Denver, Colorado
Project Type: Additional Capacity & Renovation
Division: Commercial
Service: Micropile
Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row will be a new gastropub in the lower downtown area of Denver, Colorado. This revitalized area of downtown is just across from Coors Field and has many historically significant structures. The Whiskey Row project involves partially demolishing portions of two historical buildings and constructing a new, repurposed structure while maintaining as much of the historical significance of the existing buildings as practical.
The original plans called for 18 and 24-inch diameter conventional drilled shaft foundations. The large size of the drilling equipment that would have been required for drilled shafts would have been very difficult to operate on the constrained site. Debris including concrete that was encountered in the near surface soils would have also hampered drilled shaft construction. Site access restrictions associated with leaving portions of the historic structure in place as well as logistical issues related to getting concrete and other materials delivered to the busy downtown site as well as exporting of drilled shaft spoils made drilled shaft construction impractical. Straight Line Construction was contacted to provide a solution.
We evaluated the soils conditions and structural loading and proposed a one for one replacement of the drilled shafts with micropiles. Micropiles have the advantage of not being as greatly impacted by obstructions such as concrete during drilling and create minimal spoils compared to drilled shafts. The first phase of the project consisted of installing fourteen micropiles. Based on the success of the first phase, the next phase of the project was switched to micropiles as well.
A total of forty-eight vertical micropiles and ten battered micropiles were installed. A wide
range of loading conditions had to be satisfied for the project. Vertical loads ranged from just a few kips to 152 kips. Some of the piles had lateral loads of up to 18 kips per pile. The wide range of loading conditions and site access constraints necessitated the design of several different types of micropiles to come up with an economical design.
Some of the micropiles were as small as 4 inches in diameter and were drilled with hollow bar reinforcing. Heavier loaded piles had permanent casing up to 7-5/8" installed to bedrock and were reinforced with solid bar reinforcing.
The variety of micropile construction techniques and varying site access constraints required
the use of multiple drill rigs. Micropiles installed inside the structure with limited headroom were installed with a specialized electric limited access drill; some of the lighter loaded micropiles were installed with a small portable drill mounted on a mini-excavator; and the heaviest loaded micropiles in areas with better access were constructed using a larger conventional micropile drill rig.
The existing brick facade also had to be stabilized during demolition and construction. Straight Line Construction installed helical piers and constructed pile caps to support the
bracing system for historic brick facing.
This exciting project highlights the creativity and capabilities of Straight Line Construction. We possess the knowledge and experience to provide unique solutions for challenging projects.
To learn more about our commercial solutions, connect with our commercial team today.
Click below to download & share this case study.