68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference

SITE PREPARATION FOR VANCOUVER AIRPORT DESIGNER OUTLET CENTRE, RICHMOND, BC

Session: Problematic Soils and Ground Improvement I / Sols problématiques et amélioration du comportement I

Mustapha Zergoun, Thurber Engineering Ltd. (Canada)
Ivan Rivera Cruz, Thurber Engineering Ltd. (Canada)
Gunther Yip, Thurber Engineering Ltd. (Canada)

This is a case history of the site preparation for a commercial development near Vancouver International Airport, British Columbia. The low elevation of the site required filling for flood protection from the adjacent Fraser River. The subsurface conditions included soft compressible deltaic deposits that can generate large settlement under fill loads and loose sand-silt that can liquefy under the design earthquake. The site investigation and analysis concentrated on estimating post-construction settlement and assessing soil liquefaction under the design seismic event. A preload was carried out to reduce post-construction settlement. In-depth soil densification was used to mitigate soil liquefaction. The site preparation was complicated by the proximity of a light rail transit and a jet fuel pipeline. The settlement analysis used calibration from historical field monitoring data from a nearby highway embankment. Both CPT and Tests results are presented.