Puget Power - Olympia Service Center

The bulk of Charter’s challenges during construction of this new service truck maintenance facility lay beneath the surface, but Charter’s innovative techniques and can-do attitude resulted in a successful job.

The project itself was fairly typical: a masonry structure supported by a CMU and structural steel system.  The foundation system, however, was complicated by a high water table. Moreover, the ground water contained excessive hydrocarbon content that prohibited standard dewatering procedures.  Charter designed a system that allowed crews to temporarily dewater the site, remove substandard soils and treat the removed ground water prior to disposal.  Large precast utility vaults were installed to serve as cofferdams after the dewatering procedure was complete. The structural footings and walls were then constructed inside the vault.

Once the foundation system was complete, Charter moved forward with construction of the truck maintenance facility, which included three 40-ton hydraulic vehicle lifts and associated fleet maintenance equipment.