In 2022, Teton County and the Jackson Recreation Department began construction of a large addition to the Jackson Recreation Center. The addition includes about 39,000 gsf of new construction. The new construction will include a new lobby, a climbing gym, community meeting room, child care, dry lockers, wellness suite, new gym, spin room, group exercise room, and storage.
The owner's general contractor, G.E. Johnson, broke ground in the summer of 2022. The addition was to be supported by helical piers, the same as the original structure. Straight Line Construction was selected to install 431 helical piers with 50 kip capacity. After mobilizing to the job site to perform full scale load testing, it became readily apparent that helical piers were not the ideal foundation solution at this site. The presence of cobbles and boulders prevented the piers from consistently reaching the required installation torque. Review of installation logs from pier installation for the original building indicated virtually all of the piers spun out prior to reaching the required torque.
Straight Line Construction met with the owner's representative and G.E. Johnson to determine the best solution going forward. Straight Line Construction recommended switching the foundation system to micropiles. After discussion, this solution was agreed upon by all interested parties.
Due to the granular nature of the soils, a hollow bar micropile system was selected. The micropiles were designed for the same 50 kip capacity so that a one for one replacement could be utilized. This greatly reduced the amount of engineering analysis that had to be done.
Within 24 hours of the decision being made to switch to micropiles, Straight Line Construction had additional drilling and grouting equipment and materials on the way to the site. The redesigned engineering submittal package was turned around within 24 hours and sent to the client. Within 2 days, we began installing test piles for the full-scale load tests and began installing production micropiles. Full scale load testing was performed on two sacrificial micropiles as soon as the grout had set for 72 hours. The test piles performed very well and installation of production piles continued. The contract was expanded to include an additional 29 micropiles for a new climbing wall.
A total of 460 micropiles were installed over 27 calendar days. Even with the change in foundation type and associated redesign and mobilization of different materials and equipment, the expedited production schedule ended up saving time off the original project schedule. This project highlights the flexibility and varied capabilities of Straight Line Construction and our ability to adjust to meet unexpected project requirements.
Straight Line Construction Co is a locally owned and operated company serving Pueblo, Colorado Springs and the surrounding Southern CO front range for over 40 years. Our team of experienced professionals is dedicated to providing top-quality residential and commercial services to our clients. We also provide various commercial services including deep foundation systems, ground improvement, and excavation shoring and earth retention. Click here for a PDF version of the Jackson Recreation Center, Jackson, WY case study.