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s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 1

Today, perhaps more than ever, we look to industry and manufacturers to strengthen this country’s financial standing. Meet three industrial facilities that are building impressive futures—and keeping our nation moving ahead. Spirit AeroSystems, in Kinston, North Carolina, is designing and manufacturing parts for the Airbus A350 XWB. Dow Chemical/Townsend Kokam is breaking ‘green’ ground with its new lithium-power battery plant in Midland, Michigan. And Kia built its first North American manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia. Read on to see how we helped support these projects and companies. And why we believe we’re helping you support the foundation of our economy at the same time.

INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

Focus on Industrial ProjectsMoving in the Right Direction

I N T H I S I S S U E :

Spirit Aerosystems Facility Kinston, North Carolina

Dow-Kokam Battery Park Midland, Michigan

KIA Manufacturing Plant West Point, Georgia

A Word from KordTech Talk Structural Analysis of Uniformly Loaded Floor Slabs Supported by RAPs

Page 1

“Use of the RAP system enabled us to improve the bearing capacity of the soils from 1200 psf to 4500 psf for column footings. By grouting and reinforcing select piers, we were able to provide sufficient uplift capacity without oversizing the footings,” says Joseph P. Watson III, P.E., group lead structural engineer (Industrial), Haskell Architects and Engineers.

“Subsurface conditions consisted of approximately 10 to 15 feet of soft, loose soils subject to high settlement. The project is to house highly sensitive equipment used to manufacture airplane parts, so excessive settlement could not be tolerated. Foundation work was begun during the wet season, during which the site soils were most sensitive to disturbances caused by construction traffic,” Watson adds.

According to Jerry Langford, senior project manager with Haskell, the project had a successful finish. “GeoStructures met all of our needs on site and the System utilized allowed us to have several trades on the building pad working simultaneously. Cost, efficiency and the ability to adapt to various design intentions were the key elements to the success with the Grouted Impact System,” Langford says.

Now, the sky’s the limit for this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.

T H E F O U N D A T I O N

Using the Grouted Impact® System to Meet Tight Settlement Tolerances for Heavy Loads at an Airplane Manufacturing Facility Spirit Aerosystems Manufacturing Facility in Kinston, North Carolina

The Grouted Impact® System

Spirit Aerosystems Facility

“The project is to house highly sensitive equipment used to manufacture airplane parts, so excessive settlement could not be tolerated.”

— Joseph P. Watson III, Haskell Architects and Engineers

Page 2

To compensate for the shallow groundwater and stabilize the weak soil, the Grouted Impact® System was used at the site. The interactive design-build approach allowed GFC and Geopier® installer GeoStructures, Inc. to work hand-in-hand with Spirit AeroSystems, facilitating a very aggressive construction schedule. The planned 500,000-square-foot facility for the world’s largest supplier of commercial airplanes and components was on a tight deadline, and the use of Grouted Impact elements helped them meet their deadline.

Above the clouds, the Airbus A350 XWB will fly 8,000 miles nonstop and use 25 percent less fuel than what’s currently zipping through the skies. But before it can get off the ground, the ground itself at Spirit AeroSystems Manufacturing Center has to be improved.

Though soil conditions were not a priority when this high-tech, luxury jetliner announced the expansion of its U.S. operation, they quickly became a crucial factor when conditions were evaluated at the planned Kinston, N.C., facility.

A high groundwater table, as well as a project with high loads and tight settlement tolerances, proved to be no problem for the Rammed Aggregate Pier® (RAP) Systems. The family of RAP Systems are unique in that they can be utilized in virtually any ground improvement project, regardless of soil type or load. Soil conditions consisted of a shallow cultivated zone underlain by 10 to 15 feet of soft to stiff sandy clay. This was underlain by loose to medium dense silty sand at a depth of about 20 feet. Groundwater was encountered at EL 72 feet, msl.

“Geopier Foundation Company (GFC) was very responsive with the evolving changes and fast-track nature of the design-build project. This project required GFC’s engineer and the structural engineer to have direct contact with one another during the design process. The different floor loading accounted for storage racks, various heavy equipment, floor supported pipes, forklifts, CMU partitions and large chillers. The RAP System was utilized to support the slab on grade. GFC’s engineer, the structural engineer and construction team worked well together to understand the RAP layout and determine the control joint layout for the slab on grade,” Bergquist says.

In the race for eco-sustainable manufacturing, Dow Chemical Company is taking first place with one of its latest ventures. Teaming up with Townsend Kokam, Dow-Kokam has created the Midland Battery Park. Here, large-format batteries for ‘high-performance, high-end’ electric cars will be built. These prismatic lithium-polymer batteries will also power unmanned military ground and air vehicles and specialty industrial products.

The importance of this facility to our future sustainability was evidenced by the attendance of Vice President Joe Biden, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Dow-Kokam Chief Executive Officer Ravi Shanker at the groundbreaking ceremony. But before Dow-Kokam helps hybrid vehicles zoom through the streets, the facility itself needed firm ground on which to be built. The data from a series of soil borings revealed two to 10 feet of fill including loose silty sand and uncontrolled material with clay layers. Because of former houses near the streets, along with past earthmoving and excavating, the depth of fill material varied across the site. A buried topsoil layer was present below the fill, followed by stiff to very hard clay extending to depths of 30 plus feet. Perched groundwater was encountered between three and nine feet below ground surface.

THE INTERMEDIATE FOUNDATION LEADER

Geopier® Brings Design / Build Engineering Support To An ElectricCar Battery Manufacturing Facility Dow-Kokam Electric Car Battery Manufacturing Facility in Midland, Michigan

Continued on page 4...

“Geopier was very responsive with the evolving changes and fast-track nature of the design-build project.”

—Warren C. Bergquist, Alper Audi, Inc.

Rampact® Installation

Page 3

Loose silty sand fill

Topsoil

Stiff to very hard clay

In addition to reducing settlement potential and providing an increased bearing capacity, the ground improvement solution required would also have to be flexible and responsive to an ever-changing set of building requirements. The RAP solution using the Rampact® System effectively met all three of those needs. According to Warren C. Bergquist, LEED AP BD+C, structural engineer with Alper Audi, Inc., the flexibility of the Rammed Aggregate Pier® System was key.

Vice President Joe Biden

Kord Wissmann, Ph.D., P.E.President/Chief Engineer

Geopier Foundation Company kwissmann@geopier.com

S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

What is it to be an American? Many would traditionally say that we are a people with “pioneering” characteristics: ▪ Upward mobility through hard work - Tough. Fair. Generous. Optimistic.

▪ These values seem hardly in line with the fast times we have recently had with easy money - Little to no sweat equity needed. Booming wealth.

Our financial crisis came and went, the curtain fell and we collectively were left “holding the bag” with 9% unemployment rate and ballooningly enormous private and public budget deficits. It’s gotten so bad that our elective officials are actually even talking to each other (Washington) or, alternatively, walking out on each other (Wisconsin). Those in the know well understand that when our debt exceeds 100% of our GDP, only bad things can happen.

We’ve had some key victories too. We avoided the collapse of the finance industry, our corporations rapidly slashed costs and stabilized earnings, and, with the help of the weak dollar, we are seeing the

recovery of our manufacturing sector.

But the new tomorrow is not going to be a return to the fast times of recent years past. Our new future will look a lot more like the America of old. Money is scarce. Competition for that money is fierce. The pendulum is swinging away from instant gratification and towards low cost solutions. And with the beast that is inflation waiting behind the door, price pressure will increase and not abate. The changes will bring us threats and opportunities. Price pressure will generate lower quality services throughout the entire sector. High-end providers will have to prove that their work really adds value because our owners simply won’t have the money to pay for anything but. Folks that understand how to lower their costs while still offering value will thrive and the emerging economy will allow innovative service providers with increased opportunities for game-changing solutions. Our readjusted values are

really those embedded right here in the foundation of Americanism.

That’s not such a bad thing to come home to, is it?

Back To Our Roots

A Word from K o r d

“The foundation was evolving with the various mezzanines, stairs and future expansions. Loading was sometimes updated within a few days from when GFC was scheduled to install their System. Their flexibility was crucial to meeting the construction deadlines. A future expansion was designed into the foundation system,” he adds.

To help reinforce this single-story, 350,000-square-foot plant, GFC installed Rampact® piers to reinforce the fill and buried topsoil layers.

Chris Johnecheck, senior geotechnical engineer with Wilcox Professional Services, LLC, adds his thoughts about the Rampact® System.

“The varying shallow subsurface conditions, range of design loads and settlement criteria associated with such a large building, and construction schedule posed the biggest challenges for this project. The design flexibility of the RAP system accommodated the first two challenges in an economical manner compared to other foundation support options while the design and construction team were able to successfully address the third challenge.”

When completed in 2015, this $600 million, 800,000-square-foot facility will have the capacity to manufacture 1.2 billion watt hours of lithium-ion batteries—enough to run 60,000 fully electric vehicles annually. Now that’s accelerating energy solutions.

Page 4

History was made with the announcement of Kia Motors first U.S. manufacturing plant. The $1 billion automotive assembly and manufacturing plant would be built on 2,259 acres in West Point, Ga. It was the largest project of its kind for the State of Georgia. And Kia’s first venture onto North American soil would soon find itself on deep troubled - soft soils that needed to support heavy loads. A firm foundation would be vital before construction of the plant could begin.

The soil profiles and load requirements varied at the massive site that would eventually include five buildings: an assembly shop, welding shop, mobis shop, powertech shop, hysco shop and an office and utility facility. A subsurface soil evaluation showed zero to 25 feet of fill overlying residual soil. The fill generally consisted of loose to medium dense silty sand and the residual soil consisted of firm to very stiff sandy silt.

When evaluating options for ground improvement, both the family of Rammed Aggregate Pier® (RAP) Systems and driven piles were considered. In the end, a combination of RAP Systems was chosen because, in addition to strengthening the soil, it was far cheaper and faster than driven piles.

SPRING / SUMMER 2011T H E F O U N D A T I O N

Combining Rammed Aggregate Pier® Systems to Support Heavy Loads in Soft Soil for a New Automobile PlantKia Automobile Manufacturing Plant in West Point, Georgia

Geopier Foundation Company (GFC) has many technologies that can be used singularly or in tandem to address various soil conditions. After initially evaluating the specific hurdles in a project, in this case the very heavy loads to be built upon soft, silty soils, the GFC team of engineers can then design using the appropriate technology or technologies for that situation. The Kia Manufacturing site utilized both the Impact® System and the traditional Geopier® System.

Using the Impact and Geopier systems together, sustainable foundation support was achieved. The construction schedule called for a swift and sound solution, which was readily attained through the system’s high production rates.

At full capacity, the Kia Manufacturing Plant has the capability to manufacture 300,000 vehicles annually. Many jobs on site, as well as those of suppliers, have evolved since the plant was constructed and began operations in 2009. Creating new jobs is always good news for the industry of America, and Geopier Foundation Company is proud to have been an integral part of this economic expansion.

Rammed Aggregate Pier® installation on site

Page 5

Cars in production

The Geopier® System

Request Your FREE Copy of Technical Bulletin #10

Structural Analysis of Uniformly

Loaded Floor Slabs Supported by

Rammed Aggregate Piers®

Contact Geopier Foundation Company 800-371-7470 or more@geopier.com

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©2011. Geopier®, Rammed Aggregate Pier®, Impact® Rampact® and Intermediate Foundation® are registered trademarks of Geopier Foundation Company. The Rammed Aggregate Pier® Systems are protected under U.S. Patent Nos. 6,425,713; 6,688,815; 6,988,855; 5,249,892; 7,226,246; 6,354,766; 7,004,684; 6,354,768; 7,326,004 and other patents pending. The information contained herein has been carefully compiled by Geopier Foundation Company and to the best of its knowledge accurately represents RAP product use in the applications, which are illustrated. Printed in the U.S.A.

Help us be “Green”: receive The Foundation electronically. Please e-mail your request to: marketing@geopier.com.

Tech TalkStructural Analysis of Uniformly Loaded Floor Slabs Supported by RAPs

Rammed Aggregate Pier soil reinforcing elements are commonly used to support concrete floor slabs in lieu of deep foundations or massive excavation and recompaction. The piers reduce total and differential settlements because of their high strength and high stiffness characteristics. Because of the variation in pier stiffness with respect to in-situ soil stiffness however, the commonly-used assumption of uniform sub-grade support is not appropriate. The dissimilar slab support conditions, consisting of high stiffness at the pier locations and relatively low stiffness between the piers, leads to the development of bending moments and shear stresses within the slab under applied load.

GFC’s Technical Bulletin #10 discusses the structural analysis of uniformly loaded floor slabs supported by RAPs. The design of the floor slabs should consider the non-uniform support conditions offered by the stiff RAP reinforcing elements in contrast with the relatively soft matrix soil between piers. These non-uniform support conditions may be studied using structural finite elements analyses.

The resulting data is explained by a series of finite element analyses performed to quantify the bending moment and shear stress conditions that develop in relatively thin slabs supported by RAPs. This bulletin provides design charts that may be used to estimate required concrete slab thickness for a uniformly distributed loading condition.

For further details concerning the support of floor slabs with RAPs, request Technical Bulletin #10.