Project Highlights

ACEC/TN Engineering Excellence Award

S&ME, Inc. served as the drilling, geotechnical and seismic consultant for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). These services were provided in response to a 2002 report by a panel of seismic experts that described a seismic characterization that would be the basis for an updated site-wide seismic assessment at ORNL. The purpose of the seismic characterization and subsequent seismic assessment was to insure that the nuclear facilities at ORNL are structurally adequate in the event of an earthquake and to help determine cost-effective structural modifications, if necessary

The objective of S&ME’s services was to characterize the subsurface conditions with respect to seismic response through the collection of field and laboratory geotechnical data for the Melton Valley and Bethel Valley sites at ORNL.

S&ME and its subcontractors executed a scope of services consisting of research into the site conditions and geology, drilling, and sampling to collect high quality samples of the soil and underlying bedrock, and performing state-of-the-art field and laboratory tests. The state-of-the-art seismic testing that was completed for the project included: (1) downhole seismic testing, (2) crosshole seismic testing, and (3) laboratory resonant column and torsional shear testing of both soil and rock samples. The results of the seismic characterization were subsequently used in seismic assessment of the nuclear facilities. Considering the high level of the confidence of the data, it can be concluded that the seismic characterization directly led to more cost effective assessments.