56The Military Engineer L January-February L 2010 Challenges Facing Gate Construction The future North Gate site encom- passes an area of about 12.5 acres and straddles a former gravel mining and dumping area called the Aspen Area Disposal Area (AADA), which is part of a restoration site designated Operable Unit 12 (OU-12). Investigations have shown construction debris, large con- crete footings, bricks, clay pipe, drums and asbestos-containing materials (ACM) in this area. Soil contaminated by volatile organic compounds (VOC) and an intact drum with tarlike material containing VOCs were discovered dur- ing trenching events. The construction debris and various types of contamination located in the AADA pose challenges to the develop- ment of the gate both from a geotech- nical and worker-health perspective. In addition, the contamination in the soil and debris is believed to be a continu- ing source of VOC groundwater con- tamination at OU-12. The debris ?eld covers several acres of the site and extends to a depth of about 15-ft below ground surface. Contamina- tion, including VOCs, non-VOCs, metals and ACM, appears to be primarily con- tained in the upper 20-ft, but VOC con- tamination may also extend to ground- water at about 110-ft below the surface. To facilitate gate construction and si- multaneously address the continued source of groundwater contamination, Hill AFB developed a strategic approach to remove VOCs sourcing to the ground- water, eliminate construction worker human health risk and leave the site in a geotechnically-sound condition ready for construction, all while minimizing soil and debris excavation and off-site disposal. Achieving Consensus The North Gate project involves many stakeholders, including federal and state regulators, Hill AFB, the EUL developer, the surrounding communi- ties and other interested parties, all with different goals and measures of success. With this in mind, the Air Force, with input from the U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency and Utah Department of Environmental Quality, designed a performance-based site cleanup con- tract with the following performance objectives: s Remove construction debris to facili- tate construction of the North Gate and additional site characterization. s Remediate the site, including: remove impacted materials and cap with clean soil so North Gate construction workers will not be exposed to con- taminants; remove VOC-impacted soil that has the ability to contribute to groundwater contamination to a maximum depth of 20-ft; reuse soils from another remediation project as deep back?ll; remove debris and contaminated soil to allow for future construction of a utility corridor. s Characterize three zones: soil from ground surface down to 20-ft, the maximum excavation depth for this project; soil from 20-ft to 110-ft; and groundwater at 110-ft. s Coordinate construction with the EUL engineer to achieve maximum cost bene?t to all parties. s Minimize soil removal volumes. s Use concrete debris and other waste soils as back?ll. s Meet a project completion deadline of March 31, 2011. Planning for a Successful Project CH2M HILL was selected under the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment Design-Build, Restore, Remediate (DBR2) contract to remedi- ate the North Gate site and prepare it for gate construction. Because the contract was designed to be performance-based, the project team was tasked with re- storing the site according to the perfor- mance objectives and, with input from other stakeholders, providing the tech- nical path for how each performance objective will be met. CH2M HILL chose a three-phased approach for performing North Gate site restoration: (1) Phase I Remedia- tion, consisting primarily of removing debris to facilitate characterization and gate construction; (2) targeted charac- terization to identify remaining debris, impacted soils that require removal or remediation, and deeper soils that may be sourcing to groundwater; and (3) Phase II Remediation, consisting of removing remaining debris that may impact gate construction and removing or remediating soils above 20-ft below ground surface that may be sourcing to groundwater. Characterization of the areas of de- bris, especially the soil under the debris, has historically been dif?cult to per- form. Additionally, because it is dif?cult to assess the strength and performance of non-homogeneous materials that do not have consistent geotechnical prop- erties, the debris areas pose a geotech- nical challenge. Standard methods of assessing the in-situ geotechnical prop- erties of subsurface materials are not al- ways applicable in areas of debris. Due to these dif?culties and project time constraints, developing a detailed reme- dial design before the start of construc- tion is not possible. The project requires an iterative approach in which work plans are developed with decision logic used to make real-time decisions, often in the ?eld, as data become available. In addition to this iterative approach to remediation, nontraditional geotech- nical testing will be performed. To min- imize soil removal volumes, some soil containing debris material will be left in place below paved areas. The geotech- nical characteristics of these areas will be tested in place using ?eld measure- ments. These tests include plate bear- ing tests, which directly measure the de?ection of the subgrade due to a load applied in the ?eld. Progress This unique project is currently in the design stage, with project completion projected for spring 2011. A signi?cant amount of planning has been completed and extensive coordination among stake- holders will continue as new data are ac- quired and new challenges arise. David E. Waite, P.E., is Senior Project Man- ager, CH2M HILL; 801-350-5272, or david. waite@ch2m.com. Mark F. Roginske, P.E., is Project Manager, U.S. Air Force 75th Civil Engineering Group, and Mark S. Holt, M.SAME, is Engineer, Plans and Programs Directorate, Ogden Air Logis- tics Center, Hill Air Force Base. They can be reached at 801-775-3651, or mark.roginske@ hill.af.mil respectively.
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