Investigations
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1994 Hillside Foundation Upgrade - Berkeley Hills, Oakland CA
Foundation for new residence
to replace
1991
firestorm loss. Integration of new additions to upgrade remaining 1960s
foundation system on steep site overlain by ancient debris flow.
Stereopaired airphoto analysis of 1939-1991 overflights. Subsurface
geologic soil and rock exploration. groundwater investigation of site
by
hand excavated deep and narrow test pits. Site evaluation, foundation
and subdrainage design recommendations. Earthwork, foundation, and
drainage construction verification for Richard Whitaker FAIA,
owner/architect.
1993 Apartment Building Undermined - Telegraph Hill, San Francisco
CA
Art deco apartment house at
the base of
Alta
Street undermined by rockfall adjacent to Filbert Steps down to Levi
Plaza. Slope below was formerly Gray's Quarry, where stone was mined
for
building of Embarcadero Seawall and to ballast empty ships departing
San
Francisco. Evaluation of stability of graywacke cliff above Filbert
Landing. Independent verification of Degenkolb design and SEC
construction of new City wall on Alta at head of cliff.
1992 Seismic Upgrade - Edge of Mission Bay Swamp, San Francisco CA
Loma Prieta earthquake in
1989 damaged
historic Jackson Brewery building, prior to 1894 the Star Malt House,
which had been reconstructed in 1912 after being destroyed in the 1906
earthquake. Sandstone blocks and brick foundation system. Subsurface
exploration program and foundation investigation to determine
appropriate supplemental foundation additions to support propped shear
frame to upgrade unreinforced masonry building.
1991 Levee Failure - San Joaquin Delta, Discovery Bay CA
Drakes Bay levee spreading
caused tipping
of
dock piers with lateral movement and subsidence of building
foundations.
Subsurface investigation of levee foundation and slopes, building pads,
docks and foundations. Evaluation of organic content and in-situ
density of fills. Generic design of concrete caisson and anchored sheet
pile bulkheading to contain levee and provide subjacent support for
buildings.
1990 Pile Disintegration - Back Bay, Boston MA
Wood pile foundations for
brick buildings
on
Brimmer Street, foot of Beacon Hill near Trinity Church, for City with
Meehan. Granite pile caps dropped due to marine borer attack on 1890s
piles meant to be permanently submerged but exposed to air. Similar to
Venice where wood foundation deterioration has been occurring for
centuries as sea level dropped. Dewatering at church during foundation
remediation caused subsidence and separation of old City sewer piping
with groundwater loss into open joints. Drop aggravated by local
drainage of basements remodeled for habitation. Lowered groundwater
table exposed pile tops originally cut-off at MSL +5 feet, highest
allowed by City in more than 100 years.
1989 Landslide - Matanzas Creek, Santa Rosa CA
Slope failure into Matanzas
Creek near
winery. Subsurface exploratory program including MinuteMan drilling,
undisturbed sampling, and laboratory testing of samples. Airphoto
analysis, earthwork and subdrainage recommendations for repair.
Schematic drawings for construction and production of design report.
1988 Underground Tanks - Modesto, Central Valley CA
Determination of former
contents of prohibition-era
underground concrete tanks on vineyard property adjacent to home of
original grower. Cutting, sampling, and laboratory testing of cores
taken from tank walls. Grape or wine storage critical issue in
assessing
history of wine making by the Gallo family.
1987 Landslide Study - Love Creek, Ben Lomond CA
Investigation into the
groundwater hydrology and
mechanics of the Love Creek Landslide in Ben Lommond, Santa Cruz County
that occurred on January 5, 1982 following the "500 year storm" of
January 3, 1982 that dropped 23 inches of rain in the subsequent 24
hour
period. The Love Creek Landslide, on the basis of the number of
lives lost (44), was the most destructive, naturally-induced landslide
disaster in the history of California. Slope stability calculations
to
determine the effect of prior grading of a zig-zag road up the
2,000
foot wide slope that failed, resulting in moving downslope of more than
500,000 cubic yards.
1986 Pipeline Explosion - Lost Canyon, Sierra Nevada CA
Rupture of a huge articulated penstock under high water pressure delays
completion at PG&E's Helms Pumped Storage Project, causing more
than
$50 million damage. Major dispute between US Steel and PG&E over
responsibility for design, fabrication, and construction. Technical
issues focus on
complex soil/structure interaction and resulting structural response of
the foundation, a reinforced concrete slab supporting cradles for
coupled pipe
sections with a flexible jointed and roll-out section that comprised
the pipeline that crossed the canyon.
1985 Lot Development Along San Andreas Fault - Seadrift, Stinson
Beach CA
1984 Century Old Wood Foundation Distress - Napier Lane, San
Francisco CA
1983 Sinkhole Causation Near River- Riverfront Plaza, Sacramento CA
1982 Glu-Lam Beam Delaminations - Shopping Center, Missoula MT
1981 Concrete Pile & Shoring Collapse - Islais Creek, San
Francisco CA
1980 Posttensioned Concrete Structure - Whidbey Island, Puget
Sound
WA
Circular cellular structure
of high strength
concrete
and unbonded tendons for use as petroleum production platform and
storage tank in ice stressed Chukchi Sea north of Bering Strait.
Critical design parameters were ice and wave forces, and eccentric
foundation loading due to ice and wave loads, and naval architecture of
structure as vessel under tow. Construction logistics included
manufacture, rising, floating, towing, positioning, and setting on the
sea floor in the hostile environment. Concrete designed to resist
impact
and loading of sea ice sheets and pressure ridges by failing the ice by
bending and crushing against conical surface. Scaled model tests to
predict ice forces on structure, modes of sea ice failure, ice adhesion
and abrasion.
Design criteria: Icebreaker
Experience
as a Guide to Sea Ice Forces on Structures.
1979 Composite Pile Failures - Swan Island, Portland OR
Pile design suitability
investigation at the Port of
Portland's Swan Island Ship Repair Yard, pier and wharf structure, in
the Willamette River. With Gerwick, Bresler, and Duncan. Site underlain
by Troutdale formation (dense gravel), composite piles failing during
driving. Load-moment interaction calculations for 24" hollow octagonal
prestressed concrete pile section. Wave equation analyses by dynamic
measurements of driving resistance for 390 square inch/14HP39 composite
"stinger" piles. Failures found to be occurring at weak splice
connection; welds at 8-#8 embedded dowels to HP stinger bearing plate
inadequate.
1978 Cofferdam Deterioration - Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San
Francisco CA
Investigation of Navy
Regunning Mole
cellular
cofferdam constructed during 1940s to service battleship mounted 5 inch
guns. Liquefaction study of hydraulic fill, and corrosion evaluation of
sheet piles deteriorated in surf zone by seawater attack and stray
current concentrations from cleaning and welding during patching, and
1970s use as Westinghouse's Surface Launch Test Complex. With B.
Gerwick, A. Blaylock, and L. Kulchin. Exploratory borings and cribbed
test pits below GWT, recommendations for mitigation, repair, and
reconstruction.
1977 Prestressed Concrete Underwater Caisson - Santa Barbara
Channel CA
1976 Artificial Island - Beaufort Sea, Prudhoe Bay AK
1975 Precast Concrete Coastal Armor - Crescent City CA
Breakwater "Dolos" armor,
4751 (40 ton/15' long
&
60 ton/17' long) units designed by Omar Lillevang, monolithic flukes
and
shanks cast in steel forms at a rate of 44 per day, cured, and placed
at
the Humboldt Bay jetties. Gray Dollose were either non-reinforced or
nominally reinforced with cages at 0.34%; brown Dollose were fiber
reinforced. Experiments determined that using steel or plastic fibers
could not be uniformly dispersed and that workability at the required
water/cement ratio was reduced. Photo-elastic stress analysis proved
that unreinforced 40 ton units were most advantageous.
1974 Concrete Shell Construction - Suisun Bay CA
Site investigation and
construction
logistics
for construction of precast prestressed concrete shell in a dewatered
graving basin. Shell fitted with precast concrete panels to become
cellular caisson structure. After construction, basin is flooded;
floating caisson is then towed through the Golden Gate to be positioned
near the Farralon Islands to serve as a storage tank and base for
offshore transfer tower.
Return to Lawrence B. Karp
Consulting Engineer "Past
Projects"
Art deco apartment house at
the base of
Alta
Street undermined by rockfall adjacent to Filbert Steps down to Levi
Plaza. Slope below was formerly Gray's Quarry, where stone was mined
for
building of Embarcadero Seawall and to ballast empty ships departing
San
Francisco. Evaluation of stability of graywacke cliff above Filbert
Landing. Independent verification of Degenkolb design and SEC
construction of new City wall on Alta at head of cliff.
Loma Prieta earthquake in
1989 damaged
historic Jackson Brewery building, prior to 1894 the Star Malt House,
which had been reconstructed in 1912 after being destroyed in the 1906
earthquake. Sandstone blocks and brick foundation system. Subsurface
exploration program and foundation investigation to determine
appropriate supplemental foundation additions to support propped shear
frame to upgrade unreinforced masonry building.
Drakes Bay levee spreading
caused tipping
of
dock piers with lateral movement and subsidence of building
foundations.
Subsurface investigation of levee foundation and slopes, building pads,
docks and foundations. Evaluation of organic content and in-situ
density of fills. Generic design of concrete caisson and anchored sheet
pile bulkheading to contain levee and provide subjacent support for
buildings.
Wood pile foundations for
brick buildings
on
Brimmer Street, foot of Beacon Hill near Trinity Church, for City with
Meehan. Granite pile caps dropped due to marine borer attack on 1890s
piles meant to be permanently submerged but exposed to air. Similar to
Venice where wood foundation deterioration has been occurring for
centuries as sea level dropped. Dewatering at church during foundation
remediation caused subsidence and separation of old City sewer piping
with groundwater loss into open joints. Drop aggravated by local
drainage of basements remodeled for habitation. Lowered groundwater
table exposed pile tops originally cut-off at MSL +5 feet, highest
allowed by City in more than 100 years.
Slope failure into Matanzas
Creek near
winery. Subsurface exploratory program including MinuteMan drilling,
undisturbed sampling, and laboratory testing of samples. Airphoto
analysis, earthwork and subdrainage recommendations for repair.
Schematic drawings for construction and production of design report.
Determination of former
contents of prohibition-era
underground concrete tanks on vineyard property adjacent to home of
original grower. Cutting, sampling, and laboratory testing of cores
taken from tank walls. Grape or wine storage critical issue in
assessing
history of wine making by the Gallo family.
Rupture of a huge articulated penstock under high water pressure delays
completion at PG&E's Helms Pumped Storage Project, causing more
than
$50 million damage. Major dispute between US Steel and PG&E over
responsibility for design, fabrication, and construction. Technical
issues focus on
complex soil/structure interaction and resulting structural response of
the foundation, a reinforced concrete slab supporting cradles for
coupled pipe
sections with a flexible jointed and roll-out section that comprised
the pipeline that crossed the canyon.
Circular cellular structure
of high strength
concrete
and unbonded tendons for use as petroleum production platform and
storage tank in ice stressed Chukchi Sea north of Bering Strait.
Critical design parameters were ice and wave forces, and eccentric
foundation loading due to ice and wave loads, and naval architecture of
structure as vessel under tow. Construction logistics included
manufacture, rising, floating, towing, positioning, and setting on the
sea floor in the hostile environment. Concrete designed to resist
impact
and loading of sea ice sheets and pressure ridges by failing the ice by
bending and crushing against conical surface. Scaled model tests to
predict ice forces on structure, modes of sea ice failure, ice adhesion
and abrasion.
Pile design suitability
investigation at the Port of
Portland's Swan Island Ship Repair Yard, pier and wharf structure, in
the Willamette River. With Gerwick, Bresler, and Duncan. Site underlain
by Troutdale formation (dense gravel), composite piles failing during
driving. Load-moment interaction calculations for 24" hollow octagonal
prestressed concrete pile section. Wave equation analyses by dynamic
measurements of driving resistance for 390 square inch/14HP39 composite
"stinger" piles. Failures found to be occurring at weak splice
connection; welds at 8-#8 embedded dowels to HP stinger bearing plate
inadequate.
Investigation of Navy
Regunning Mole
cellular
cofferdam constructed during 1940s to service battleship mounted 5 inch
guns. Liquefaction study of hydraulic fill, and corrosion evaluation of
sheet piles deteriorated in surf zone by seawater attack and stray
current concentrations from cleaning and welding during patching, and
1970s use as Westinghouse's Surface Launch Test Complex. With B.
Gerwick, A. Blaylock, and L. Kulchin. Exploratory borings and cribbed
test pits below GWT, recommendations for mitigation, repair, and
reconstruction.
Breakwater "Dolos" armor,
4751 (40 ton/15' long
&
60 ton/17' long) units designed by Omar Lillevang, monolithic flukes
and
shanks cast in steel forms at a rate of 44 per day, cured, and placed
at
the Humboldt Bay jetties. Gray Dollose were either non-reinforced or
nominally reinforced with cages at 0.34%; brown Dollose were fiber
reinforced. Experiments determined that using steel or plastic fibers
could not be uniformly dispersed and that workability at the required
water/cement ratio was reduced. Photo-elastic stress analysis proved
that unreinforced 40 ton units were most advantageous.
Site investigation and
construction
logistics
for construction of precast prestressed concrete shell in a dewatered
graving basin. Shell fitted with precast concrete panels to become
cellular caisson structure. After construction, basin is flooded;
floating caisson is then towed through the Golden Gate to be positioned
near the Farralon Islands to serve as a storage tank and base for
offshore transfer tower.