Hancock County, Kentucky
New Airport
Hancock County, Kentucky is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Owensboro, Kentucky. When the County was faced with the need to replace an outdated facility, KSWA was selected to provide a geotechnical exploration and quality control services for the new airport. In the spring of 2006, KSWA initially performed a geotechnical exploration for the proposed runway, taxiway and apron.

The geotechnical exploration included drilling 47 test borings to depths of 10 feet each with standard penetration tests (SPT) and split spoon sampling.

Laboratory testing included Moisture content determination, Atterberg Limits tests, and California Bearing Ratios (CBR) and Proctor determinations. The geotechnical exploration report included cut and fill recommendations, pavement subgrade and support recommendations and undercutting and backfilling recommendations for unsuitable areas.

In the winter of 2006, KSWA began quality control testing, which included compaction testing on the fill materials, Marshall testing of the asphaltic concrete binder and surface course materials, and density testing of the asphaltic concrete by nuclear density method and by coring. Work re-commenced in the Spring of 2007.

New Federal Courthouse
Nashville, Tennessee
The new Federal Courthouse design in Nashville, Tennessee was the product of nationally-known architect Michael Graves.

KSWA was selected to perform the geotechnical investigations for this project. The site is located in an urban area that has been developed for over 100 years. Structures on the site included an eight-story office building, an eight-story parking garage, a one-story, three-story, and four-story brick buildings. The eight-story brick building lay within the footprint of the Courthouse building which itself includes a below ground parking garage, the lower level of which is about five meters below the exterior grade.

KSWA's services included:

• Site reconnaissance
• Reviewing published geologic data
• Performing subsurface exploration advancing seven test borings
• Performing field and laboratory testing
• Analyzing the field and laboratory data and providing geotechnical recommendations.

I-75 Interchange at the Reserve
New Highway Interchange
Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers, Inc. (CTE) of Nashville, Tennessee was selected by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to provide engineering services for a new diamond shaped interchange 4.5 miles south of the Jellico exit on Interstate 75 in Campbell County, Tennessee. In conjunction with the design of the new interchange, CTE selected KSWA to provide geotechnical engineering services for the project.

KSWA provided soil test borings and rock coring for the project, and made recommendations for foundation bearing capacities for the proposed bridge and construction recommendations for soil and bedrock preparation during construction. KSWA's engineers also made recommendations concerning slope stability issues anticipated during the mass grading operations.

KSWA performed more than 100 borings, some in difficult to reach locations and difficult to drill geology. Depths ranged from 15 feet to 100 feet. A wide variety of drilling methods were used to accomplish the drilling activities, including hollow stem auger drilling, traditional rock core drilling, air rotary drilling, and wash drilling.

Despite the rugged terrain and remote location of the interchange, KSWA provided fast and innovative engineering solutions and recommendations to the project engineers at CTE.

I-55 Interchange at Mallory Avenue
Replacement Interchange
CTE of Nashville, Tennessee was selected by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to provide engineering services for a new interchange to replace an existing interchange on Interstate 55 at Mallory Avenue in Shelby County, Tennessee. In conjunction with the design of the new interchange, CTE selected KSWA to provide geotechnical engineering services for the project.

The project includes three bridges, over four miles of roadway and ramps, 3,000 feet of new retaining walls, as well as a new connector road at the exit and entrance ramps. By providing soil test borings, KSWA made recommendations for pile foundation bearing capacities for the proposed bridges, retaining walls, and construction recommendations for soil preparation during construction. KSWA’s recommendations were critical to the successful completion of the project in the problematic wind deposited silts overlying the alluvial deposited sands in the Memphis area.

KSWA performed over 100 borings, with depths ranging from 15 feet to 60 feet. A wide variety of drilling methods were used to accomplish the drilling activities. The drilling methods included; standard hollow stem auger drilling, and mud and wash drilling.

KSWA provided recommendations for foundation type and bearing capacities for structures, pavement sections, slopes stability analysis, retaining wall design parameters, and soil profiles for the construction drawings.

Ohio River Bridges Project - Kennedy Interchange
Louisville, Kentucky
The Kennedy Interchange in downtown Louisville, Kentucky connects Interstates 65, 64 and 71. The Interchange, commonly referred to as "Spaghetti Junction", consists of nearly 100 bridges (single and multiple span) and retaining walls (both MSE and concrete). This Interchange is the largest part of the Ohio River bridges project designed to improve existing infrastructure, partially relocate the interstates, and add two new major bridges over the Ohio River. This part of the project will replace or widen several bridges and ramps and add several retaining walls through the dense downtown area.

KSWA is part of a tree firm geotechnical team providing geotechnical recommendations to the five firm design team. KSWA is responsible for approximately 33 structures including three retaining walls. The geotechnical samples were collected from the geotechnical team, sent to KSWA's Nashville and Louisville laboratories, and tested for moisture content, Atterberg limits, unconfined compressive strengths, and consolidation characteristics.

The geotechnical exploration reports for each structure included soil boring summaries, soil and rock characteristics, laboratory test results, settlement analysis, lateral squeeze analysis, global stability analysis, three types of H-pile analysis, four types of drilled pier analysis, augercast analysis (where there were environmental issues), seismic analysis, liquefaction analysis, and foundation recommendations. The project is ongoing and should be completed in late 2008.

Omohundro Sewer Equalization Tank and Pumping Station Diversion Structure
Nashville, Tennessee
Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County had the need to provide sewer storage during periods of heavy rain events. During these events, sanitary water exceeding the capacity of the system, which much of it is still combined, had to be released directly in the Cumberland River. A proposed 10 Million Gallon (MG) equalization basin and pumping station would store much of the overflow until that time which it could be properly treated.

Black and Veatch was selected by the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority to design the addition. KSWA was subsequently selected to provide geotechnical engineering services for the structures. The area was in the flood plain of the Cumberland River. The 10 MG tank would present a very heavy load to the bearing material.

KSWA completed six soil test borings to auger refusal and into bedrock, including standard penetration tests (SPT), split spoon tests, undisturbed sampling and rock coring. Laboratory testing included moisture content tests, Atterberg limits tests, unconfined compressive strength tests, soils finer than #200. The geotechnical exploration report included cut and fill recommendations for unsuitable areas and several shallow and deep foundation recommendations for the soft soils.

New Airport Hanger - McGee Tyson Airport
Knoxville, Tennessee
The project consisted of a geotechnical investigation at the McGee Tyson Airport for the support of a new 24,500 square foot hanger and office building to be located east of the existing TAC Air Hanger. The hanger structure was designed to be a steel framed metal building and positioned so that the existing hanger can be utilized with a 5 to 10 foot extension.

KSWA provided geotechnical exploration, investigation, and recommendations for foundation bearing capacity and construction recommendations. KSWA drilled five borings to a depth of 15 feet in the area of the proposed building footprint. The borings encountered both lean clays, high plasticity clays and fill (disturbed) materials. KSWA provided engineering analysis of the soils and their physical properties, geotechnical recommendations for the shallow bearing capacity of the soils, site fill recommendations, grade supported floor slab recommendations and site recommendations.

KSWA continues to provide our clients with geotechnical analysis and construction recommendations for many types of projects, including airport hangers. This project demonstrates experience in the East Tennessee area and our ability to provide our clients with the necessary construction recommendations as the need arises. We will provide construction material testing services during the construction phase of projects.