Case History 116
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[00:00:00] Liz: Welcome to the GBA case history series brought to you by the GBA podcast. My name is Elizabeth Brown and I am the principal geotechnical engineer at JLT Consultants.

[00:00:10] Abi: And I am Abi Corbett, a project consultant at SME. Today, we're bringing you a truly remarkable tale from case history 116. It involves a dock, a collapse, and an incredible display of teamwork against the clock. This isn't just a story about engineering, it's about relationships, trust, and turning into disaster, into long-term success.

[00:00:37] Liz: So our story begins with an industrial food processing plant located in a remote area. Their existing sheet pile dock was in an unacceptable condition. Prompting the owner to seek an initial assessment and determine if necessary, what would be a repair design. So a full reconstruction was [00:01:00] considered, but the cost just, it wasn't palatable for the owner.

[00:01:05] And not only that, there was a very limited downtime window before their seasonal fishing operation began.

[00:01:14] Abi: Right. So they called in a geotechnical engineer and they got that number from a professional acquaintance recommendation. And that's kind of where things get going. And by get going, I mean, they're gonna take an interesting turn. In that initial phone call the owner asked the engineer if they could do the design and upon confirmation they immediately pressed for a ballpark number for the fee. But I mean, they promised not to hold on to it.

[00:01:44] Liz: Oh, how many times have I heard that? Just gimme a ballpark. So it's a classic scenario, isn't it? So the engineer gave a number. Hopefully big enough to cover the multitude of uncertainties. [00:02:00] And after you know that awkward silence, the owner simply said, sounds good. Can you start tomorrow?

[00:02:09] So the case history notes quote, so far an untold the number of business rules have been broken. But a great opportunity for an interesting project lay ahead, end quote, a prophetic statement Indeed.

[00:02:24] Abi: Absolutely. So the preliminary assessment revealed significant issues. Photography, diving observations, and the engineering analysis pointed to imminent failure of the tallest, most critical portion of the dock face. They found parts of the sheet pile just gone, parts of it with holes as large as five feet in diameter, and some of the tieback anchors had failed. The top of the sheet piles, even deflected seaward by as much as a foot.[00:03:00] 

[00:03:00] Liz: Okay, this is some serious stuff here. So a design for repair was quickly developed, but the owner didn't have the money for immediate construction. So the geotechnical engineer was tasked with developing an interim measure or like, Hey, what's a temporary fix? I call 'em a bandaid fix, right? To extend.

[00:03:22] Abi: Yeah.

[00:03:23] Liz: Right. We're all familiar with that. The whole point was, hey, what can we do to extend the dock's life for another one or two years? So a contractor was selected and mobilization began via ocean barges and aircraft timed perfectly to a plant shutdown. So, everything seemed to be on schedule.

[00:03:48] Abi: And seemed is really the operative word here, because at 2:00 AM. On the very first day of the mobilization, the dock collapsed.[00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] Liz: Oh no. What a nightmare.

[00:04:04] Abi: Seriously, approximately 200 feet of the sheet pile wall along the 2000 square feet of concrete decking, soil rock, backfill piping, and fish containers went completely underwater. Only about two feet of the decking remained between the ocean and the main processing building.

[00:04:25] Liz: Oh, talk about a catastrophic failure and a shift in their plans. So immediately the owner, contractor, and geotechnical engineer transitioned from repair to replace mode. The owner's hands were kind of tied now, so debris removal began, materials were procurred, and the design effort for a new dock started.

[00:04:53] Abi: So we're shifting from that bandaid plan and really trying to clean things up, but the challenges keep [00:05:00] coming. The new wall had to be constructed, seaward of the existing footprint, making it taller than the initial design. In a moment of brilliant creativity, the design incorporated welding pipe stiffeners from the plant scrap yard to the back of the sheets to stiffen that wall. I mean, that's problem solving on the fly, if I've ever heard it.

[00:05:23] Liz: Oh, absolutely it is. Through what the source describes as the extraordinary efforts of the contractor and trust from the owner. The new dock replacement was finished and ready for service just six weeks after the collapse.

[00:05:41] Abi: Six weeks is an incredible turnaround, especially considering it was like two days before the fishing season opened. The geotechnical engineer was really made to look like a hero.

[00:05:56] Liz: And the success didn't end there. [00:06:00] 20 years later, the dock is still performing well and the owner and engineer have a long lasting relationship. The project not only saved the owner many millions of dollars, but also led to the engineer being awarded several other projects due to their outstanding performance and the trust established there.

[00:06:23] So the GBA member firms representative noted that they were able to save the client about a million dollars on this project alone. Plus the client was able to start processing fish on time generating about $500,000 in daily profits.

[00:06:42] Abi: Geez, I can't imagine how it would feel to not get to start on time.

[00:06:48] Liz: Yeah, that'd be bad.

[00:06:50] Abi: So, I mean, this case history offers profound lessons. First, it really highlights the importance of active communication. [00:07:00] When the client, contractor, and geotechnical engineer were communicating timely, they could respond to the problems very efficiently and clearly, successfully, plus reduced risk for everybody.

[00:07:14] Liz: Oh yeah, and that's, that's key. I mean, second, understanding your own intuition and building trust is vital. Starting with a small piece of the project, like the initial assessment allowed the favorable integrity of the client to become apparent, which greatly reduced risk. Invoices were paid promptly and a reasonable contract was executed, and that really built confidence.

[00:07:41] Abi: Pretty funny because it didn't feel like that when the case history opens up, I was worried immediately about what the contract would actually end up as.

[00:07:51] Liz: Yeah, I agree.

[00:07:53] Abi: So that kind of leads into the third lesson learned, though developing strong relationships with the client and the [00:08:00] constructor representatives is crucial. The project basically turned into an impromptu design build and with the excellent team attitude where the risks and stress was managed effectively by each party, and everyone took ownership. It just led to really strong bonds and. Also led to future projects together.

[00:08:24] Liz: Which is great, right? We're all trying to build relationships and get more work. And finally, understanding the project relationships. The individual relationships within this project team were akin to developing that long-term friendship, right? I mean, each member.

[00:08:42] Purposely respecting and including the others, they really had a team oriented approach, and it was really fostered by by that shared trust, which was really key to success in this situation. As the representative stated by working together as a [00:09:00] team and trusting each other, success was always inevitable.

[00:09:05] Abi: It's really an inspiring story of problem solving, resilience, the power of collaboration. I mean, it shows how professionalism, even when those initial business rules were broken, it can still lead to incredible outcomes and trust and communication, they just become the priority.

[00:09:26] Liz: This is a good case history that shows how things can go, right? You can learn from when things go wrong, which is usually what we talk about in the case histories, but how much you can also learn when things go right.

[00:09:39] Abi: A hundred percent. I was excited to finally get to talk about something a little bit more positive.

[00:09:44] Liz: I agree. This concludes this episode of the Case History Series, brought to you by the GBA podcast. I hope you're able to take away some useful information that will help you and others at your firm make good risk-based decisions [00:10:00] in the future.