Axiall Corporation
New Ethylene Cracker Facility – Lake Charles, LA
This project consisted of the construction of a new ethylene cracker facility situated on approximately 230 acres of undeveloped property located south of Interstate 10 (I-10) and west of I-210 near Lake Charles, LA. The facility is comprised of various types of structures including multi-story process structures, cooling towers, storage tanks, piping racks, offices, miscellaneous warehouse structures, railroad lines, and various paved areas.
Pile foundations were used for most multi-story process structures, large storage tanks, etc. Shallow foundations were being considered for lightly loaded miscellaneous pipe racks and office structures.
SES provided subsurface exploration and geotechnical engineering services during the design of the facility. Field investigations included over 60 soil borings and over 80 CPT soundings totaling more than 7,000 linear feet. Engineering evaluations including analysis of various types of deep pile foundations, mat foundations, shallow footings, soil response to dynamic loads, seismic site classification and hazard assessment, heavy duty and heavy hauler concrete and aggregate surfaced pavement design, soil corrosivity and electrical resistivity and soil stabilization options.
SES performed all static pile load testing and High Strain Dynamic Pile Testing (PDA) during the test pile program and provided Materials Testing and Inspection services during construction.