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General |
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| RAP Systems have been used to support hundreds of projects in over 40 states and 8 countries. RAP solutions are used to support commercial, residential, industrial and transportation applications including buildings up to 20 stories tall, industrial tanks, heavily to lightly loaded floor slabs, MSE walls and embankments and other transportation structures. RAP Systems are also used to provide liquefaction mitigation, uplift resistance and increased resistance to lateral loads. |
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| Regional Engineers with Geopier Foundation Company detail RAP Systems using loads provided by the project structural engineer and geotechnical information provided by the geotechnical engineer. Professional engineers, registered in the state where the project will be constructed, develop the design. After preliminary design work is completed, every project undergoes an internal peer review process by engineers in the main office. Before going to construction, “shop” drawings are prepared and stamped by a P.E. and provided to the general contractor. |
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| Eight licensed installers located throughout North America and the Caribbean install RAP Systems. The installer acts as a design-build subcontractor to the general contractor and installs the RAP System per the drawings and specifications developed by the Regional Engineer. |
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The Regional Engineer works closely with all members of the project team including the geotechnical and structural engineer, architect, developer, civil engineer and general contractor. Using the geotechnical information provided by the geotechnical engineer, the Regional Engineer develops RAP solutions for the project. The specific design solution is formulated by using the structural loading conditions and drawings provided by the structural engineer or architect. Working with the licensee to create a seamless transition, the Regional Engineer provides a lump sum bid for the RAP System design to the general contractor.
The licensed installer works closely with the general contractor to coordinate construction and meet project-specific schedule deadlines. |
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| Geopier Foundation Company provides errors and omissions insurance upon request for projects. Our errors and omissions insurance includes a $2 million dollar per occurrence and $3 million dollar aggregate policy. |
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| Technical |
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| An Intermediate Foundation® system engineered, designed and installed exclusively by representatives of Geopier Foundation Company. RAP Systems are constructed by densely compacting successive thin lifts of high quality crushed rock in a 2 to 3 foot cavity of varying depth using patented ramming equipment. The vertical ramming action increases the lateral stress and improves the soils surrounding the cavity, which results in foundation settlement control and greater bearing pressures for design. |
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The combination of the installation of the stiff aggregate pier and significant lateral stress increase in the matrix soil beneath the footing raises the allowable bearing pressure on the order of 2 to 3 times the unreinforced allowable bearing pressure and controls settlement to the project design criteria. RAP elements are installed individually or in groups to support shallow foundations or floor slabs. This often eliminates the need for deep foundations and structural floor slabs.
For applications where shear resistance is the controlling design factor (for example, global stability of MSE walls or embankments; and stabilization of landslides), RAP Systems are installed to increase the composite shear resistance. With measured friction angles of the constructed element ranging between 49 and 52 degrees, RAP elements provide significant increases in shear resistance and afford increases in the factors of safety for stability. For more information, please download or request Technical Bulletin No. 5 on RAP Systems, shear resistance for global stability and slope stability. |
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| RAP Systems are incredibly versatile because they can be installed using either a displacement or replacement method; therefore RAP Systems are effective in reinforcing good to poor soils, including soft to stiff clay and silt, organic silt and peat, loose to dense sand, mixed soil layers, uncontrolled fill and soils below the ground water table. |
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| RAP elements do not need to extend to a firm bearing layer like a pile foundation. The Systems are designed to improve the existing soil with the inclusion of dense aggregate piers and reinforce the soil within a zone beneath shallow footings where the stresses are the highest. In order to accomplish this, RAP elements are typically installed to depths ranging between one and two times the foundation width for settlement control. |
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| Rates depend on factors including drill depths, aggregate haul distances and site conditions. Often, installation rates range from 30 to 50 RAP elements per day. |
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| RAP Systems resist lateral loads through mechanisms similar to shallow foundations. For more information, download or request Technical Bulletin No. 4 on lateral resistance. |
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| RAP Systems resist uplift loads through resistance that develops along the perimeter of the RAP element as an uplift anchor located at the bottom of the RAP is pulled upward. For more information, download or request Technical Bulletin No. 3 on uplift resistance. |
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