Application of Mammoth Vibro-Tamper (MVT) for the shallow compaction at airport runway expansion project in Florida

Abstract

At the runway expansion project in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport in Florida (FLL project), there are complicated geotechnical issues that lots of cavities in the limestone-loose sand mixed ground are existing in the shallow area. The Broward County Aviation Department (BCAD), the owner of the project, has required to collapsing the cavities and compacting the runway foundation to secure the take-off and landing of aircrafts. Mammoth Vibro-Tamper (MVT) was proposed and accepted as the alternative to the originally specified Deep Dynamic Compaction (DDC) for the runway with its length of 2.4km and area of 477,000 m2. In this report, the shallow compaction effect and vibration reduction effects by MVT are presented in comparison with the DDC.