CREJ

/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2017

foundations and structural floor systems. As

a result of this information, developers could

build homes in formerly high-risk areas near

hogbacks and one-time coal mines. Shoring up

exterior flatwork and garage slabs followed. In

the 1990s, after tireless laboratory and field ef-

fort, our team began to excavate expansive soils

and replace them with moistened fill, reducing

expansion potential and improving the perfor-

mance and safety of slab-on-grade foundations,

basement slabs and garages.

The advancements used in residential building

ultimately opened a path for commercial develop-

ment growth. Extensive soil testing provided a bet-

ter understanding of soil heave conditions that can

affect low- to medium-rise commercial office, ware-

house, industrial and retail buildings. At the same

time, a better understanding of the support charac-

teristics of the bedrock underlying central Denver has

also allowed for economically practical solutions that

support buildings with heavy loads, such as office, and

paved the way for many of the high-rises currently un-

der construction in all sectors – office, residential, hotel

and retail.

Geotechnical engineering solutions have “paved the

way” for new building and actually have paved the road

to make construction possible in new developments. Most

recently, our geotechnical team, supported by our materials

testing division, designed an access road for construction

on the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center, one

of the area’s largest hospitality projects under construction.

When Gaylord work began, insufficient construction roads

could not support heavy concrete trucks, which sank into the

ground, causing major delays. Together with Mortenson Con-

struction, we chemically stabilized the soil under the access

roads, repaved them with asphalt and created a thoroughfare

to allow construction to continue with minimal delay to com-

plete the hotel, proposed to generate more than $7 million in

economic activity annually once open.

Sites like the Gaylord Resort’s 85 undeveloped acres are un-

common, however. Luckily, as the metro area expands, so do

engineering methods that can create developable land from

brownfield and infill sites, creating economic opportunity on

land that was formerly barren and untouchable. For example,

through sound testing and creative engineering, Metropolitan

University completed its Regency Athletic Complex on a for-

mer chemical facility, and the Community College of Denver

constructed its Student Learning and Engagement Center on a

site that once housed a gas station, a streetcar substation and

a biscuit factory. Le Meridien Denver Downtown could quickly

work around an unexpected dormant foundation thanks to an

environmental assessment, and Taxi is now the workplace of dy-

namic new energy companies thanks to remediation of the old

Yellow Cab facility and solid waste landfill formerly on the site.

In 2016, the Metro Denver Economic Development Council

reported that more than 7.4 million square feet of commercial

real estate space was completed, a whopping 45.4 percent in-

crease over 2015. Jobs continue to be added to the economy at

a pace that is keeping up with the net increase in migration.

Given these stats, developable land – and the soils and rocks that

comprise it – will stay in great demand. Developers and builders

can count on the engineering community, which is geared up

with tools and techniques to ready raw land for construction

and make old land new again.

/ Geotechnical Practices Laid Groundwork for Colorado’s Growth /

PHOTOS:

CTL|Thompson

OPENING ART:

CTL|Thompson turned a brownfield site littered with

environmental hazards and detritus into developable

land that now holds Metro State College of Denver’s

Student Success Building.

ABOVE TOP:

CTL was hired to manage much of the ground

work for Gaylord’s initial construction phase, but

after concrete trucks sunk, the team shored up

the ground with chemical stabilization, a solution

usually used on permanent roads.

ABOVE BOTTOM:

On 16M, CTL’s concrete experts found a solution for

concrete that wasn’t meeting compressive strength,

shoring up the 340,000-square-foot building.

RIGHT:

During work on the 31-story One Lincoln Park....

condominium tower at 20th and Lincoln streets,

fuel tanks were found buried on the site. CTL

recommended abatement strategies and now the

iconic tower houses some of the hottest condos on

the market.