Seepage problems were recorded for more then 40 years at the Walter F. George
lock and dam. In 2001 the Mobile district of The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
turned to the installation of a 200 feet deep cut-off in a final attempt to remedy the
situation. The advertised design-built contract requested the installation of the cutoff
wall in front of the concrete structure of the dam starting from 90 feet of water, cutting
through a concrete lock structure, a submerged retaining wall and extending on both
sides on the earthen embankments.
This paper summarize the history of the project and the installation of the first
recorded cut-off wall constructed under deep water, upstream to an existing dam
structures and under an existing concrete lock.
The technology used combined with the project's results may be considered a
milestone in the marine foundation and the marine cut-off wall construction
technology.
Author: Gianfranco Di Cicco & Riccardo Pertocelli, Treviicos Corporation
Publisher: DFI