A large number of drilled shafts were required for the final design of a new container terminal within the Port of Houston. Designers of the substructure determined the needs to perform fully-instrumented load tests on three test shafts to evaluate possible reductions of pile penetrations or total number of shafts. LCR&A designed and performed the complete testing program while the client organized construction and interpreted test results. Innovative caliper tests were made with a special equipment provided by LCR&A to determine the as-built size of the drilled holes for each test shafts. The shaft caliper was custom built for the project and had monitoring electronics and custom software that provided live readings and graphing of the test hole. A full report was provided to the client within a few days after testing.

Cross-hole sonic logging was made by LCR&A on each finished test shaft within a few days from concreting. A full report was delivered within a few days after testing. Each test shaft was carefully instrumented with redundant sensors. Instrumentation was mainly composed of electric strain bars custom made and installed by LCR&A for this project. Some level of redundancy was provided by sets of optical strain bars and vibrating wire sensors that were also embedded in concrete at some of the same levels as the electrical strain bars. Loading was also monitored and centralized with special hemispherical steel plates, maximum loading of 1150 Tons were reached on 27-feet spans between reaction piles. The test shafts were all of 36-inch diameters and lengths varying from 70 to 140 feet. The reaction shafts used in this test project, with 150 feet of penetration, were among the longest drilled shafts in the State of Texas.