Case Studies Tyndall Air Force Base

Introduction: Panama City, Florida is hurricane country. Reaching up to 160 mph hour, hurricane winds off the Gulf of Mexico repeatedly damage structures in the region. Tyndall Air Force Base Hangar 4 is no exception. After repeated bouts with extreme weather, the US government called on Ram Jack Solid Foundations to restore and reinforce the foundation of the important government building.

The Problem: Originally designed with a hefty 7 ft. by 8 ft. steel reinforced foundation that anchored the structure to the ground, Hangar 4 rested on shallow soil atop ground water at the shallow depth of 6ft. -15 in. In addition to the problem of the shallow ground water, the site was considered contaminated by the Army’s engineers due to years of exposure to aviation fuel. The structure, which was suffering from a settling foundation and serious damage, needed repair, but the site would need to be dewatered prior to underpinning the existing foundation. To make the issue even more complicated, all removed water and soil would have to be treated as an environmental hazard.

Proposed Solution: Working with Army engineers and environmental specialists, Ram Jack Solid Foundations proposed the use of helical piles to level and support the foundation while doing minimal damage to the environment. In addition, the foundation would be redesigned to counteract the wind loads and rebuilt in a manner that would not require dewatering the site.

Outcome: Ram Jack Solid Foundations installed almost 150 helical piles to an average depth of 28 ft. over the course of three weeks. While the installation professionals did encounter a few hiccups along the way that required redesign of the helical pile layout, the job was completed successfully. Tyndall Air Force Hangar 4 now rested on a solid foundation, and it was further fortified against the extreme weather conditions of the region.

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