Foundation Support of the Lilly Medicine Foundry in Lebanon, IN-Paper

Paper

Pdf Summary

Eli Lilly’s $4.5 billion Medicine Foundry in Lebanon, Indiana, combines pharmaceutical research and manufacturing across facilities producing peptides, oligonucleotides, and small molecules. The project includes a Central Utility Building (CUB) and extensive utility infrastructure. Buildings were constructed on elevated engineered-fill pads over glacial deposits, with heavy column and floor loads and a strict maximum total settlement limit of ¾ inch.<br /><br />To meet capacity and settlement requirements, the foundations use augered cast-in-place (ACIP) piles beneath building columns and rigid inclusions (RIs) beneath floors. The CUB uses RIs beneath columns and floors; the Peptide 1 facility uses 20-inch ACIP piles for columns and 14-inch RIs for floors. RI depth and spacing vary with floor loading, while pile lengths were standardized to target elevations. Approximately 6,500 ACIP piles and 4,700 RIs were installed.<br /><br />A key design challenge was assessing the stiffness of heterogeneous glacial till. Conventional CPT, SPT, and laboratory correlations suggested lower stiffness than seismic CPT shear-wave data. Load testing supported the higher stiffness estimates, enabling more economical designs while demonstrating that settlement criteria could be met. Compression tests indicated ultimate capacities of about 280 tons for a test RI and 625 tons for a test pile. Lateral testing of a Peptide 1 pile also supported the design assumptions.<br /><br />Construction began while facility designs and utility layouts were still evolving, requiring close coordination and adaptable installation plans. The paper also discusses practical challenges such as drilling refusal, deep pile cutoffs, excavation around installed inclusions, and sequencing foundation work alongside other trades.

Keywords

Eli Lilly

Medicine Foundry

pharmaceutical manufacturing

augered cast-in-place piles

rigid inclusions

glacial till

foundation settlement

seismic CPT

load testing

engineered-fill pads