Complex Geotechnical Engineering for a Levee Project-PPT Presentation

PPT Presentation

Pdf Summary

The presentation describes the geotechnical design and construction planning for a new flood pump station within Louisville, Kentucky’s levee system. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 25.9-mile system protects 76.2 square miles and includes earth levees, concrete walls, and 16 pump stations. The existing pump station, built in 1953, has a capacity of 875 million gallons per day (MGD). The proposed station is designed for 1,900 MGD and eight pumps, supporting protection against a projected 2035 storm event of 5 inches of rain in 24 hours.<br /><br />The project modifies the existing levee and involves deep excavations for the pump station and influent channel. Its design must account for variable soil profiles and groundwater levels, consolidation and drainage behavior in fine-grained soils, uneven loading from the adjacent levee, changing excavation depths, and the order of excavation, bracing, and grading.<br /><br />The retaining structure uses 1,200-mm-thick diaphragm walls and levee-buttress elements. The layout includes 81 panels, including 33 unitary T-panels, with concrete water stops at panel interfaces to ensure watertightness. Panels are excavated using hydraulic grabs and Hydrofraise equipment through alluvial sands and into a 5-foot rock socket. Ten levee-buttress elements also contribute to the permanent pump station foundation.<br /><br />Top-down construction sequencing and bracing were evaluated for the pump station and influent channel. Geotechnical and numerical modeling considered the behavior and stress paths of levee fill, clay blanket, and upper and lower alluvial sands. The presentation concludes with modeled structural deflections, shear forces, and moments, emphasizing the importance of integrating site conditions, construction sequence, and structural design.

Keywords

Louisville Kentucky

flood pump station

geotechnical design

levee system

diaphragm walls

construction sequencing

alluvial soils

groundwater levels

US Army Corps of Engineers

retaining structure