Project Description

The North Surrey Sport and Ice Complex spans over 11 acres of land area and houses three sheets of ice and community meeting spaces, constructed utilizing a hybrid timber and steel truss system. RAM’s geotechnical team was proud to be part of the Lark Group design-build team responsible for the development of this award-winning facility.

The facility was developed on a challenging site underlain by 30 to 44 metres of surficial soft / compressible soil comprising peat and Normally Consolidated silt in turn underlain by a dense sand layer subject to artesian groundwater pressures. The site is also located at the toe of an escarpment measuring 50 to 60 metres in height.

At the preliminary design stage of the project, RAM’s geotechnical team directed a multi-phased subsurface investigation involving Mud Rotary Drilling, Standard Penetration Testing, Dynamic Cone Penetration Testing, Vane Shear Tests, Cone Penetration Tests and Seismic Cone Penetration Tests to characterize the subsurface soil conditions. Laboratory testing, including Unconfined Compression and Unconsolidated Undrained Triaxial Compression Tests were conducted on samples collected to generate soil design parameters. In addition, RAM’s geotechnical team carried out a test pit investigation and slope reconnaissance on the adjacent escarpment to assess the risk of the landslides impacting the facility.

RAM’s Role

RAM’s geotechnical team worked collaboratively with the Structural Engineer, Bogdonov Pao Associates Ltd., to develop a deep foundation design comprising close – ended steel pipe piles, embedded into the dense sand layer to obtain sufficient bearing capacity beneath the soft/compressible surficial soil. To minimize the magnitude of lateral movement of the pile-supported building during a seismic event, RAM’s geotechnical team and Bogdonov Pao Associates augmented the design with a series of caissons structurally connected to the underside of the facility raft slab and developing passive lateral resistance in the surficial granular fills.

In order to obtain required geotechnical resistance against building loads and suitable seismic shear resistance of the building system, a total of 252 0.6 metre diameter x 3.7 metre long caissons and 307 0.5 metre diameter x 21.6 to 33.5 metre long pipe piles were installed. The pile lengths were reconciled during construction based on depth to the sand bearing layer, blow counts during pile driving, embedment into the bearing stratum and PDA testing.

RAM’s geotechnical team worked collaboratively with the landscape architect and civil engineer to site and phase landscaping features and civil works in to minimize settlement, including post-construction. The team carried out regular field reviews during construction. Services delivered included:

• Site Investigation
• Triaxial Compression Testing
• Soft Ground Condition Assessment
• Deep Foundation Design
• Slope Stability Analyses
• Landslide Risk Assessment
• Liquefaction Assessment
• Deep Foundation Design
• Erosion and Sediment Control Design
• Construction Field Reviews