“The Music Man” is a popular Broadway musical and film and an entertaining slice of Americana set in Iowa around the turn of the 20th century. The opening scene and song (Rock Island) address the trials and travails of salesmen as they ride the railroad to the next town where they will hawk their wares to the Hawkeyes. The chorus to Rock Island includes the shouted phrase “… But you gotta know the territory!” Good advice for any profession!
Click here to see the opening scene of The Music Man!
The barrier islands that dot the New Jersey coastline, particularly in Atlantic County and Cape May County where Engineering Design Associates do a lot of their design work, have consistent soil profiles. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the soil consists of fine granular sand with high blow counts where deep foundation elements need to be jetted in to get below scour. However, on the west side, the Inland Waterway and wetlands border the islands and the soil is almost exclusively organics. Deep foundations are common on both sides, but extra caution has to be taken when dealing with the organics on the Bay side.
A couple of recent jobs at the Jersey Shore in Cape May County illustrate how the local knowledge of the Design Engineer, in consultation with Danbro Distributors, led to an extra-cautious approach and good results.
The Blue Water Condo project in Ocean City had two phases. My original February 2023 article, “Contractor Overcomes Site Issues with a Little Help from His Friends” and Phase I case history primarily focused on mobilization and access challenges. I recently returned to Blue Water Condo to prepare another case study on the work in Phase II. Contractor Overcomes Site Issues with a Little Help from His Friends – Danbro Distributors
The Inspector from Engineering Design Associates (EDA), Matt Branco, reported that the soil also presented a challenge. Compacted fill at the surface and no room under the porch forced Steve Vaspoli, a Danbro installer, to use the lead to auger out the pile’s pilot point because he could not get downward pressure otherwise. After that, it was like a hot knife through butter in the WHO organics until encountering a sand layer at around 45 feet that the pile needed to break through to get to refusal at 63’. Although all of this was confirmed by the borings, this raised possible buckling concerns and EDA asked Danbro to weigh in.
Blue Water Condominium – Danbro Distributors
Blue Water Condominium Phase II – Danbro Distributors
A year after the initial work was done on Phase I at Blue Water Condo in Ocean City, a similar soil dynamic existed on another EDA job a on Lake Drive in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. A house raising on the west side of this barrier island was also adjacent to wetlands and, again, an organic layer overlay a hard sand layer at 27’ where the helicals could achieve torque. However, Joe Maffei, Senior Engineer from EDA, has done a lot of work on the barrier islands and learned a thing or two. An inspection at Lake Drive suggested a prior house raising by a former owner who relied on the original timber piles for support. He noticed some signs of settlement and suspected that the timber was only driven to the 2’ sand layer at 27’ and, over time, in this tidal area, with a high-water table, the structure had experienced movement. At Blue Water, Joe had requested a buckling analysis from Danbro due to WOH organics and he now requested the same for Lake Drive. IDEAL 2 7/8” material was specified at both locations as these were residential loads.
“I always like to err on the side of caution,” stated Joe. Property values are high at the Jersey Shore and he reminded the property owner, Gary Bond, that “if it’s worth doing, you want to make the investment and do it right.” The buckling analysis at Blue Water in the fall of 2022 came to the same conclusion over a year later at Lake Drive. The piles would need to go deeper to refusal and 3.5” pipe piles needed to be substituted for the 2 7/8” material originally specified to eliminate buckling concerns. Lake Drive, a tight site, also presented access issues working underneath the structure and around the cribbing. Accordingly, Danbro Installer Fred Wilson had to employ the same ProDig low profile drivehead used by Vaspoli at Blue Water to deal with overhead restrictions.
Lake Drive – Danbro Distributors
“All and all it worked out pretty well,” said Joe Maffei from Engineering Design Associates. “I know the area we work in, but I rely on Danbro for helical advice. The buckling analysis for both jobs proved invaluable in making sure we got It right.” Frank D’Angelo also chimed in, “We will walk away from a job rather than compromise our position if a buckling analysis or other determination dictates what must be done on a project.” “It is a pleasure working with professionals such as EDA who not only share our concerns for not cutting corners, but insist on doing it right!” he concluded.
Customer Support – Danbro Distributors
Whether it is Danbro’s helical chops or Joe Maffei’s local soil experience, it proves Professor Harold Hill’s and the other salesmen’s old adage to be true: You gotta know the territory!
