Update (7/31/11) – Field Day set for Thursday, August 18th – More info here!
Back by popular demand, we will hold a prediction contest for the second test site in the ADSC drilled shaft research project for rock sockets in the Southeastern U.S. Contestants are encouraged to download the information linked below and then submit their predictions of unit side resistance and base resistance that will be measured by the O-cell tests. The winner will be announced at the field test and demonstration day on site, as well as published in this blog along with all submitted predictions.
Two test shafts will be installed July 26 – 29th at the yard of Foundation Technologies, Inc. One will include a rock socket to attempt to test side and base resistance in the rock socket. The other shaft will be drilled to “rock auger refusal” to attempt to test side resistance in the partially weathered rock (locally termed PWR) and base resistance at “rock auger refusal”. In the Piedmont area, the highly weathered upper rock zone is commonly called PWR. Another common usage is “rock auger refusal” to define where “hard rock” begins. It is thought that designers may be overly conservative with base resistance values at “rock auger refusal”. Hopefully this test will provide useful data in that regard.
Testing will occur during a field demonstration day in mid-August. We’ll post the date once it is finalized.
Information to include the test shaft configurations and exploratory boring data can be downloaded here.
The contest entry form along with instructions for submission can be downloaded here.
We will have Aaron on site to observe and take lots of pictures. We’ll post his photos of the excavations as soon as we can (check the project web page soon after August 1st) to assist in making predictions.
All predictions must be submitted by the close of business, August 12, 2011.