Abstract:
The SoleMia development is located in an area of North Miami, Florida currently undergoing revitalization. The overall site sits atop 184 acres of a former municipal waste landfill that was closed about 41 years ago. The master-planned site has been divided into development parcels and has been approximately 50 percent built-out since 2015. Langan is the geotechnical engineer of record for the project and been involved in the design and development of the major roadways, an 8-acre Crystal Lagoon, two 18-story residential towers, two large mixed-used 6-story complexes, a shopping center and a 7-story hospital. Currently, we are also being engaged in high-rise development parcels (30+ stories), which are planned for the near future.
The landfill material varies in thickness, but is typically about 20 to 25 ft thick and it needs be kept in place during the development. Long-term instrumented pilot test programs were created and implemented by Langan to evaluate the effectiveness of deep dynamic compaction (DDC) and preloading in order to minimize/effectively eliminate the short and long-term settlement impacts of landfill on the proposed development site. Production site improvement has included DDC and/or preloading for support of roadways, parking lots, major underground utilities and light ground features.
Medium to high capacity Augered Cast-In-Place (ACIP) piles foundation system was evaluated and ultimately used for support of the buildings/towers, including the ground floor slabs. Pile installation through landfill and negative skin friction on the piles due to settlement had to be considered in design. Special consideration was given to pile sizing and steel cage diameter in our design to bypass the landfill material.
This paper/presentation will take the audience through the conceptualizing, design, testing, implementation, challenges overcame and lessons learned on a large-scale Class A development being built over a trash.