Remote Drilled Shaft Testing Data Collection and Complex CSL - Kentucky Lock Case Study-PPT Presentation

PPT Presentation

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The Kentucky Lock project in Paducah, Kentucky, is enlarging the downstream lock, originally opened in 1942, to accommodate larger vessels. Testing was required for 20 drilled shafts, each 5 feet in diameter and 21–60 feet long, with a vertically installed steel I-beam and web stiffeners. Requirements included shaft verticality within 2%, a clean base with no more than 0.25 inches of debris at any location, and cross-hole sonic logging (CSL) integrity evaluations.<br /><br />Remote testing was used for verticality and base cleanliness. After scheduling and connecting field equipment to a tablet and site network, tests were run and reviewed in real time; data were then downloaded and formal reports generated. Base-cleanliness testing used the SQUID, with two runs per location. Remote workflows offered easier scheduling, more efficient use of personnel, faster reporting, and fewer travel-related emissions. The presentation estimates that 25 days of remote testing avoided about 12,000 kg of CO₂-equivalent emissions.<br /><br />CSL interpretation was complicated by steel signal disruption and short tubes. Each shaft had 12 CSL tubes, and results were modeled across five profiles. Analysis of profiles passing through steel showed that signal reliability varied with the number of steel obstructions: profiles with zero to two pass-throughs were rated good in 79% of cases, while profiles with three to four pass-throughs were rated poor/flaw in 60% of cases. The findings suggest CSL can provide useful information through steel, but results become less dependable as the number of steel pass-throughs increases.

Keywords

Kentucky Lock

Paducah

drilled shafts

remote testing

verticality

base cleanliness

cross-hole sonic logging

CSL

steel interference

CO2 emissions