Helical Drilling provides ground improvement solution at South Bay Town Center development in Dorchester

Helical Drilling has completed ground improvement at the 720,000-square-foot South Bay Town Center mixed-use development in Dorchester. Ground improvement was necessitated by South Bay's geotechnical composition of unstable urban fill, including up to 15 feet of loose-to-medium dense granular fill with ash, slag, cinders, and brick underlain by up to 10 feet of soft organic silt and followed by medium dense sand and gravel. In order to strengthen the soil, Helical Drilling installed Geopier® Rammed Aggregate Pier® Elements (RAPs), providing both spread footing support and slab-on-grade support. GeoConcrete® Column Rigid Inclusions (GCCs) were used in areas with thicker organic deposits and high footing bearing pressures.

Upon completion in 2018, the 10-acre South Bay Town Center will feature 475 apartment residences, 120,000 square feet of retail space, a 60,000-square-foot AMC cinema, a 130-room addition to the existing Holiday Inn Express hotel and three precast concrete parking garages. The following are photographs of ground improvement underway at South Bay Town Center, courtesy Helical Drilling:

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