GRANT FOREST PRODUCTS OSB PLANT
An Engineering Excellence Award-Winning Project

Grant Forest Products of Canada was preparing to build an oriented strand board (a pressed alternative to plywood) manufacturing plant in Fairfax, South Carolina. Though the general contractor and owner’s representative had mobilized to a local office, Grant was considering the costly step of abandoning the site because of potentially soaring constructions costs. It would have been a major blow to the economically depressed area.

A previous geotechnical consultant concluded site soil conditions were not adequate for the proposed facilities. Of particular concern was the press pit used to press layers of strand into panels. The pit would be the largest and deepest ever constructed by Grant, with structure and press weighing a total of 38,600 kips, raising worries about liquefaction and settlement. Before “pulling the plug,” Grant asked for a second opinion. S&ME’s study concluded the circumstances required incorporating advanced geotechnical innovations to provide adequate precision and repeatability.

S&ME developed a methodology with a variety of in-situ techniques in combination with the more traditional, conventional methods earlier employed. This engineering solution allowed the client the use of the site, keeping the project there, on schedule and saving an estimated $2.5 million.