Virginia City Hybrid Energy

Virginia City, Virginia

In 2008, Case Foundation Company, with Case Atlantic and Hayward Baker, was awarded a project for the installation of the foundations for a $2 billion, hybrid coal fired power plant. The plant is located in the mountains of southwest Virginia.

The original contract consisted of 291 drilled shafts and 487 micropiles to support the various components of the plant. The drilled shaft design had shafts varying from 3 to 6 feet in diameter with sockets varying from 8 to 15 feet in depth. Installation of the foundation elements involved drilling through mine fill consisting of shot rock generated from surrounding coal mining operations. Two telescoping casings were employed to get to the top of rock, 75 feet below the surface. Concrete was placed by tremie methods with the use of a boom truck during extraction of the temporary casings. After Value Engineering changes the final foundation design for the project consisted of 525 drilled shafts and 74 micro piles.