In August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey damaged several transmission line structures for Aransas Pass to Port Aransas transmission line. TTL was engaged to perform geotechnical investigation and provide the engineering recommendations by mid-November of 2017. Using an unmanned Arial vehicle, our professional staff immediately assessed the site to identify challenges and to formulate a strategy that would result in on-time delivery of our design recommendations. The geotechnical investigation program consisted of performing 32 soil borings and 26 Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT). Locations of the soil borings and CPT tests were selected by the design team. The boring and CPT test locations were near Mangrove plant, an endangered plant, in water and in wetlands. Borings located in the water were drilled from a barge. Airboats were used to maneuver the barge from one location to the other due to shallow water depth. A Marsh-buggy, an amphibious vehicle, was used to access the borings located near mangroves to avoid plant damage. The remaining soil borings and CPT tests were completed using TTL’s all-terrain equipment. TTL’s professional field-staff performed borings and CPT test in accordance with industry standards, laboratory testing program was performed in our accredited laboratories and our design recommendations included axial and lateral design parameters for deep foundations and applicable construction considerations. The engineering report was submitted on schedule.
