Testing didn’t reveal it, but reality showcased it when crews started drilling piles for a new $3.2-million Lax Kw’alaams ferry dock in Port Simpson, British Columbia, completed last month. The “piles were walking,” says Claudio Pirillo, project manager for Prince Rupert, B.C.,-based Broadwater Industries.
A new dock will accommodate the 15-vehicle Spirit of Lax Kw’alaams’ ferry and offices for B.C.’s Ministry of Forests and Range. To build it, crews were to drill and socket 12 35-in.-diam steel piles 4 meters deep into bedrock for a ramp to the floating-barge dock. Test piles were driven into areas that showed few issues, but once construction started, sloping bedrock and a lack of overburden made positioning the piles on the 45� slope difficult.