Rutgers Cooling Tower Replacement Geotechnical Investigation

Princeton Hydro was contracted by Joseph B. Callaghan, Inc. to perform a geotechnical investigation and provide foundation recommendations for a cooling tower replacement at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The project consisted of replacing an existing wood cooling water tower with a two-cell modern cooling tower with accomodations for a third. The proposed layout has the new tower span over the existing sump, which will remain in place, to new foundations on either side.

For this field investigation, Princeton Hydro was tasked with performing two geotechnical test borings in the area of the proposed cooling tower footprint. Prior to performance of the borings, a New Jersey Once-Call was placed to locate existing utilities on the site. Upon arrival to the site, borings were relocated from the original planned locations to avoid the numerous underground utilities mapped as underlying the site.

Borings were completed by way of a Mobile Drill B-57 Truck rig owned and operated by Soil Borings, Inc. Split spoon sampling was completed continuously for the first 10 feet of drilling, followed by 5 foot intervals until refusal was encountered. Soil samples were logged and collected by a Princeton Hydro field engineer utilizing USCS classification and description techniques. All collected samples were placed into air/moisture tight sample jars and delivered to our AASHTO accredited and USACE validated facility for materials testing as necessary.

Upon completion of the field investigation and laboratory testing, Princeton Hydro established subsurface strata and soil design parameters for use in shallow foundation design. The design of these foundations consisted of providing the structural engineer with a range of bearing capacities and settlements for different foundation sizes under varying loads. The results of these analyses were summarized in a geotechnical report, which also provided the design engineer with geotechnical recommendations for construction, based on the encountered conditions.