Amalgamated Sugar Tanks

Amalgamated Sugar needed to construct 3 tank pads that were 69 feet in diameter. The subgrade conditions required reinforcement to handle the high loads of the tank. An unreinforced section of over-excavation and replacement with crushed aggregate would be over 4-5 feet thick. The construction schedule and cost for this type of foundation improvement was not realistic for this project.

The engineer recognized the benefit of utilizing a mechanically stabilized layer (MSL) for the foundation sections. They used the shallow foundation module in Tensar+ to determine the acceptable thickness of the MSL to meet the requirements of the bearing capacity and settlement limits. The MSL thickness was determined to be 24 inches with 2 layers of NX850. This solution reduced the excavation and aggregate by over 50% for the project. Knife River was able to construct this section in a timely manner compared to the unstabilized alternative.