ThyssenKrupp Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico is a large steel manufacturing complex currently under construction in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The facility will consist of an integrated steel plant with production capacity of 5 million tonnes of steel, a thermoelectric plant with 490 MW generating capacity, and a port terminal that will receive imported coal and from where all the production of the plant will be shipped.
The complex covers an area of 9 million square meters by the Sepetiba Bay, and is a JV between ThyssenKrupp Steel and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. It is the largest steel plant built in Brazil in the past 10 years, and will employ 18,000 during construction and 3500 once in operation. The plant is expected to start production in December 2009.
The foundations of the various structures include both driven piles and cast in place foundations, with diameters from 450 to 2000 mm. The foundation quality control was conducted by Brazil's Fugro In Situ Geotecnica, using equipment manufactured by Pile Dynamics, including its Crosshole Sonic Logging, Integrity Testing and Dynamic Load Tests.
Crosshole Sonic Logging evaluates the quality of concrete in drilled shafts previously prepared for the test by the installation of steel or PVC tubes during construction. This test was performed with the instrument Cross Hole Analyzer.
The test consists of placing one or two accelerometers on the foundation, and hitting the foundation with a hand held hammer. The signals from the accelerometer reveal any significant changes in cross sectional area that may exist along the shaft.
Fugro In Situ conducted more than 900 dynamic load test, both on driven piles and on drilled shafts using the Pile Driving Analyzer, to which accelerometers and strain transducers were connected. The PDA software calculated the results of the test from the force and velocity signals obtained during impact by the accelerometers and strain transducers attached to the shaft.
The Dynamic Load Tests permitted the re evaluation of the foundation design, taking into account the setup. The Dynamic Load Test also evaluated the efficiency of the driving system utilized in this important project.
(Sourced from www.khl.com)
