Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2011 - 2013
The Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department required an aging sewage line under the Government Cut, a channel between Fisher Island and Miami Beach, to be replaced. The existing pipe was brittle and interfered with plans to dredge the Port of Miami’s main channel.
As part of this design-build shaft and tunneling project, Ric-Man Construction retained ECO to design and direct a pre-excavation grouting program to facilitate the construction of three shafts of varying diameters. Two of the shafts were located on land, while a third was carried out from a platform located in the Ocean. The shafts were constructed by installing 100 ft plus deep overlapping secant piles. The geology of the area consisted of highly variable porous soft limestone, coral and silty sand, which is typical for southern Florida. ECO developed a specially formulated grout to treat these highly variable soils and rock strata. The grouting operation was continuously monitored with CAGES (Computer Aided Grouting Evaluation System) real time monitoring system and the permeability of the subsurface was reduced to target values. In addition to designing and directing the grouting operation, ECO provided hands-on training and supervision to the Contractor’s grouting crews.
The construction of the shafts was carried out successfully, with minimal loss of drilling fluid during the construction of the secant piles, including the shaft located in the ocean.
