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Slurry Walls Accelerate Shaft Construction in Rock
in Los Angeles
2004
Michael McKenna, King
K. So
Jacobs Associates, Los Angeles, CA, USA
M.A. Krulc
Traylor Brothers, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Edwin Itzig-Heine
Ed Heine
Construction Services,
Leesburg, VA, USA

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This paper details the challenges associated with the design and construction
of a “figure-eight” shaped, or dual cell shaft through
soft ground and sedimentary rock for the Northeast Interceptor Sewer
project in Los Angeles. The Humboldt Street Shaft was excavated as two
cells, using a combination of both reinforced
and un-reinforced concrete diaphragm walls. The Contractor chose to construct
the diaphragm panels to
full depth, using a Hydrofraise rather than sinking them only to the
top of rock, thus eliminating the need for
conventional rock support with shotcrete and ribs or dowels. This method
of construction is unusual for sedimentary
rock. The two cells varied in diameter and excavated depth, as each served
a different purpose. The
21-m-diameter cell was excavated to a depth of 41 m to support tunneling
operations and to allow construction
of a junction drop structure and maintenance hole. The 12.5-m-diameter
cell was only excavated to a depth of
19 m, allowing the construction of a stub-out connection to a future
sewer. Other notable aspects of shaft construction
included the use of rock anchors through the partition wall below the
shallow cell and the use of weep
holes through the shaft walls below the top of rock.
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