Morris-Shea Installs 527 DeWaal Piles at College Point Logistics Distribution and Warehousing Center in Queens, New York

COLLEGE POINT LOGISTICS CENTER
QUEENS, NEW YORK

MORRIS-SHEA PROJECT COMPONENTS:
DEWAAL PILES
16 INCH DIAMETER – 527 PILES

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Morris-Shea installed 527 16 inch diameter DeWaal Piles as deep foundation for the new College Point Logistics distribution and warehousing center in Queens, New York. The logistics complex is located near Whitestone Expressway with easy access to major highways, airports and railroads. The expansive light industrial center will incorporate an 81,000 square foot building with 160,000 square feet of parking structure. Birmingham-based Morris-Shea successfully completed the project in three phases under conditions made difficult by inclement weather and job site concerns.|

DEWAAL PILE SYSTEM
Our engineers proposed the installation of DeWaal Piles, rather than the originally specified foundation system. The structural load requirements and the job site’s subsurface soil conditions recommended the use of DeWaal Piles as an improved Value Engineered Alternate. The DeWaal Pile System is a drilled, full displacement, cast-in-place concrete pile installed by powerful, fixed mast drill rigs capable of applying high rotational torque and crowd forces to the unique DeWaal tool. This single-pass process densifies the soil, improves shaft friction and increases overall pile capacity.

SOIL CONDITIONS
The Morris-Shea team drilled 527 DeWaal Piles to depths of 85 feet to 102 feet through uncontrolled fill, into silt and clay strata, to termination in sand and gravel. The uncontrolled fill consisted of miscellaneous silt, organics and construction debris. The deeper silt strata extended to 80 feet below existing grade. Clay soils were encountered at 85 feet to 102 feet below grade. Layers of sand and gravel, underlying the silt and clay strata, ranged in depths from 65 to 102 feet below ground surface.
CONSTRUCTION SITE
Morris-Shea mobilized at College Point with limited access to the Phase 1 job site due to issues with  underground  utilities and site fencing. The deep foundation team progressed with production piles in Phases 1 and 2 at a construction site that was not conditioned for inclement weather, creating challenges regarding equipment navigation and pile installation. Morris-Shea completed the project in less than 30 days, utilizing a DR-130 PVE 90 drill rig with DeWaal tooling and a Liebherr concrete pump.