VCU’s Institute for Contemporary Art was a $35-million construction project that involved the construction of a 38,000-square-foot building with a double front: one side opens from the city, the other from the sculpture garden to the forum, linking the city and campus.
VCU brought F&R onto the project to provide environmental consulting services during the removal of four underground storage tanks (USTs) and two hydraulic cylinders. Our environmental team evaluated soils for possible petroleum impact. F&R returned later for the removal of a hydraulic oil cylinder and collected soil samples following removal to analyze for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), diesel range organics (DRO), and oil range organics (ORO). Excavation activities uncovered additional buried concrete vaults.
F&R also provided subsurface exploration and geotechnical engineering services to support the project. The subsurface exploration consisted of seven soil test borings ranging from 10 feet to 110 feet below the existing ground surface. Once the team concluded field activities, they compiled boring logs and prepared a subsurface profile. Additionally, F&R performed a geotechnical engineering evaluation of the subsurface conditions concerning their suitability for the proposed construction and provided pavement design recommendations.
Due to evolving project details, VCU asked F&R to return to the project to provide an additional subsurface exploration and geotechnical engineering evaluation. The subsurface exploration consisted of three Dilatometer Test (DMT) borings due to a very dense sand layer beginning at 45 feet below the ground surface; each hole was predrilled to penetrate the dense sand layer. Once the very dense soils were penetrated, the team resumed DMT tests and provided measure parameters directly related to the in-situ moduli of elasticity for soils beneath the proposed structure. After the field testing, F&R provided the updated foundation, basement foundation, and Gallery 1 foundation recommendations and seismic considerations.