Case studies 1

SCS Engineers and Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) are to be honored at the annual conference in
Florida planned for August 2021. The firms will receive a 2021 Engineering Excellence Award by the
American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida. The honor acknowledges SCS for the
environmental engineering firm’s innovative design that integrates groundwater remediation with the
stormwater management system on a 500-acre former landfill site. The design enabled the developer
to remediate the former landfill into the Countyline Corporate Park in Southeast Florida.

Industrial real estate is in high demand, but former landfills and brownfields present environmental
challenges that can become cost-prohibitive to redevelop without sound environmental expertise.
FECI retained the professional services of SCS Engineers to provide consulting and design services
addressing the environmental concerns preventing the transformation of a former landfill into a state
of the art business park.

Environmental guidelines require 28% (or about 140 acres) of the site to be set aside for stormwater
retention. The set aside would require the relocation of several thousand cubic yards of waste and
prevent the 140 acres’ redevelopment. The estimated loss of $300 million in potential real estate
sales, coupled with the groundwater remediation expense, made the site redevelopment cost-
prohibitive. Unless resolved, the problem also impeded FECI’s corporate sustainability goals.

SCS’s experts in landfill design, closure, and remediation, developed a solution tying together the
groundwater remediation and stormwater management systems. The integrated system allows for
shallow aquifer recharge with stormwater and captures impacted groundwater at the site’s boundary.
“We were able to provide an alternative design acceptable to all the permitting agencies, eliminating
the need to set aside large areas for stormwater retention,” said Mr. Som Kundral, P.E., SCS’s senior
project manager.

SCS’s remedial actions protect public health while opening the site for reuse. The project will be
completed in phases. Phase I, consisting of 160 acres, is complete, with two million square feet of
occupied businesses and a 30-acre community park. Development of the other three phases, which
include another six million square feet, is underway.

The development will create hundreds of new jobs, deliver several hundred million dollars to the city
and county tax base, and provide a 30-acre public park. “The engineering solution protects the
environment while meeting FECI’s strategic, social, economic, and sustainability goals,” said Mr.
Eduardo Smith, P.E., SCS’s senior vice president of client success.

Learn more about these related topics, events, and case studies at SCS Engineers

Dynamic Compaction

One option for improving foundation strength is through dynamic compaction, which involves
dropping a heavy load from a significant height for a certain number of times on locations identified
by a grid pattern. The kinetic energy of the weight at the time of impact on the substandard
foundation compresses the material, reduces voids in-between material particles, and increases
internal friction or shear strength of the material. The practice has been around for decades, and
developers are familiar with the methodology. The design of a dynamic compaction program is best
carried out by a geotechnical engineer familiar with site conditions and parameters. Dynamic
compaction is a reasonable and cost-effective option for specific vertical development to improve
load-bearing foundations.

Installing Piles

Another option is installing piles in a grid pattern into the ground, extending into the virgin ground.
The piles carry the building load via pile skin friction or point resistance at the tip of the piles. Driving
piles is more expensive than the dynamic compaction option discussed above. Piles are
characteristically useful for high design loadings. Dynamic compaction is useful to minimize ground
settlement around the piles, preventing voids from forming below the building as the ground settles
over time. While the building remains at its constructed elevation above piles, dynamic compaction
helps avoid problems with utilities below the building slab, including water lines, sewer lines, and
electrical lines. Limiting the amount of settlement prevents future vertical shifts in ingress and egress
structures, driveways connected to the building, docking ports for trailers, and outside staircases if
not located on piles.

The gas vapor barrier system under the building prevents unwanted gas from moving upward from
materials in the ground into the building. Minimizing settlement by performing dynamic compaction
prevents the barrier from vertically shifting and opening passages for unwanted gas moving into the
building. The integrity of the barrier layer is essential in maintaining the building’s protection. These
problems are tremendously expensive to fix, and agency officials could deem the structure unsafe for
occupation.

Excavation

A third option is the excavation of unsuitable material then backfilling with suitable soil. Depending on
the contamination, it is possible to clean the soil then return it clean as backfill. For the building
foundation to have sufficient bearing capacity, a geotechnical engineer oversees the operation. Filling
the excavation in dry conditions is less complicated than wet conditions. In sites where excavation is
deep and groundwater is high, dynamic compaction of the backfill, placed in the ground in wet
conditions, may be necessary to achieve sufficient shear strength to support the proposed
development.

Developers and city planners want viable solutions that are financially reasonable. While dynamic
compaction may sound like a crude methodology, it plays a vital role in improving substandard
foundations. If you are considering redevelopment of a landfill, Brownfield or other property where
the foundation is currently unsuitable consider establishing a business relationship now with a reliable
dynamic compaction contractor since they are highly in demand and their availability can affect the
project schedule.

Caase study 2
ountyline Corporate Park

Background
Countyline Corporate Park is a planned 8.5 million square foot, 500-acre premier logistics center built
by one of Florida’s leading industrial developers. Most of the project site was a former Construction
and Demolition (C&D) Debris Landfill.

Building on the former landfill adds significant capital and operational costs because of the required
soil improvement, landfill gas management, groundwater remediation, stormwater management, and
the ongoing inspection, monitoring, and reporting.

Challenge
Because most of the site is waste-filled, stormwater management options included relocating waste
or using prized unfilled areas for stormwater ponds; however, both result in losing development land
and the associated revenue. An alternative considered was purchasing stormwater rights in adjacent
lakes. After further evaluation, the team recognized that these traditional options were cost-
prohibitive. Additionally, costs for soil improvement and gas management were substantial. Further,
groundwater remediation costs were estimated at $10 million.

Considering all the additional costs associated with construction on the landfill, creative, cost-saving
solutions were vital to ensure the development would be feasible and remain cost-competitive in the
future.
Outcome and Benefits
SCS Engineers, in collaboration with Flagler/Florida East Coast Industries (FECI), developed and
evaluated alternatives addressing each of the environmental challenges. Each alternative considers
the cost, technical feasibility, the likelihood of regulatory approval, and long-term performance for
the site’s health and the community’s wellbeing.

The best cost-saving solution is an integrated stormwater-groundwater remediation system designed

by SCS. The system effectively cuts off potential migration of ammonia-impacted groundwater offsite,
thereby reducing future risks. More importantly, from an initial development-cost standpoint, it
permits stormwater injection into the shallow aquifer, allowing the developer to maximize the
development area. The solution doesn’t require the use of extremely costly offsite stormwater rights.
This method of stormwater management is unique to the site.

The cost savings allowed for spending on other environmental facets of the project, such as deep
dynamic compaction for soil improvement and passive gas management under habitable spaces,
making the development feasible and environmentally responsible.

SCS’s remedial actions protect public health while opening the site for reuse. Phase I, consisting of
160 acres, is complete, with two million square feet of occupied businesses and a 30-acre community
park. Development of the other three phases, which include another six million square feet, is
underway.

The development will create hundreds of new jobs, deliver several hundred million dollars to the city
and county tax base, and provide a 30-acre public park.

Highlights of the SCS Solution

Remedial Action Plan and Water Use Permitting

Design and safe permitting of Class I industrial deep injection well
Design and build 2-million gallons per day groundwater extraction system and pump station
Landfill gas survey and the design of gas management systems for warehouses
Assistance with the Environmental Quality Control Board