Bill Bermingham Innovation Award Debut The inaugural C. William Bermingham Innovation Award winner is the team of Nicholson Construction Company and Bermingham Foundation Solutions Ltd, who through brainstorming and research, developed the “One Pass Drilling & Grouting” method that accelerated work by as much as a factor of three at the challenging Port of Miami Tunnel Project. The winning team will donate the $5,000 prize money to the DFI Educational Trust. Named for C. William Bermingham, DFI’s president 1986-87, the award criteria were “contributing to the advancement of the deep foundations industry by introduc- ing a new and unique practice including means and methods, design procedures, equipment and materials by an individual, a team or a company. The winner had also to exhibit sustainability. The team members named in the award documentation were Luca Barison, Stefano Gabaldo, Larry Goff and Laurent Lefebvre, of Nicholson Construction, and Michael Justason of Bermingham Foundation Solutions. Nicholson Construction was awarded the contract to fill voids in the rock layer ahead of the tunnel boring machine in the unstable and porous coralline limestone at the site. Another challenge was that cruise ship traffic resulted in limited working times, ranging from only 24-hours to 72- hours per week, since the twin-bore tunnel site was below the ship channel. The job specifications called for a drilling and grouting procedure called “down-stage” grouting. This situation created the need to re-think standard methodologies of drilling and grouting with the goal of increasing production rates by as much as possible. The team designed the drilling system with the site constraints in mind: water depth of approximately 40 ft (12.2 m), 40 ft (12.2 m) of competent limestone, then the same depth for the grouting zone. The down-stage grouting required that the grouting zone be filled with grout in four 10 ft (3 m) stages starting with the upper- stage, and ending with the lower-stage. Nicholson and Bermingham developed a unique methodology using special equipment, so the drilling and grouting process could be completed with a single pass—one insertion of the drill bit and drill-string. A 130 ft (39.6 m) long dual walled drill string was used on a crane- mounted 140 ft (42.7 m) Bermingham Vertical Travel Lead system for reverse circulation drilling. The team designed a 7 in (178 mm) diameter crossover to adapt between the custom drill string and the custom-designed drill bit. The system was unique in its ability to convert from drilling to grouting without removing any part of the bit or drill string from the hole. Cuttings from the holes were collected in tanks as the waters around the port needed to be protected from any contamination. Once the proper drill-depth was reached, grout was pumped into the hole, then drilling was continued to the next stage. This process allowed Nicholson to perform the work on schedule with actual production rates exceeding those of Bermingham Innovation Award: Deadline for 2013 The deadline for nominations for DFI's Bermingham Innovation Award is May 15, 2013. The award is named for C. William Bermingham, DFI's president 1986-87. The second winner will be announced at DFI's 38th Annual Conference in Phoenix, September 25-28, 2013, and will receive $5,000. The Bermingham Award recognizes innovation in deep foundation technology. Nominees can include new practices in mean and methods, design procedures, and innovations in equipment or materials. The nominees should also exhibit sustainability and must have been used in the past three years. The initial commercial application of the innovation can be no more than 10 years prior to the date of the submission. For more information and submission forms, please contact [email protected] Port of Miami project site aerial view conventional land-based drilling equip- ment. Conventional drilling equipment (on the same project) had a production rate of about 1.5 holes per rig, per day. The initial targets for the one-pass drilling method were 3 holes per rig, per day but at the height of production, some actual rates reached an average of 5 holes per rig, per day. Also at the height of production, 4 rigs were used to maximize production rates in the short work-windows. Nicholson managed the logistics of moving 10 barges, batching high volumes of grout, while maintaining the required standards for safety and environmental protection. Bermingham designed all components with 3D CAD software and analyzed stresses with Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was also performed to calculate flow velocities, flow paths and pressure drops. All components of the innovative drilling system were designed, fabricated, machined and assembled by Bermingham. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • NOV/DEC 2012 • 19
