Featured Job Friday: Commercial Foundation Stabilization in Virginia
This week we feature a significant job from our partner Atlas Master Companies in Norfolk, Virginia. They tackled a commercial foundation stabilization project at the Pinetree Square Shopping Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The shopping center had a total of 18 offices or stores. One of the most complex parts of this job is that AMC had to do the work with as little disturbance to the tenants as possible. That can be just a little tricky when digging up around the foundation of a large commercial structure!
Luckily AMC knows how to install foundation stabilization repair products with little to no vibration and no loud pounding like you would find from a typical foundation repair solution.
AMC had a structural engineer inspect the property, and they were able to determine that the structure had settled as much as 3 1/2″. Using a laser on the walls, they were able to determine the amount of settlement that had occurred. It was confirmed that there was a 3″ difference in elevation. The solution for this problem was 21 interior slab push piers and 38 exterior push piers.
The Project Installation Details
The team at Atlas Master Companies worked together, prepping the concrete footings and setting up the drive stand & yellow drive cylinders. The next step was to install lifting rams on top of the piers with the manifold in place. They were then able to lift multiple piers at the same time. The bracket was secured to the top of the pipe section of the pier using high-strength thread rods and nuts. Next, they installed lifting brackets, prepping for the lifting process.
A hole is cored out for each installation area. The slab bracket is installed beneath the concrete slab. You can also see a bracket out of the installation hole to show what it looks like in the photos below. You can notice the sizeable bottom lifting plate, which will ultimately lift the slab after all piers are installed. The black drive stand with the four legs is used to hold the yellow drive cylinder. 8″ holes have been cored in the concrete slab to push the steel pipe sections through the soil to a suitable material. Another pipe section is added to achieve suitable material (firm-bearing Strata). Then, the lift is performed using the remote feature of our electric hydraulic pump. The Atlas Master Companies team achieved a 3″ lift at the interior slab. Then the installation holes were filled with concrete, and the floor was ready for carpet.
A Commercial Foundation Stabilization Project Well Done
Well done, Team AMC! The team was able to pull off a large job with minimal disturbance to the tenants at Pinetree Square Shopping Center. ECP is a proud partner with Atlas Master Companies and applauds their work on this large job.
Would you like to share a project that you have done, or better yet, submit a project for ECP’s Project of the Year? It’s easy to do! With a few project details and images or video, you can submit yours here!