The project consists of a new 240-foot by 700-foot steel-framed warehouse building with a PVC fabric exterior skin, truck loading docks, and hot mix asphalt pavement.  Geotechnical engineering services consisted of test borings, laboratory testing, geotechnical evaluation and preparation of a geotechnical report for the proposed construction. The subsurface investigation included drilling 21 test borings to depths ranging from 5 feet to 70 feet with a truck-mounted drill rig, equipped to push 3-inch thin wall Shelby tube samples.  The laboratory testing program included moisture content, compaction, consolidation testing, sieve analysis and Atterberg limits for soil classification.  The report included subsurface data obtained, laboratory test results, and recommendations for building foundations, floor slab, and pavement design.

• An estimated 6 to 12 inches of total settlement was due to the proposed fill, warehouse foundation, and floor slab loads supported on up to 28 feet of very soft variable fill materials.  The selected fabric-frame warehouse structure can tolerate large settlements, and up to 3 inches of differential settlement.  A shallow foundation system was recommended, with ground anchors to resist uplift loads.
• In consideration of the estimated settlement problems with a conventional concrete floor slab, recommendations were provided for a hot mix asphalt warehouse floor slab with live loads up to 2,500 psf.