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Hayward Baker Uses NI LabVIEW, Programmable Automation Controllers to Repair Damaged Levees Left by Hurricane Katrina

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Hayward Baker used NI LabVIEW and Compact FieldPoint to create a highly flexible control and monitoring system for soil mixing as part of Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts.

Author(s):
Fritz Achhorner - Hayward Baker

Industry:
Water/Wastewater, Basic Materials - Steel/ Lumber/ Construction

Products:
LabVIEW, Compact FieldPoint

The Challenge:
Updating control and monitoring capabilities of soil-mixing system equipment used for repairing damaged levees in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The Solution:
Using National Instruments LabVIEW software and PAC hardware to develop an in-house quality control system in support of levee stabilization efforts.

"With NI tools, we were able to develop the product and manage and support it ourselves. We now can generate quality control reports instead of conducting costly inspections. The flexibility of the NI system for use with future systems was an added bonus. "

Hayward Baker is one of the largest geotechnical construction companies in the world. We specialize in ground modification, and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina we were contracted to help repair damaged levees in New Orleans. Specifically, we were tasked with maintaining quality assurance of the underground construction. Hurricane Katrina caused severe damage along the Gulf Coast, and levees as well as several canals separating Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans were breached, flooding 80 percent of the city.

We were awarded several contracts to repair levees in New Orleans, using dry soil mixing and jet grouting techniques, with the goal of restoring the city of New Orleans to at least the same level of protection as before Hurricane Katrina. We had to document everything being constructed and keep detailed records. Accurate data acquisition and control was therefore very important. We have used National Instruments LabVIEW software for these types of jobs in the past and based on our experience, we knew we could meet this project’s requirements using NI LabVIEW and National Instruments Compact FieldPoint.

For this project we required a new method for soil mixing, which is the mechanical blending of soil with a binding material using a hollow stem auger and paddle arrangement. The goal of the soil-mixing program was to achieve improved character, designed for compressive strength or shear strength and/or permeability, in order to stabilize the levees and prevent further damage. We borrowed our original rig from a sister company in Sweden, and we had to customize the new equipment to meet the new standards. To provide increased control and flexibility we decided to update and program the equipment in-house rather than rely on outside sources. We reviewed specifications from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including depth, feed rates, RPM, and binder weight. We used NI Compact FieldPoint and LabVIEW to perform the control algorithms for the jet grouting as well as monitoring the dry soil mixing application and logging all the process data for quality assurance.  This data is formatted into reports that are required by the Army Corp of Engineers to verify proper operation.

With the LabVIEW based PAC we were able to deliver the system in a very short amount of time. It took less than a month to develop the system; the flexibility of LabVIEW, as well as off-the-shelf hardware from NI, made equipment development seamless. Because we programmed the controllers in LabVIEW we can modify the embedded code ourselves instead of relying on a third party, saving us both time and money.  In previous systems changing code required the expense of contracting and flying a programmer from the original equipment manufacturer in Europe. If something needs to be changed, we can do it right away and simply upload it to the computer. We can make changes from the office and send the application directly to the field.

Our involvement with the levee repairs required control and data acquisition, as well as the ability to maintain uniformity of the product (soil mixing). With NI tools, we were able to develop the product and manage and support it ourselves. We now can generate quality control reports instead of conducting costly inspections. The flexibility of the NI system for use with future systems was an added bonus.

For more information, contact:

Fritz Achhorner

Hayward Baker

1130 Annapolis Road, Suite 202

Odenton, MD 21113-1635

fachhorner2@haywardbaker.com

 

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