Geosynthetics October/November 2023 - 25

not a look conducive to the aesthetics
in this area, the owner chose a geological
finish for the final treatment of the
shotcrete. To achieve this look, the design
incorporates an additional thickness of
wall beyond the structural requirement.
This approach allows for " sculpting " of
the shotcrete while still wet such that
after it cures and is stained, it resembles
natural rock.
Site obstacles
For GeoStabilization, which has worked
in virtually every geological setting with
the added real-world experience of constructing
more than 6,000 projects, the
design was the easy part. The challenge
for this site, however, was in physically
getting the soil nails where they needed
to be to provide the needed stabilization.
The number and location of the
soil nails were critical in order to provide
the needed factor of safety to protect the
building, its residents, and the surrounding
structures and general public from a
catastrophic building collapse.
The Domain at Phipps Plaza had significant
underground utilities to support
the conveniences typical for today's tenants
to live and work at home.
Although these utilities are nicely
secure below ground and out of sight,
they do pose a challenge when there is a
need to introduce stabilizing elements, up
to 40 feet (12.2 m) long, within the same
earth supporting the building and its
inhabitants. It is essential for a designer
and contractor not to disrupt or negatively
affect any of these buried utilities.
While in the design phase and
well into the construction phase,
GeoStabilization was able to work with
the owner's team to be guided by the
efforts of three different utility location
service companies to physically locate
conflicting utilities through minor and
moderate excavation methods. The
results of three different companies, however,
were not the same.
To increase the odds of not striking a
FIGURE 3 To match the aesthetics
of the area, sculpting of the
shotcrete was implemented to
mimic the look of natural rock.
utility, ground-penetrating radar (GPR)
was also utilized. GPR is a minimally
invasive method that uses radio waves
to capture subsurface images that aid in
determining the horizontal and vertical
locations of utilities. Unfortunately, these
results were less than favorable due to the
presence of the layers of geogrid material
that is the mechanical element of the
existing MSE retaining wall system. The
utility location efforts all had their challenges,
with varying results. Through the
combined effort and collaboration among
the owner's total team of consultants,
design-build contractors and various subcontractors,
GeoStabilization was able to
avert any utility strikes.
However, during the grouting process
of the soil nailing-in which a flowing
grout encapsulates the soil nail for its
full length in the earth-grout entered
an opening in a buried conduit. This
GeosyntheticsMagazine.com
25
The challenge for
this site, however,
was in physically
getting the soil nails
where they needed
to be to provide the
needed stabilization.
http://www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com
Geosynthetics October/November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Geosynthetics October/November 2023
