Virginia Military Institute Case Studies
Situation: The Virginia Military Institute, established in 1839 and located in the
scenic Shenandoah Valley Town of Lexington, Virginia, started a multi-million
dollar renovation in late 2003. This renovation would include major remodeling
of existing structures, the addition of new buildings and a facelift of
the grounds and athletic facilities. The Architectural Engineering firm
of Hayes, Seay, Mattern and Mattern was contracted for the design and
engineering of the project. Lt Col Dale R. Brown, P.E., a graduate of
Norwich University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
and Master of Science in engineering management from the University of
Alaska, Anchorage, was assigned as Project Engineer.
Solution: The renovation included many phases that enlisted the specialties of
several firms. Ram Jack of Virginia, LLC, was involved in a total of five
phases on this project. They were contacted to supply the anchors for
the new Mega-Tron sign for the football stadium renovation. These anchors
required both a tension and compression capacity to resist combined structural
and wind loading on the sign. Ram Jack of Virginia, LLC, along with Bob
Oliver P.E., an engineer that they have worked closely with on many projects
in the past, and the Ram Jack® Technical-Engineering Team, were able
to design a helical foundation made up of 3.5” diameter shafts with
a multi-helix configuration to meet the design load requirements for the
project. The second phase of the renovation for Ram Jack of Virginia was
the shoring and tieback systems of the excavated embankment for the Construction
of the new Barracks and renovation of Barracks Three. The third phase
included the support of the foundation on Barracks Three so that the soil
could be removed directly beside the foundation to the depth of the new
foundation, approximately 6 feet below the existing foundation. The design
required the support of the 10,000 pound per foot weight of the structure
with the shaft of the pier being unconfined for 6 feet along with the
column weights of 20,000 per linear foot. The Ram Jack® Deep Driven
Steel with an Extended Guide Sleeve was the product used to meet the design
criteria. The ability of Ram Jack® to provide a Variable Length Guide
Sleeve gives Engineers and Contractors a reliable Piering System for a
variety of soil and load conditions. With limited access, Ram Jack of
Virginia, LLC was able to perform the job by spacing the piers on the
wall of the structure 3 feet apart and the piers on the columns 1.5 feet
apart giving each pier a working load of 30,000 pounds. The first four
feet of the strata was rock and required the pre-drilling of each hole
through the rock for the installation of each pier. These piers proved
to provide the needed support for the existing foundation during the excavation
for and the placement of the new Barracks foundation.
Conclusion: Because Ram Jack of Virginia, LLC, is a full service company and was
able to fulfill the requirements of all the projects assigned to them
they were also contracted for two additional phases of the project involving
waterproofing.
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