Project Description

Diaz•Yourman & Associates (DYA) was the geotechnical consultant for the largest container terminal in the United States.  The project included 18 structures and gate facilities, ranging in size from a 500-square-foot guardhouse to a three-story, 20,000-square-foot administration building to a 70,000-square-foot maintenance and repair building.

The major geotechnical issues were potential liquefaction of hydraulic fills, seismically induced lateral and vertical movements of adjacent rock dikes, and the existence of the Palos Verdes Fault, which bisected the site.  Several innovative foundation systems were used for the structures, including deep driven pre-cast concrete piles, mat foundations underlain by ground improved using deep dynamic compaction (DDC), shallow foundations underlain by ground improved by stone columns, and the use of piles and a structurally supported first floor to resist predicted seismically induced lateral and vertical rock dike movements.  The innovative use of DDC and stone column ground-improvement techniques resulted in savings of several million dollars to the Port of Los Angeles when compared to pile foundation solutions for liquefaction mitigation.

Christopher M. Diaz, PE, GE – Geotechnical Manager

Allen M. Yourman, Jr., PE, GE – Geotechnical Principal

Gary K. Gilbert, PE, GE – Geotechnical Project Engineer

Gerald M. Diaz, PE, GE – QA/QC Reviewer