Technical Bulletins – Marino Engineering Associates, A UES Company

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Engineering Updates

Successful Deep Mine Backfilling to Mitigate Subsidence

Issue 1

The purpose of this project was to significantly reduce or eliminate the mine subsidence potential beneath the Wabash Valley Correctional Institution in Carlisle, Indiana.

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Mitigation of Subsidence Risk to a Prison Complex

Issue 2

This bulletin discusses the process that was undertaken to mitigate the effects of mine subsidence on the proposed prison structures above old abandoned underground workings.

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Successful Field Test of Steel Strap Repair

Issue 3

The test site was a rural location just outside of West Frankfort, Illinois. The test foundation consisted of ordinary concrete block stem walls resting on 8″ x 16″ concrete strip footings.

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Improvement of Mine Support Saves Pipeline From Subsidence Event

Issue 4

A mining company proposed underground extraction of some coal reserves. Unfortunately, several significant pipelines traversed over the proposed mined-out area.

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Response of House Foundations During Earthquake

Issue 5

The Loma Prieta Earthquake occurred in the Santa Cruz Mountains about 60 miles south of San Francisco. The quake registered 7.1 on the Richter Scale and was located between the towns of Boulder Creek and Watsonville.

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Foundation Treatment and Deep Mine Grouting

Issue 6

MEA was selected to evaluate and recommend the most effective means to mitigate subsidence damage to the proposed DNR building in Springfield, Illinois.

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Soil Provides Poor Road Construction Support

Issue 7

The new concrete pavement for an airport facility in Memphis, TN had an abnormal and alarming amount of cracking.

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Geotechnical Investigation of Building Damage

Issue 8

There are many reasons for building damage, some not as obvious as others.

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Hard Excavation Dispute

Issue 9

MEA was selected by a Pennsylvania earth moving contractor and his attorney to investigate his dispute with the owner over the hard excavation quantity.

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Borehole Radar Determines Solid Coal and Mined-Out Areas

Issue 10

MEA was asked to determine the effects of mining beneath a proposed roadway structure.

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Frozen Fill Causes Building Damage

Issue 11

Shortly after construction, the ground beneath the front of a food store in Minnesota settled and moved laterally away from the building.

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Investigation of a Roadway Failure

Issue 12

A town in Missouri located on the banks of the Mississippi River demanded the construction of an earthen levee to protect itself from the floodwaters of the river.

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Foundation Recommendations Result in Unnecessary Large Cost

Issue 13

This update concerns a case where a more well thought out geotechnical investigation could have saved millions of dollars and a significant amount of lost time.

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Establishing Mine Subsidence Risk

Issue 14

Risk assessment for potential subsidence related damage above underground mines is a driving factor for land development. Only about 50% of the sites investigated by MEA were found to have significant risk.

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Asphalt Quality Investigation

Issue 15

This investigation involved 0.8 miles of 6 inch asphalt pavement over a four lane road. After the placement of the asphalt, the city engineer became concerned about the quality and wanted the pavement removed and replaced.

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Assessment of Critical Face Travel Beneath Surface Structures

Issue 16

As coal is extracted by longwall methods, a dynamic subsidence wave is created at the ground surface.

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Landslide During Land Development

Issue 17

An investigation of a landslide was undertaken by MEA to determine the cause of the failure.

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Investigation and Repair of a Failed Olympic Pool

Issue 18

The water in the pool would not clear up, the pool liner had bubbles which grew over time, and the pool floor needed constant vacuuming.

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Cross-Hole Radar Used to Locate Mined Out Areas

Issue 19

A parking lot between two businesses was damaged by slope instability. Based on available coal mining records, the project site was not undermined but there was a possibility that these areas subjacent to the site could have been mined-out.

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Investigation of Pavement Performance

Issue 20

It was determined that all damages and accelerated wear and tear on the trucking facility were mainly caused by unanticipated facility traffic volume and not performing routine pavement maintenance.

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Mine Subsidence Damage During Construction

Issue 21

A ground subsidence occurred during construction of a medical center after a shallow foundation system and utilities for a surgery center extension were installed.

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Smart Coal Extraction with Varying Floor Conditions

Issue 22

The softened floor conditions across the reserve resulted in extraction ratios that ranged up to 1.6 of the minimum value. The mine could not be efficiently designed using only one production extraction rate.

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Anatomy of Canal Geo-Construction Difficulties

Issue 23

Given the circumstances of this project, the engineer should have answered the question as to whether or not the the anticipated means and methods were feasible, and under what restrictions the work should be performed.

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Anatomy of Grouting Mine Voids

Issue 24

The cost for a grouting project is controlled by the acceptable risk the owner is willing to take. A smart stabilization program can be tailored to address only the necessary mine support issue(s) while still adequately protecting the proposed structure.

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Transmission Pipeline Subsidence From Mining

Issue 25

In the future, exposure of pipelines to subsidence is expected to be more commonplace. The most cost effective solution to handling related pipe stress considers the specific site conditions and applies the appropriate mitigation measures, if needed.

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Construction Slide Causes Significant Delay & Costs

Issue 26

Inadequate attention to geoconstruction during a design which involves significant earth slopes can result in added costs and delays in the project, and in fact, can even cause cancellation of the project.

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Borehole Radar Used to Identify Deep Coal Pillars

Issue 27

When questions exist about the accuracy of old mine maps, or where no map exists for the project site, crosshole radar can be used to determine the presence of voids or barrier coal for both shallow and deep mine investigations.

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Airport Pavement Subbase and Subgrade Preparation Difficulties

Issue 28

Foresight into pavement preparation constructability issues during design can significantly mitigate disputes, claims, delays and the final cost.

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Hangar Slab Assessment for Poor, As-Built, Conditions

Issue 29

Concern existed over conditions of a hangar slab at an international airport. Upon investigation, it was found that the slab did not meet the engineering properties assumed in the design.

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Risk Based Analysis Results in Efficient Mine Stabilization

Issue 30

Two separate levels of old coal workings were stabilized because of the potential hazards to an existing commercial building if either mine were to fail.

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Foundation Construction in Difficult Close-Quarter Condition

Issue 31

This project involved an owner who wanted to construct a city building between two older existing buildings.

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Developer Avoids Substantial Risk of Subsidence Damage

Issue 32

Assessments of the potential for damage from subsidence and how it can be mitigated play key roles...

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Investigation of Excessive Fill Shrinkage

Issue 33

This project involved a 40,940 ft. (7.75 miles) long enlargement of an existing levee located along the east side of the Mississippi River.

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Risk Investigation of Karst on Sinkhole/Subsidence Prone Lands

Issue 34

The term karst is defined as the effects of groundwater dissolution of rock over time...

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Hydrological Impacts on an Underground Abandoned Coal Mine

Issue 35

There is a long history of coal mining in a town in the Midwest.

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Moisture Softening Effects on Mine Floors

Issue 36

An underappreciated condition in the stability of room-and-pillar coal mines is the...

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500 Ft. Assembly Platform on Concrete Piers Heaves

Issue 37

Shortly after construction, a new manufacturing plant was having trouble controlling the tolerances on the production machinery.

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Satellite Surveillance of Ground Movement

Issue 38

Marino Engineering continues to explore new technology in the area of ground subsidence, and as such we are now utilizing an exciting satellite surveillance technology called InSar...

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Using Reinforced Soil for Construction of Retaining Structures and Earth Slopes

Issue 39

This Engineering UPDATE issue discusses how geosynthetics can be used to cost-effectively handle slopes and build the necessary retaining walls.

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The Importance of Estimating Damage Potential

Issue 40

Providing specific damage potential evaluations for owners is an important part of a geotechnical investigation. This Engineering UPDATE discusses the importance of these evaluations and the damage potential estimation process.

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Earthquake Hazards in the Midwest

Issue 41

This Engineering UPDATE was published on the importance of improving the awareness of the presence of earthquake potential in the Midwest. The article was inspired by a recently conducted field inspection by MEA staff, along with the St. Louis Chapter of the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists.

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Advantages of Reinforced Earth over Other Retainage Systems

Issue 42

This issue of Engineering UPDATE discusses the advantages of reinforced earth systems over other types of earth retainage systems. The UPDATE discusses when these systems should be considered, how they are applied, and the multiple advantages to using a reinforced soil slope (RSS).

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Catastrophic Failure of an Underground Dam

Issue 43

This issue of Engineering UPDATE describes an interesting case which involved the construction of an underground dam in a coal mine which resulted in a catastrophic failure, and what were the lessons learned.

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Property Management System for Geotechnical Risks

Issue 44

This Engineering UPDATE provides a guide to the fundamentals aspects of managing geotechnical risks. Often there has been insufficient examination done to establish the risk management protocol for properties.

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Earthquake Effects and Subsidence Associated with Mining Operations

Issue 45

This issue of Engineering UPDATE discusses the observations and experience in the aftermath of earthquake events that affected mining operations and other similar structures.

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Mining and Associated Subsidence in St. Louis and St. Louis County, MO

Issue 46

Saint Louis County and City are home to a multitude of quarries and mines. This issue of Engineering UPDATE discusses these quarries and mines and the subsidence associated with them.

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Improved Methods of Cofferdam Design

Issue 47

This issue of Engineering UPDATE discusses methods of cofferdam design. Cofferdams are used to conduct construction in the dry when the project area is submerged by a body of water.

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Coal Mine Locations in the United States

Issue 48

A map of the U.S. was created of all the known abandoned and active surface and underground coal mines. The reason this map was created was because no such similar mine map could be found.

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Design Submittal Review Difficulties In Open/Braced Cut Construction

Issue 49

A project MEA worked on where significant and unique challenges were faced by the design and construction team in the installing of a waterway system. Also, some suggestions are given at the end of the UPDATE on how these design/build process could have been improved. We hope that you or an associate find this UPDATE to be interesting and useful.

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De-Erection of Steel Framed Structure Due to Excessive Settlement

Issue 50

This Engineering UPDATE discusses an investigation that MEA conducted that involved determining why differential settlement of a structure reached over 1.4 ft. after ground treatment.

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UPHEAVAL BUCKLING OF PIPELINES

Issue 51

From our geotechnical analyses work on pipelines, we have discovered an important area of pipe deformation that has attracted insufficient attention called upheaval buckling.

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MSE Wall Failures from Use of Non-durable Backfill

Issue 52

This Engineering UPDATE, which is provided below, is related to a MEA expert investigation related to several instances of MSE wall failures which happened during interstate highway construction.

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COAL MINE DESIGN WITH DIFFICULT FLOOR CONDITIONS

Issue 53

This issue of Engineering UPDATE discussed how MEA was engaged to assess the mineability of a coal reserve with difficult mine floor conditions in central Illinois.

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HANDLING POTENTIAL MINE SUBSIDENCE AT A PROJECT SITE

Issue 54

This issue of Engineering UPDATE discusses the various fundamental and necessary steps that are taken when one is assessing how to handle a site which is undermined.

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SCHOOL BOARD AVOIDS MINE STABILIZATION

Issue 55

This UPDATE describes a project in which MEA was asked to investigate what was the risk that an existing building would be affected by mine subsidence in the future. This building had been abandoned due to previous subsidence. Using advanced subsidence engineering tools, the risk determined by MEA was sufficiently low enough that the building was occupied again without performing any subjacent mine stabilization.

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ADVANCED ANALYSIS OF AERIAL SUBSIDENCE RISK

Issue 56

Based on our over 40 years of experience and our exclusive database, MEA has developed a statistical methodology to assess the risk of mine subsidence and associated damage across vast project areas. This is discussed in the newest Engineering Update entitled: Advanced Analysis of Aerial Subsidence Risk.

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FAILURE INVESTIGATION OF A COFFERDAM FAILURE

Issue 57

This was an extensive engineering forensic investigation that required examining many avenues of potential mechanisms of failure. The UPDATE includes a video showing the Cofferdam failure in progress.

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SUBSIDENCE ENGINEERING IN FLORIDIAN KARST TERRAIN

Issue 58

Proposed construction on land which can subsidence from karst presents a risk of future damage to the proposed facilities. This UPDATE discusses a MEA project in Florida where an unique subsidence engineering study was performed to establish the risk, damage potential, and mitigation.

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SURFACE GROUND MOVEMENT OVER RECLAIMED MINE AREAS

Issue 59

There are vast areas of open reclaimed surface mined lands which can be utilized for wind and solar farms or other proposed infrastructure in the US. However, depending on the reclaimed area it can represent deep uncontrolled fill and thus significant ground movement can occur during the life of the project. This Engineering UPDATE discusses the nature of this problem and this ground movement potential.

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SUBSIDENCE ENGINEERING IN PENNSYLVANIAN KARST TERRAIN

Issue 60

This is a subsidence engineering project which MEA performed in Pennsylvania where a serious risk of future ground movement and associated damage existed from the underlying karst or solutioned limestone conditions. Given the site conditions, MEA proposed and successfully carried out a hybrid, unique mitigation plan which resulted in substantial savings.

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TREATMENT OF A PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION SITE WITH KARSTIFIED LIMESTONE BEDROCK IN ALABAMA

Issue 61

This UPDATE provides a summary of a subsidence engineering project MEA performed in Alabama which had its own unique set of challenges. The site was underlain with karstification with active subsidence conditions, however, the proposed building was able to be successfully constructed. The UPDATE discusses the mitigation measures taken.

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ESTABLISHING PIPELINE GEOHAZARD MITIGATION PROTOCOLS

Issue 62

This UPDATE discusses the value and necessary contents of protocols for pipelines and their infrastructure against geohazard events. As stated by Benjamin Franklin "as ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

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SUBSIDENCE RISK OVER LIMESTONE QUARRY MINES

Issue 63

This UPDATE discusses the ways that mine instability can result in surface subsidence in underground limestone mines.

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INJECTION AND SPREAD OF COAL MINE SLURRY IN AN ABANDONED COAL MINE

Issue 64

This UPDATE is about the unique process and performance of the injection of coal slurry waste into an abandoned coal mine.

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THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN CALCULATING PIPELINE STRESSES FROM PREDICTED SUBSIDENCE MOVEMENT USING TRADITIONAL OR NUMERICAL VS. STATISTICAL MODELS

Issue 65

Statistical analysis of determining the subsidence induced stress to any structure is far more representative in quantifying the damage.