Paulsboro Marine Terminal

Paulsboro, New Jersey

TRC was retained by the Gloucester County Improvement Authority to plan, direct and execute all aspects of a comprehensive geotechnical investigation and evaluation for this new 167-acre marine terminal located on the Delaware River. Major structures include a 2,350 ft long ship berth to accommodate up to three “Handy- Max” 650 LOA bulk carrier ships, a 44-acre forest products storage area and five transit buildings, a 52-acre metal scrap storage and steel shredder facility, 16-acres of wheeled cargo storage, as well as numerous terminal roads and terminal railways.

TRC developed a comprehensive subsurface exploration program that consisted of drilling 32 test borings (19 land based borings and 13 water-based borings) for a total depth of approximately 3,200 lin ft. All borings were completed using our in-house equipment which consisted of land-based truck mounted drill rigs and water-based barge-mounted drill rigs. Retrieved samples were sent to our in-house soils laboratory where they underwent a battery of tests that included classification tests, triaxial shear strength testing, and one-dimensional consolidation testing. Our staff additionally planned and oversaw the environmental sampling performed at six of the water-based test borings and analytical testing of the river sediments for proposed dredging.

A detailed report was prepared that addressed such pertinent issues as: deep foundation alternatives for support of the ship berth, and access road and train bridges; ground stabilization of loose surface soils and granular dredge materials to minimize settlements and improve shear strength; surcharging of soft compressible soils to mitigate post construction settlements; and shallow and deep foundation alternatives for support of transit structures, steel shredder and other planned buildings.

• Client: Gloucester County Improvement Authority
• Project Location: Paulsboro, New Jersey