Project Summary/Scope: The $13 million expansion of the Port of Charleston included building a new terminal, the Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. Container Terminal (HLT). The terminal was design to be built over highly varying soil conditions, including very loose to dense sands and soft, stiff fine-grained deposits, and virgin fine-grained soils made up of compressible clays and silts. Due to varying depths of each layer, the drainage plan required wicks to be installed at depth of 40-100 feet at various locations across the site.

To keep tracking of wick drain installation, data acquisition systems were included on installation machinery for real-time monitoring of as-built conditions. At the end of the project, 22 million linear feet of wick drains were installed, the largest volume ever installed in the United States as of 2020. The use of wick drains resulted in expedited settlement during the surcharge phase of the project, and the use of data acquisition during installation resulted in an on-time delivery of a record volume of wick drains installed in one continuous operation.

Complementary Technologies Used: Data acquisition.

Performance Monitoring:  Data acquisition systems utilized during wick drain installation, collecting continuous data as the wick drains were being installed. This allowed for monitoring correct location and depth of drains and also permitted project partners to determine where as-designed specifications were not met, resulting in quick remediation and continued project progression.

Date Case History Prepared: 7 December 2020

Case History Prepared By: Melissa S. Beauregard