Roswell City Hall Trail Park
The City of Roswell planned to expand a network of walking trails around the historic Smith Plantation House, including the addition of boardwalks totaling 520 linear feet. These boardwalks will connect the trails through low-lying areas across the 11-acre site. United Consulting was tasked with conducting a geotechnical analysis of the subsurface soils to support the boardwalk piles and evaluating natural water infiltration rates for stormwater management beneath them.
Exploring the site was challenging and required careful planning due to limited access and restrictions on clearing. Our team of geotechnical engineers resolved the challenge by mobilizing a drill rig for 10 of the 12 borings, while the remaining two were conducted manually. Due to site access limitations, adjustments were also necessary for infiltration testing. To accommodate these constraints, our team performed hand auger borings adjacent to the low-lying water-holding areas, positioning them as close as possible to the locations requested by the client.
United Consulting recommended supporting the boardwalks on piles as the safest, most reliable, and cost-effective option. We also conducted a GDOT-style bridge foundation investigation based on allowable stress design (ASD) analysis and presented several options for the client to consider. As part of the analysis, our team of experts provided anticipated embedment depths for the piles in the vicinity of each boring location, and offered guidance on pile driving resistance, pile protection post-installation, pile spacing, batter options, and lateral bracing. Due to variations in soil consistency, United Consulting informed the client that erratic pile lengths should be expected.
Since the Smith Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and includes multiple buildings near the proposed boardwalks, United Consulting recommended monitoring the vibrations caused by construction activities.
