Geotechnical

NORTECH offers a range of civil geotechnical services and arctic engineering experience as prime or sub-contractor for small to medium size projects, and owner assistance with construction administration and contract management. Our professional engineers perform subsurface investigations, foundation design recommendations, freeze-thaw analyses, geophysical surveys, drinking water evaluations, wastewater services, storage tank services, solid waste management, hydrologic studies, and storm water management planning. Our arctic engineering experience includes design recommendations for new water systems and wells in permafrost, permafrost foundations and foundations in/on frost-susceptible soils, permafrost control for infrastructure, drainage control, ice roads, and contaminant fate and transport in freezing ground. Our support services include arbitration, thermal and groundwater modeling, autocad design, mapping, cost estimating, database development, and equipment rental.

 Allakaket Guesthouse/Elder Kitchen Building Thaw Evaluation – Allakaket, Alaska

NORTECH performed a thaw evaluation of a foundation design for the planned Allakaket Guesthouse/Elder Kitchen Building. The proposed building was to be constructed with a crawl space, located atop a gravel pad, and situated between two existing structures. Design parameters included building interior temperature, insulation type, gravel pad material, thaw settlement, and consideration for adjacent structures. The thaw design calculations optimized insulation thickness and placement in minimizing heat transfer to underlying permafrost and adjacent building foundations.

 Alaska Railroad Corporation Intermodal Facility Environmental Document Review    and Geotechnical Sampling – Fairbanks, Alaska

NORTECH was on the team of local architectural firm Charles Bettisworth and Company which succeeded in winning the design and construction of the Alaska Railroad Corporation’s Intermodal Facility in Fairbanks. The Intermodal Facility consists of a new terminal building, with associated access roads and parking lots, as well as realignment of several major utilities and four railroad tracks and construction of new railroad track for expedited train maintenance. For this project, NORTECH reviewed and inspected the locations of the proposed buildings and track alignments. NORTECH then reviewed the ADEC Contaminated Sites and Leaking Underground Storage Tank files to identify any potential impacts on the new facility.

Since a geotechnical investigation was part of the 35% Design phase, NORTECH used the document review to identify the geotechnical borings that were most likely to show contamination. A total of 19 soil samples from 28 borings were collected for laboratory analysis and impacts were observed in only six of the soil borings. Five of these were trace concentrations of limited contaminants, while one boring showed significant fuel contamination.

NORTECH recommended additional investigation of the area around this boring, including additional borings and/or trenching as part of the next phase of the project. The design firm indicated that this area was not going to be impacted by significant surface improvements and that no further investigation was necessary.