GeoStructures, Inc.

Owner:

University of Pennsylvania

Architect:

Ballinger, KPMB, KSS and HWKN, Bahlin Jackson Cywinski, Mills + Schnoering

General Contractor:

Hunter Roberts, Intech, L.F. Driscoll Company

Client:

University of Pennsylvania

Scope Of Work

Penn has a proud tradition of translating knowledge into social-minded action that dates back to it’s founder, Benjamin Franklin. GeoStructures was hired to provide geotechnical engineering and/or constructions inspection and material testing for numerous projects including Penn Medicine at Washington Square, The Perelman Center, Pennovation, New College House and Hill College House.

 

Penn Medicine at Washington Square

Penn Medicine at Washington Square is a $70 million, 153,000-SF facility, making it one of the largest capital projects in the history of Pennsylvania Hospital.  It is a LEED certified building, twelve stories high on top of an already existing eight-story parking structure. 

Client:  Liberty Property Trust

Architect: Ballinger Architects

Structural Engineer: O’Donnell & Naccarato, Inc.

Construction Manager: L.F. Driscoll Company

Highlights: High-rise building; micro pile foundation, and full inspection services.

GeoStructures was responsible for construction monitoring of the twelve-story LEED certified building on top of an already existing eight-story parking garage, making the entire building twenty stories high to create an outpatient facility that combines medical practices and hospital departments in one location, for interdisciplinary care.

Our services on the project included load testing and inspection of micro piles for the tower crane as well as testing and inspection of concrete, masonry, structural steel, fireproofing, and floor flatness during construction. Pile load testing of the 200-kip capacity micro piles was especially critical to ensure that the rock bond and design capacity were achieved.

 

The Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics

The University of Pennsylvania has received a $250 million dollar gift from alumnus Ronald O. Perelman to create the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, which will provide a new home for Penn’s Departments of Political Science and Economics in the School of Arts and Sciences. The Center will be located in the “West Philadelphia Trust” building at the intersection of 36th and Walnut Streets in the heart of the University’s campus community in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. A 7-story, 42,400-SF addition is proposed along the north side of the existing 7-story, 53,000-SF concrete framed building which has a basement and partial subbasement. The addition will house auditorium, classroom space, faculty offices and other academic and utility spaces.

Client:  PMC Property Group, Philadelphia, PA

Architect:  KPMB, Toronto, Canada

GeoStructures was responsible for the geotechnical & geo-environmental services on the project. Our work included:

• Geotechnical investigation for the proposed addition
• Review of background environmental data
• Phase II sampling and chemical testing
• Determination of material to be excavated as Clean Fill per PADEP guidelines.

Geotechnical issues include underpinning of the existing foundations, and the proximity of the 36th Street subway tunnel next to and 5 ft lower than the proposed basement. The maximum column load expected for the 7-story addition is nearly 2,000 kips. Foundation systems under consideration for design include caissons and conventional strip and spread footings, with the feasibility of the latter option being controlled by elastic settlement properties of the underlying dense sand (decomposed mica schist) above the sound Wissahickon Schist bedrock. Test borings and laboratory triaxial shear testing on undisturbed soil samples are part of the detailed geotechnical exploration and site characterization program for this project.  

 

Pennovation

Architect: KSS and HWKN

Construction Manager:  Hunter Roberts

Service Highlights:  Construction inspection and materials testing.

 

New College House West

Architect: Bahlin Jackson Cywinski

Pre-Construction Manager:  Intech

Service Highlights:  Geotechnical Engineering, Environmental Phase 1 assessment, Clean fill characterization.

 

Hill College House

Architect:  Mills + Schnoering

Construction Manager:  Intech

Service Highlights:  Construction inspection and materials testing.