Ductile Iron Piles – Fast. Simple. Safe.™…..and Sustainable
Whether referring to Green Construction, Sustainable Building or Net Zero Energy Building, the push for more environmentally-conscience and climate-friendly construction has continued to gain momentum in the U.S. over the last two decades. Programs like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification developed by the U.S. Green Building Council began in 2000 and continue to expand today. Projects earn credits for various categories including recycled material usage on their way to achieving certification up to Platinum level status with the overall mission of addressing climate change, meeting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals, enhancing resilience and supporting more equitable communities.
Other programs are intended to start earlier in the process at the manufacturing levels. An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) provides an evaluation of the environmental impact through the life cycle of a particular product so that it can be compared with other products performing similar functions. As standardized process through ISO 14025, EPDs allow project stakeholders the ability to make decisions based on an independent environmental assessment of products.
Recycled materials used in Ductile Iron Pile manufacturing
More so than other foundation options, Ductile Iron Piles can assist with enhancing sustainable building at the deep foundation level. Manufacturing of Ductile Iron Piles utilizes 100% recycled materials, so the product itself is more sustainable than many options. In addition, manufacturer Tiroler Rohre, GmbH (TRM) puts such high value on sustainable practice that they were awarded the Environmental Product Declaration for the system, which included a detailed breakdown of the Global Warming Potential or carbon footprint of Ductile Iron Piles compared with other systems. For more information about the sustainability of the TRM Ductile Iron Piling system, check out the Sustainability Brochure. If you are involved in a project where sustainable foundations are valued by the project stakeholders, reach out to us to see how a Fast. Simple. Safe.™ and Sustainable solution can work on your job.
PROJECT EXPERIENCE – MASS MARITIME ACADEMY CADET HOUSING
Construction of a new LEED-certified, 3-story, housing development on the MMA campus required foundation support to transfer building loads through the fill and organic soils to the underlying medium dense to dense sand and gravel. In addition, the piling system needed to resist lateral loads induced from a possible storm surge given the proximity to the Cape Cod Canal. Ductile Iron Piles were selected as a cost-effective alternative over Pressure-Injected Footings (PIFs). The system also offered the benefit of the piling being a 100% recycled material. The exterior grouted displacement piles were designed with lengths of 25 ft to develop bonding in the underlying sand and gravel to meet a capacity of 50 tons (compression) and 2 tons (lateral). Testing was performed using a tension load test with an instrumented center bar. The Series 170/9.0 pile installed with a 270 mm (10.6”) diameter grout shoe was first tested up to 100 tons (200% DL) and rebounded. After successfully completing the required testing, the pile was reloaded up to 150 tons (300% DL) in tension to evaluate performance. The pile deflected approximately 0.5 inches at 300% of the design load. The 108 production piles were then installed in only 7 days. For more information, check out the project summary.
