Pier C Replacement – US Naval Base

U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay is the oldest U.S. base overseas. Located on the southeast corner of Cuba, the base is about 400 air miles from Miami, Florida. The U.S. Navy planned to demolish Pier C, a fuel pier and access ramp constructed in 1929, and replace it with a new single-deck fuel pier, ramp, and independent mooring structures. Improvements to the causeway and roadway are also planned.

S&ME provided a geotechnical exploration of the Pier C site. A truck-mounted CME-55 dill rig was used to develop 13 soil test borings. Five additional borings were performed over water by mounting the rig on a Navy YC barge. The water borings were advanced to depths from about 92 to 120 ft. below the water line using mud-rotary drilling techniques, and split-spoon sampling with standard penetration testing performed in general accordance with ASTM D 1586. In addition to the split-spoon samples, two undisturbed Shelby-tube samples were collected in general accordance with ASTM D 1587. The causeway borings were drilled to depths from 6 to 61 ft.

S&ME’s reports provided recommendations on earthwork, seismic, foundations and pavement for the project. Information on the exploration and testing procedures, our boring logs, the laboratory test results was also included.