The challenge:
Prevent seepage from a canal that runs the length of a property slated for an office complex and parking garage structure
The players:
Crane Materials International
Tabasco Casa SA de CV
The process:
Crane Materials International (CMI), a manufacturer of sustainable sheet piling solutions, partnered with Tabasco Casa SA de CV on a
project in Villahermosa, Mexico. The city of Villahermosa is situated amid lagoons, marshes and wetlands. For this particular project, a canal runs the length of the property, which was slated for an office complex and parking garage structure. Seepage from the canal would damage the integrity of any development placed there.
A cutoff wall was planned to prevent this type of damage. The original plans called for AZ14 steel sheet piles; however, the team moved to ShoreGuard850
only months into the project, said Matt Hasseler, regional sales manager (Latin America).
The change to CMI’s ShoreGuard850 was important to this development for more than one reason. “Maneuverability of the sheets was crucial, because the installation site was pinned between a building structure and the canal,” said Arq. Ernesto Alamilla, general manager of Tabasco Casa SA de CV. “Only
ShoreGuard850 could give us that.”
Before construction, the land was elevated 9 feet with an engineered fill and reinforced with heavy-duty Geogrids. The PileClaw Mandrel was used to install two sizes of ShoreGuard850 (both 20 and 32 feet) through the compacted fill/geogrids. "The PileClaw Mandrel reduced driving episode time from 30 minutes to an unbelievable 2.5 minutes," Hasseler said.
The product was installed along the entire edge of the canal - a total of 2,230 linear feet. In addition to increased maneuverability, the installation of ShoreGuard850 reduced project costs by over 30 percent compared to the AZ14 pricing.
The project began in June, and is scheduled for on-time end of the year completion. Because of its ease of use and cost savings, ShoreGuard850 has now been used in every stage of the project.
