UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

The State of Louisiana used funds from FEMA to rebuild medical services in the Greater New Orleans area. Many facilities are in development as part of a new medical district in downtown New Orleans, and the University Medical Center is the most prominent in terms of positive impact on the City and the State.

The project consists of several buildings in addition to a parking garage. The main facility features include the Ambulatory Care Building, the Diagnostic and Treatment Center, and Inpatient Bed Towers. The entire site, covering several city blocks, received various amounts of fill to raise existing grade to meet FEMA requirements. Grade supported retaining walls were used in select areas to retain fill.

The geotechnical effort associated with Phase I of this medical center project was primarily directed at establishing pile foundation requirements and evaluating proposed fill placement options for the project site. Phase I also developed requirements for pressure relief associated with deep excavations for emergency water supply and sanitary tanks. This was critical because of the urban setting for the project. Phase II was intended to refine estimates for infrastructure pavements.

Because of Eustis Engineering L.L.C.’s strong local expertise of the geologic conditions, we were able to develop and implement a cost-effective and efficient geotechnical exploration program. This program comprised soil borings and cone penetration tests to map out the subsurface soil deposits over such a large project area. Based on this information, Eustis Engineering performed detailed pile foundation analysis and settlement analysis utilizing geologic features to advantage and to refine pile recommendations.