GEI Consultants’ Foundation Design for the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care Recognized as a 2011 Deep Foundations Institute Outstanding Project

Boston – GEI Consultants, Inc., recently announced today that its work on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Yawkey Center for Cancer Care project received special recognition in the 2011 Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Outstanding Project Awards. The project was recognized for its innovative foundation design. “Dana-Farber needed a comprehensive solution that would protect its new facility from vibrations and facilitate construction on a site with very tight constraints,” said David Shields, principal engineer at GEI Consultants. “Working closely with other team members, GEI developed a creative solution to meet this challenge. We are pleased to receive this national recognition from DFI.” A cutting-edge cancer care facility housing Dana-Farber’s adult clinical care and clinical research programs, the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care is situated on a 198-ft by-186-ft lot sandwiched between several buildings in the heart of the densely populated Longwood Medical Area. Adjacent to the site is the Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP), which provides power for 9 million square feet of occupied space in the medical area. GEI’s in-situ ground vibration measurements showed that the plant’s generators created low frequency ground vibrations that would affect the performance of sensitive medical research equipment and provide an unacceptable environment for clinical care.GEI designed an innovative foundation and excavation support system to isolate the building from ground vibrations generated by the MATEP power plant. Designed to support the building on bedrock located up to 110 feet below ground surface, this foundation system was isolated from the surrounding soil by physically separating the below-grade parking garage floors from the perimeter foundation walls. Thus, the 14-story Yawkey Center for Cancer Care is actually a 21-story free-standing structure that starts seven levels below ground.Deep Foundations Institute is a national not-for-profit association of contractors, engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, owners and academia. The jurors in the 2011 Outstanding Project awards chose the winning nominees based on the ingenuity of foundation design and construction technique as well as how the design/technique met owner’s needs and solved geotechnical challenges. GEI’s approach to implementing a foundation design that supports the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care’s mission of providing world-class cancer treatment was the predominant factor in its selection to DFI’s Outstanding Projects list for 2011. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Yawkey Center for Cancer Care will be showcased in the January/February issue of Deep Foundations Institute Magazine.