During the runway expansion project at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida (FLL project), therewere complicated geotechnical issues with a number of cavities in the limestone-loose sand mixed ground thatexisted in many areas below the existing ground. Collapsing the cavities and compacting the runway foundation to secure the take-off and landing of aircrafts was a necessary requirement for the project. The Mammoth Vibro-Tamper (MVT) which produces less vibration and noise level, was proposed and accepted as the alternative to the originally specified Deep Dynamic Compaction (DDC) for the runway with its length of 1.5 miles and area of 570, 000 square yards. In this report, the shallow compaction effect and reduced ground vibration with the MVT are presented in comparison with the DDC which was utilized on the same project in a different area of the airport.
Subjects: airport, densification, shallow compaction, ground improvement
Author: Mitsuo Nozu, Frank Vespi, Kazunori Matsushita, Emi Walder
Publisher: DFI