Combined Systems

Jet Grouting, Soil Nails, Chemical Grouting,

Tieback Anchors, &Vibro Replacement
ounded in 1886, the Saint Cloud
Hospital now serves more than a half-
million people in central Minnesota.
Expansion of the facility was needed in order to
continue to provide a high level of patient care
while meeting the increasing demand for service.
Since the hospital complex is built on a bluff
overlooking the Mississippi River, space for
expansion was extremely limited. Hospital offi-
cials therefore had to work with the natural slope
of the land to locate a multi-story addition that
would match the height of the existing building.
Site soils consisted of medium dense to very
dense, glacially-deposited sand and gravels with cobbles and
boulders, overlaying a five to seven-ft stratum of sandy, silty
clay. Five different ground improvement techniquesjet
grouting, chemical grouting, tieback anchors, soil nails
and Vibro Replacementwere used to prepare the site for
the new construction.
Jet Grouting
The new addition was to be built in an area adjacent to both
the original, 7-story structure and two wings of a 4-story
addition built in 1963. Footings would be located 24 to 32 ft
below the existing buildings. Furthermore, since the new
addition would be adjacent to one wing of the 4-story addi-
tion, new footings in this area would be located 24 ft directly
below the edge of the existing footings.
Underpinning to ensure the integrity of the existing
structures during foundation excavation for the new addition
required three retaining walls. Typically, driven steel piles
with lagging, or sheet piling are used for this type of project.
However, hospital officials were concerned about potential
ground loss from under the footings and about the effect of
F
excessive noise and vibrations from piling operations on the
hospital facility, patients and staff. The Owner's architect
and structural engineer, Horty & Elving of Minneapolis,
therefore specified that the underpinning and retaining walls
were to be constructed using non-vibratory ground modifi-
cation techniques. The construction manager, Kraus
Anderson of Minneapolis, accepted a design-build proposal
from Hayward Baker using jet grouting and soil nailing. As
well as being much less disruptive than conventional exca-
vation support, jet grouting is a very flexible
system that can be accomplished with a high degree of
safety. This was a key consideration for portions of the
work, given the presence of
cobbles and boulders and the
limited work area. Wenzel
Engineering I nc. of
Bloomington, MN was
contracted to design the
retention system.
Owner
Saint Cloud Hospital
Saint Cloud, MN
Engineer
Horty & Elving Associates
Minneapolis, MN
Underpinning Design
Wenzel Engineering Inc.
Bloomington, MN
Expansion of the hospital was accomplished with minimal
disruption by using multiple Ground Modification techniques.
Saint Cloud Hospital Expansion
Saint Cloud, Minnesota
Project Summary
2010 Hayward Baker Inc.
(www.HaywardBaker.com)
1 of 4
Jet Grouting Design Considerations
The retaining walls were required to provide underpinning
support for the loads from the existing footings as well as
the loads from the retained soils, up to 34 ft beneath those
footings. The design also had to provide for the footings of
the new addition that were to be constructed 24 ft directly
below and adjacent to the existing footings. Since the retain-
ing walls were required to remain in service for approxi-
mately ten months, adequate surface drainage was an impor-
tant additional consideration.
Two types of wall were incorporated into the retention
system to meet these criteria:
A vertical, jet-grouted wall wrapped around the
corner of the existing, 4-story structure adjacent
to the excavation and reinforced laterally with
soil nails to underpin the structure where risk of
settlement was the greatest concern.
Inclined soil nail walls where more space was
available between the existing building and the
new structure.
Soil Nailing and Jet Grout Wall Construction
For the jet-grouted, wrap-around walls, vertical, 3.5 ft
diameter, interconnected Soilcrete columns were con-
structed upwards from a depth of 25 ft to support the
existing footings and the retained soils. At footing loca-
tions, a second row of angled columns was constructed to
provide additional support for the vertical loads. Although
the Soilcrete wall could now safely support the vertical
loads, lateral restraint capacity was required to ensure
support of the horizontal loads. Four levels of soil nails
were therefore installed through the Soilcrete columns and
into the retained soil at five-ft horizontal intervals. A total
of 50 Soilcrete columns and 51 soil nails were installed
for this wall.
For the remaining two walls, the position of the build-
ing allowed the construction of inclined, reinforced soil
nailed walls to a depth of 34 ft at the 7-story building and
16 ft at the 5-story building. Each wall was constructed
Cross section showing jet grouting and soil nail design.
Four levels of soil nails provided additional lateral restraint
for the Soilcrete wall.
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However, the west one third of the structure was actu-
ally founded at grade on spread footings, 5.5 ft higher and
directly adjacent to the planned connector alignment.
Soil borings and site investigation by Braun Intertec of
Saint Cloud verified that the elevated portion was supported
on a profile of mixed fill soils containing a 2.5-ft layer of
clean sand over a 3-ft

layer of very soft (N=1), saturated,

silty sand and silty clay. Also, a 15-inch diameter storm
sewer line and a 4-inch diameter, high-pressure water line
passed directly through the area to be underpinned.
Given the soil profile and the need for a vertical cut
under the major footings that supported the seven-story
structure, additional ground improvement was required
before the soil nail wall could be constructed. To solve this
problem, chemical grouting was used to stabilize the clean
granular soils. The soft, cohesive materials were then con-
tained by driving steel channels edge to edge along the side
of the spread footing. The high-pressure water line was
temporarily disconnected so that the final channel sheets
could be driven to complete the retainment. A combination
of steel wales and soil anchors provided the required lateral
restraint.
Chemical grouting prior to soil
nailing stabilized the soils to
ensure the integrity of a 15-inch
diameter storm sewer line and a
4-inch diameter high pressure
water line.
from the top down in four-ft lifts. At each level, soil was
excavated at a slight incline, followed by the installation of
design-length soil nails at five-ft, horizontal spacing.
Reinforcing mesh was placed over the exposed face, which
was then stabilized with a five-inch thick shotcrete fascia.
Drainage pipes were installed at the toe of each wall to
channel surface water away from the construction area.
During jet grouting, wet Soilcrete samples were
retrieved and tested for unconfined compressive strength.
Core-drilled samples were also taken at the interstice of
completed columns and tested. Results verified that the
design strength of 1500 psi at 28 days was being achieved.
The age of the existing structure prompted concern on the
part of the Owner over the potential for movement during
the work. Therefore, throughout the jet grouting and soil
nailing, third order optical survey measurements were taken
twice daily. No movement whatsoever was recorded during
the eight-month period that the excavation stood open.
Chemical Grouting, Tieback Anchors
and Steel Sheeting
The new addition was designed to be connected to the
7-story building by a two-level tunnel founded at the base-
ment footing elevation. It was expected that the footings for
the 7-story structure were all at the same elevation.
2010 Hayward Baker Inc.
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Saint Cloud, continued
Once this step was completed, the excavation contin-
ued, in four- to five-ft lifts, for a total vertical cut of 34 ft,
exposing the storm sewer line. The building was carefully
monitored for settlement during the course of work, with no
movement recorded.
Chemical grouting was also used to underpin and retain
the sandy soils under the hospital's main transformer base,
undercut by six ft for the building footing construction.
Vibro Replacement
The front of the new addition extended out beyond the soil
zone densified by glacial deposits and over an area loosened
and re-deposited by the action of the Mississippi River.
Vibro Replacement was used to construct stone columns
through the loose, variable sandy, silty, granular soils to a
depth of 25 to 30 ft below the working platform, providing
sufficient improvement in bearing capacity to support the
structure on spread footings.
Engineering Excellence Award
The complex nature of the ground improvement and the dif-
ficult working conditions presented a considerable chal-
lenge, both in design of the underpinning and excavation
Left: The
exposed face of
the inclined soil
nail wall was
covered with
reinforcing
mesh and
stabilized with
shotcrete.
Below, left:
Vibro
Replacement
under way to
improve loose
soils.
support and in the execution of the work. In recognition of
the retaining wall design, Wenzel Engineering was pre-
sented with a Grand Award in the 1999 Consulting
Engineers Council of Minnesota Engineering Excellence
Awards Competition.
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