Good Year Tire Case Studies

Situation: The Goodyear Tire & Service Network was in the process of installing an automobile lift into the slab of a repair center. The installation contractor saw-cut a 5 ft. x 8 ft. rectangle opening in the floor to excavate soils and install a Rotary brand hydraulic lift. The hole was dug out with a backhoe and set aside. The ground appeared to be solid natural soil. Water from an unknown source began entering the hole. This water caused dirt located under the adjoining slab to slough off into the hole. Shortly thereafter, a decision was made not to install the hydraulic lift as originally planned and to repair the floor.

Solution: Saturated dirt at the bottom of the hole is not capable of supporting new backfill or concrete slab. The new slab must be supported by solid ground located under the saturated earth at the bottom of the hole. The engineer recommended the installation of helical piers that extended through the saturated earth down into the solid ground below.

Conclusion: The engineer called Michael Seebeck to discuss the situation and singularly recommend Ram Jack of TN to solve the problem. We submitted a proposal following the engineer's recommendations and was approved. Work began immediately, installing two [2] Ram Jack 2-3/8" single helicals with preconstruction brackets, filled the hole with 21 tons of #57 gravel, dowel #4 rebar into exposed edges of existing concrete slab on 18" cc, installed #4 mat of steel spaced 18" each way prior to pouring concrete, poured concrete over gravel and preconstruction brackets, and filled voids under the existing concrete slab adjacent to the hole with polyurethane foam.

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