Gables West Ave, Phase I & II​
Houston, Texas

Gables West Ave project consisted of four, eight-story mixed use residential/retail buildings and parking garages exceeding 1.5 million square feet.

For Phase I, auger cast piles were the selected foundation and pile load tests were performed. Load test results indicated strengths considerably higher than required by design. Originally, a different geotechnical engineering company recommended that constructed piles be extended to the depth of the test piles. RINER was asked to review the data and, by back-calculating soil strength parameters from the load tests, recommended pile lengths that were reduced by 10-feet. Construction cost savings were on the order of $150,000.

RINER was selected as the Construction Materials Testing firm for the Phase I construction work with an inspection scope that included monitoring of building pad, garage foundation and utility earthwork, auger cast piles, conventional and post-tension reinforcing steel, concrete, structural steel inspections, fireproofing, and masonry.

As a result of our performance on Phase I, RINER was awarded both the Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Materials Testing on the Phase II expansion project. Auger cast piles were the selected foundation for Phase II. Construction materials testing and inspection services for Phase II were identical to those provided in Phase I.