Northbank Residential Development, Philadelphia, PA

EEI performed geotechnical subsurface investigations for Beach Street Developers, LLC at their 35-acre Northbank development located at Beach Street and Schirra Drive in Philadelphia, PA.  The site along the Delaware River was formerly home to the Cramp Shipbuilding Company dating back as far as 1830.  Northbank will eventually be home to approximately 900 residential units consisting of 350 townhomes and 550 rental apartments over ground floor retail spread within two multi-family buildings.

As a result of the former shipbuilding operations and industrial history of the site, the immediate subsurface consists of variable fill materials.  Due to its location along the riverfront, soft alluvial soils underlie the fill materials.  Consequently, a two-phase approach to foundation subgrade preparation was established by EEI for the first phase townhomes:  ground improvement through deep dynamic densification (DDC) to improve the upper fill materials and preloading of the deeper alluvial soils through surcharge.  This approach has allowed for the construction of conventional shallow foundations.

Additionally, EEI is currently providing onsite construction inspections including review of the DDC operations by Menard Group USA and compaction testing of the earthworks performed by Bencardino Excavating Inc.