Building on Hudson Yards In Section: Megaproject Geotechnics: Can a Megaproject Be Big Enough to Change a Building Code?

by Michael Paquette, P.E., Senior project manager with Langan Engineering & Environmental Services in New York and Philadelphia, mpaquette@langan.com,
Marc Gallagher, P.E., Senior principal with Langan Engineering & Environmental Services in New York, mgallagher@langan.com,


Serial Information: Geo-Strata —Geo Institute of ASCE, 2021, Vol. 25, Issue 6, Pg. 24-31


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract: As a young geotechnical consulting engineer working in New York City, I was always curious as to why the city?s building code prescribed a maximum allowable rock-socket skin-friction value of 200 psi for caisson design (rock-socketed drilled shaft with permanent casing) and left little evaluation of the rock to the geotechnical engineer. Generally, the caisson design process in NYC involves drilling boreholes and coring rock, establishing where the "good" rock begins, and then designing using 200 psi. Often, not much more evaluation of the rock goes into the design. The entire industry uses 200 psi ? and that?s just the way it is.

Subject Headings: Rocks | Geotechnical engineering | Consulting services | Building codes | Standards and codes | Project management | Caissons | New York City | New York | United States

 

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