The Stevens Gateway Project is an expansion of the Stevens Institute campus overlooking the Hudson River in Hoboken, NJ. The plans call for 90, 000 ft2 (8360 m2) of new classroom, research, and student life facilities in new, 4-story buildings. The excavations for the building footprints were bounded by city streets and existing buildings, including the historic Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering, built in 1902. Pit underpinning was originally specified for the Carnegie building. However, given the depth of cut, construction time required for the 13 ft (4.9 m) deep pits would be substantial. The geotechnical contractor retained for the support of excavation work therefore offered an innovative active soil nail wall design that would meet project requirements in a shorter timeframe. Unlike the passive soil nail systems common in the industry that are chiefly used for soil slope stabilization, active soil nail walls contain pre-stressed anchor components to resist soil movement and limit settlement of soil and structures being contained. In addition to a discussion of the overall design approach of the active soil nail wall system, this paper will include a detailed description of its constructability and effectiveness. This project’s use of a conventional slope stabilization technique for an unconventional purpose may have positive implications going forward.
Subjects: Soil Nail Wall, Active Soil Nail, Support of Excavation, Shoring, Shotcrete, Shotcrete Wall
Author: Yaser Taheri, P.E., Maxim C. Schisler, P.E. and Tai Luu, P.E.