Stabilization of an Excavation in a Confined Space : The Rogers Arena South Tower in Vancouver
Construction — North America — Canada — Excavations
The Rogers Arena South Tower is part of the Aquilini Centre , a construction project in northern Vancouver . At this location , three new towers are being built around the Rogers Arena – the home of the Canucks hockey team – that will accommodate offices , apartments and sports and multiple use facilities .
The South Tower with 5 underground parking decks and 31 levels above ground is being built on a small , triangular area near the entrance to the Rogers Arena . The realization of the excavation between the southern wall of the stadium , the Georgia Viaduct , Pacific Avenue and Griffiths Way was a special challenge because the space is extremely confined .
The Contractor had to use special care during excavation and shoring to ensure the stability of the existing structures surrounding the excavation . Furthermore , buried debris and the underground utilities complicated construction work .
A foundation consisting of micropiles and a retaining wall were employed to stabilize the excavation . Since the Georgia Viaduct is used by approximately 2,000 vehicles per hour during peak times , the foundation had to be built with special care in this area . The three viaduct piers were stabilized by installing 12 micropiles evenly around each pier .
Each of the 36 micropiles consisted of a 66mm Ø DYWIDAG THREADBAR ® with Double Corrosion Protection that was installed to a depth of approximately 25.3m ( 83ft ). The piers were additionally monitored during the entire construction work using a variety of instrumentation , and none of the piers showed any sign of movement .
The conventional shotcrete reinforced wall was tied back using 9-11 rows of tieback anchors . The anchors were installed with vertical spacing of about 1.2m-1.8m ( 4-6ft ) and anchored against a horizontal shotcrete waler . For this purpose , DSI Construction Canada produced and supplied 25mm Ø DYWIDAG Bar Anchors and T40 DYWI ® Drill Anchors with a total length of 15,240m . The anchor systems were installed at various angles from 5 to 45 ° and at depths of up to 24.4m ( 80ft ). The Contractor completed all the anchoring and excavation work successfully and safely with no detrimental impact on the surrounding structures .
Owner Aquilini Development and Construction Inc ., Canada Contractor Matcon Civil Constructors Inc ., Canada Architect B + H Architects , Canada Consulting Engineers GeoPacific Consultants Ltd ., Canada
DSI Unit DSI Canada Civil Ltd ., Canada DSI Scope Production , supply DYWIDAG Products 36 , 66mm Ø DYWIDAG Micropiles , 15,240m of 25mm Ø DYWIDAG Bar Anchors and T40 DYWI ® Drill Anchors
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