late 2024, the complex will house 352 apartment units and contain 26 floors. The complex will be the tallest building in Dilworth to date.…
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Unionport Bridge Replacement
Challenge: GRL Engineers were brought onto the Unionport bridge replacement project in Bronx, NY to provide various drilled shaft testing. This moving bridge, also known as a drawbridge, was originally constructed in 1953 to connect the Bruckner Expressway with the Cross Bronx Expressway. The new foundation included 43 drilled shafts…
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Toombs County Bridge Replacement over the Altamaha River
Challenge: Toombs County in Georgia took on a $60+ million-dollar bridge project to offer improved traffic flow over the Altamaha River. In 2020, GRL Engineers were brought on to perform bi-directional static load testing on a non‑production drilled shaft that would help assess the load capacity of the replacement bridge.…
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Pensacola Bay Bridge
Challenge: The U.S. 98 Pensacola Bay Bridge constructed in 1960 reached the end of its service life and underwent a replacement process starting in 2017. The previous bridge served approximately 55,000 daily traffic counts as an important east-west transportation corridor, and as a primary hurricane evacuation route; it was due…
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I-77 Canton Bridge Structures
Challenge: A large aquifer in Canton, OH caused difficulties in foundation installation for new ramp and mainline bridge structures on I-77. The design called for drilled shafts to be installed, but an early demonstration shaft indicated the aquifer created conditions that prevented the use of drilled shafts at one pier…
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Bridge Abutment and Boardwalk at TI' awh ah dees Park
Challenge: A small city in Washington known as Kenmore celebrated the renovations to a local park named TI’ Awh Ah Dees, previously Squire’s Landing. The goal of the renovations was to improve access to water while restoring vegetation for wildlife. New amenities to the community include pedestrian bridges and viewing…
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El Dorado National Forest Bike Trail
Challenge: GRL Engineers were contracted by Granite Construction to perform dynamic load testing on fiberglass piles. The piles were installed to support a bike trail at El Dorado National Forest. The bike trail spanned 5 miles of terrain with varying soil conditions. Parts of the trail bridged over a pond…
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Rehabilitating the Van Wyck Expressway
Challenge: Nine bridges over Van Wyck Expressway (VWE) in Queens, NY required repairs, major rehabilitation, and/or replacement. To address the structural repairs and facilitate future widening of the VWE, the existing conventional abutments were replaced with new abutments, constructed using top-down construction techniques behind the existing abutments. The new design…
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Commuter Rail Station Expansion
Challenge: Non-destructive integrity testing was required for the expansion of an existing rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina. The contracted firm, Blythe Construction, secured the services of GRL Engineers to perform integrity testing on the drilled shafts for the station construction. The project specified both crosshole sonic logging and thermal…
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SR23 First Coast Expressway
Challenge: GRL Engineers, Inc. (GRL) was contracted by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) through ECS Florida, LLC in 2019 to perform dynamic pile testing and related services. GRL was the project Dynamic Testing Engineer (DTE) for the 26 bridges on 10.5 miles of new multi-lane limited access toll roadway…
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Lynch River Bridge Replacement
Challenge: The Lynch River Bridge in Florence, South Carolina is one of among many bridges being replaced by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). The design for the 63-year-old bridge included the use drilled shafts to support the structure’s main piers. Project specifications required a two-level Bi-Directional Static Load…
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Northwest Railroad Bridge Project
Challenge: GRL Engineers provided testing services for one of the largest freight railroads in North America. The Class 1 railroad company decided to build a second rail bridge over the lake, adjacent to the existing rail bridge to relieve the congested condition. The upgrades would allow the trains to run…
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Replacement Bridge Over Buffington Road and NFS Railroad
Challenge: South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) requested bids to replace an existing 60+ year old bridge over Buffington Road / Norfolk Southern Railroad in Spartanburg County, SC. The existing bridge was structurally deficient and did not meet the current SCDOT design standards. E.S. Wagner was contracted to replace the…
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