The White Oak development consists of an 8+ story residential building with multiple parking levels located in the historical Houston Heights neighborhood.  The structure has heavy foundation loads with typical column loads up to 1,200 kips. 

The client’s challenge on this project was developing a cost-effective foundation solution that could limit settlements to 1 inch or less under heavy column loads.

Subsurface conditions at the project site consist of undocumented fills and soft/loose native soils in the upper 10 to 20 ft.  Below the fill and soft/loose soils, the subsurface conditions turn to stiffer/denser interbedded and intermixed layers of clayey soils (CL and CH) and silty/clayey sands (SC, SM).  Without deep foundation or ground improvements, anticipated settlements beneath the heavily loaded structure exceeded the allowable criteria.

The project team wanted to limit settlements to 1 inch or less under the heavy column loads.  The project structural engineer and geotechnical engineer recommended the Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier® (RAP) solution as an alternative to deep foundations.  Geopier® developed an engineered solution that reinforced the undocumented fills and soft/loose native soils, limiting total settlements to 1 inch or less.  PCI installed Geopier X1® rammed aggregate piers to depths up to 20 feet below grade.  The Geopier solution added tremendous value to the project including significant cost savings, a significant reduction in schedule, and high design bearing pressures (8 ksf).