Warehousing and Logistics

Hackensack Meadowlands Mixed-Use Development

gzadan — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 17:05:17 +0000

Hackensack Meadowlands Mixed-Use Development gzadan Thu, 08/19/2021 - 13:05

Challenge

Melick-Tully, a Division of GZA (MTA) has been a design partner with Hartz Mountain Industries since the late 1970’s as they have successfully transformed the area from a swamp to a state-of-the-art retail, office and residential complex with adjacent industrial and warehouse space. The geology of New Jersey’s Hackensack Meadowlands presents complex geotechnical engineering challenges which include historic fill, compressible organic soils, and soft glacial lake sediments extending to depths of up to 200 feet in some areas.

Solution

Design and building solutions have included high capacity end-bearing piles, low-capacity friction piles to “float�� lighter structures, and ground improvement programs including surcharging and deep dynamic compaction.

Benefit

MTA served as a valued partner throughout the design and construction process for this challenging wetlands location, providing geotechnical solutions that made construction possible on this highly valued real estate which is just minutes from Manhattan.

��Ϸ��tlands site
Challenging soil conditions
Geotechnical evaluation
Pile design, load testing and monitoring
Construction monitoring

Buildings & Real Estate Development

Geotechnical Engineering Services

Scannell Properties Warehouse Development

gzadan — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 17:45:56 +0000

Scannell Properties Warehouse Development gzadan Tue, 09/29/2020 - 13:45

Challenge

Melick-Tully and Associates, a Division of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA), was retained by Scannell Properties to provide environmental and geotechnical engineering services for a large site being redeveloped into a 215,440 square foot warehouse facility. A 45-foot grade differential added complexity to the geotechnical engineering design.

Solution

To support the developer’s due diligence, GZA completed a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment of the approximately 35-acre, vacant woodland site which had prior agricultural uses in portions of the property. GZA also performed the initial subsurface investigation and provided foundation recommendations for the proposed warehouse which would bear on the gneiss bedrock, natural silty sands, and controlled compacted fill. Following the initial geotechnical investigation, GZA performed a supplemental investigation with additional test pits to assist with the stormwater design.

The grade changes of over 45 feet within the site’s improved areas necessitated a retaining wall with a maximum height of up to 30 feet adjacent to the building on the site’s northeastern perimeter, while blasting and jackhammering a 10-foot cut was required along the northwestern and southern perimeters.

GZA was on-site during general site earthwork construction—to observe construction of the building pad and retaining wall, installation and backfill of subsurface utilities, foundation excavations, and the asphalt paving operations—and provided periodic progress reports to the client. GZA effectively implemented the use of lime stabilization to heat and dry soils impacted by rain/frost during winter earthwork operations. GZA was involved in this project through completion of the access roadways and parking lots.

Benefit

GZA’s multidisciplinary team addressed a site with challenging geologic conditions, maintaining earthwork operations throughout inclement winter weather to facilitate the developer’s schedule.

Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
Geotechnical engineering
Subsurface investigations and foundation recommendations
Distribution center
On-site earthwork construction services

Buildings & Real Estate Development

Geotechnical Engineering Services

Prologis Triport Warehouse Development

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 15:17:25 +0000

Prologis Triport Warehouse Development Anonymous Mon, 09/23/2019 - 11:17

Challenge

Prologis, a leader in logistics real estate development, turned to Melick-Tully, a Division of GZA, to provide the geotechnical engineering services needed to develop a large, strategically located property with very challenging soil conditions and complex project requirements.

The project involved construction of a 540,000 square foot warehouse building and a new 1900-foot-long rail siding in poor soil conditions. The site was part of the former Kapkowski Road Landfill and subsurface conditions consisted of the landfill materials overlying a layer of peat and organic silt, in-turn underlain by competent silts and sands. Adding complexity, the new rail lines required a 500-foot wetland crossing and construction across twin 14-inch diameter jet fuel lines to nearby Newark International Airport.

Solution

��Ϸ�� performed subsurface explorations to develop design solutions for the ground improvements; these included dynamic compaction and surcharging for pavements and improvements, and support of the building and portions of the new rail spur on controlled modulus columns (CMCs). ��Ϸ�� also monitored and instrumented the ground improvement and provided on-site observation of the earthwork and foundation construction.

Benefit

Our experience with similar soil conditions and success with ground improvement techniques helped move the development along more quickly than if more traditional ground improvement techniques had been implemented.

Insights

Challenging soil conditions
Complex site conditions, including wetlands, rail lines, and underground fuel lines
Effective ground improvement solutions developed

New Jersey

Buildings & Real Estate Development

Institutional

Geotechnical Engineering Services

Land Use and Environmental Planning

Construction Management

Bridge Point 78

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 15:11:10 +0000

Bridge Point 78 Anonymous Mon, 09/23/2019 - 11:11

Challenge

Melick-Tully Associates (MTA), a division of GZA, is providing geotechnical engineering services at this long-vacant, 383-acre site being redeveloped into a four-million-square-foot warehouse complex in the booming Central New Jersey/Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania distribution corridor. The former industrial site presents numerous engineering challenges, including diverse subsurface conditions caused by geologic and historic use; differing land use and regulatory requirements from the two towns in which the complex resides; and environmental impacts from the site’s former industrial owner.

Solution

GZA compiled and reviewed previous subsurface investigations conducted at the property, then performed supplemental subsurface investigations and provided foundation recommendations for the first four buildings in the development, which range in size from 175,000 to 975,000 square feet. The site conditions encountered include slabs and foundations of numerous former industrial buildings, a former mine, existing utilities and tunnels, two former landfills, and soil management restrictions on environmentally impacted soils. Additionally, the property’s geologic composition of dolomite rock is prone to sinkhole formation. Due to these highly variable existing surface and subsurface conditions, GZA tailored site preparation for each building to suit the specific conditions present at each location. Two of the four building areas required ground improvement, consisting of deep dynamic compaction (DDC), to prepare unsuitable soils to support the proposed foundations. GZA also developed foundation recommendations to account for the Karst conditions.

Benefit

GZA’s geotechnical engineers provided the expertise to address a high-profile site that was challenging not only for its geologic, environmental, regulatory and subsurface conditions, but for the monumental scale of earthwork and building involved in Bridge Point 78, the nation’s largest industrial development project of 2019.

Insights

Geotechnical engineering
Subsurface investigations and foundation recommendations
DDC ground improvements
Highly varied and challenging geologic, environmental and subsurface conditions
Compliance with multiple towns�� land use requirements
Nation’s largest industrial project of 2019

New Jersey

Buildings & Real Estate Development

Industrial

Geotechnical Engineering Services

Land Use and Environmental Planning

Former BH Aircraft Site Brownfield Redevelopment

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 15:00:51 +0000

Former BH Aircraft Site Brownfield Redevelopment Anonymous Mon, 09/23/2019 - 11:00

Challenge

GZA provided environmental engineering at this former industrial site to remediate high levels of soil vapor caused by chlorinated solvents released to the subsurface from industrial leaching pools and other operations. The owner’s drive to begin business operations as an auto dealership center concurrent with demolition and other redevelopment activities at the site added urgency and complexity to the project.

Solution

While previous remedial activities designed by others had addressed the source of the chlorinated solvents, high levels of chlorinated solvent vapors remained at the site, resulting in the potential for vapor intrusion to on-site buildings and migration off-site. GZA designed and installed a soil vapor extraction system along the site’s perimeter to mitigate off-site migration of soil vapor. GZA’s remedial solution for groundwater contamination involves monitored natural attenuation and residual soil contamination is managed by a protective cover system. To allow the new owner to begin using the site as quickly as possible, GZA submitted and received approval for an Interim Remedial Measure plan to remove and abandon industrial leaching pools and former septic systems on site early in the project, while demolition and other activities were also taking place; this required additional project planning and sequencing.

Benefit

��Ϸ��ll-versed in the requirements of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Brownfield Cleanup Program, GZA moved expeditiously to gain approval for interim measures allowing the client to commence business operations at the site, while designing a comprehensive remedial solution to meet the regulatory agency’s rigorous, site-wide requirements for remediation of chlorinated solvents in soil vapor, groundwater, and soil.

Insights

Environmental engineering
NYSDEC Brownfield Cleanup Program
Chlorinated solvent remediation
Design and installation of soil vapor extraction system

New York

Institutional

Environmental Site Investigation & Remediation

EHS Regulatory Compliance