The Commonwealth of Virginia opted to demolish the former General Assembly Building while preserving sections of the original 1912 façade, restoring them, and incorporating them into the design of the new building. Before construction of the new home of the Commonwealth’s General Assembly, the commonwealth retained F&R to provide geotechnical services.

The General Assembly Building houses the individual offices of the 140 members of the General Assembly (State Senate and House of Delegates) and their legislative staff, committee rooms, public meeting rooms, food service areas, and other administrative and support spaces.

F&R’s geotechnical team provided a subsurface exploration performed in two phases: an investigation with preliminary recommendations and design criteria provided in a preliminary report, and the final investigation with final recommendations and design criteria submitted in a final report. The geotechnical investigation consisted of nine soil test borings, soil classifications, and laboratory testing of soils.

The Commonwealth also retained F&R to perform extensive materials testing and special inspections services throughout the project’s construction phase. The team performed testing and inspection services on soils, cast-in-place concrete, structural steel, spray-applied fireproofing, masonry, and precast concrete.