WAUPACA FOUNDRY
An Engineering Excellence Award-Winning Project

S&ME provided geotechnical, construction materials testing and environmental services to achieve cost-effective and timely solutions for a multi-challenged project for a Waupaca Foundry plant at Etowah, Tennessee.

Just before release of the site-grading package for bids, a discrepancy in the site topography was identified. This made it necessary to steepen one of the major fill slopes. S&ME's design of a steepened MSE slope eliminated the need for construction of a major retaining wall. Construction of earth embankments with slopes steeper than indicated by the soil-shear strength parameters is a relatively new technique made possible with the use of high-tensile strength geosynthetic materials. These provide internal reinforcement and cause the soil to act as a single mass. This project demonstrates a successful application of the MSE slope-design methodology using high plasticity clay soil in the reinforced zone of a slope.

S&ME designed the project for use of shallow foundations with a bearing capacity of at least 5,000 pounds psf. Normal range of bearing capacities in the area are about 2,000 to 3,000 psf, but our comprehensive subsurface exploration and testing revealed that the heavier capacity would be feasible, except for the warehouse area that would have very high loads from finished iron castings. We successfully designed a surcharging to reduce settlement there to acceptable levels.

Remediation of an existing spring was included in the Aquatic Resources Alteration Permit that S&ME developed for our client and which the Tennessee Division of Water Pollution approved. State regulators indicated that our innovative design marked the first time in Tennessee that a French drain system had been approved for a spring remediation permit. Approval came only after intense negotiation.

The owner has expressed gratitude and satisfaction with S&ME's services, which worked around the unavoidable delays to meet the project's needs.