Jade Signature Luxury Condominiums – Miami, Florida

Malcolm Drilling has successfully completed the foundation work for “The Jade Signature,” one of Miami’s newest high-rise buildings currently under construction by Suffolk Construction. This 57-story luxury condominium project is situated along the Atlantic Ocean coastline in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. One of the unique aspects of this project is its three levels of underground parking, a first-of-its-kind feature for the low-lying coastal areas of South Florida, which necessitated a distinctive design to address below-water-level construction challenges.

The project site is located directly adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, with groundwater almost immediately below the surface. The project’s geology includes approximately 15 to 30 feet of beach sand, a 10-foot layer of peat overlaying layers of porous limestone and sand, allowing water to flow freely through the ground and the project site.

Malcolm Drilling implemented Deep Soil Mixing (DSM) as an alternative to numerous sheet pile cofferdams and tremie seals for the construction of the building’s foundation. The unique design required the installation of 35,000 cubic yards of DSM to resist hydrostatic pressure acting against the bottom seal, along with 1,100 linear feet of DSM perimeter hydrostatic cut-off. The DSM solution was successful in providing a deep and dry excavation (up to 43 feet) for the subterranean parking beneath the structure and the rest of the site. The DSM bottom seal, or plug, consisted of overlapping soil mix columns extending to depths of 15 feet below the bottom of the planned building excavation. The entire approximately 2-acre site was treated with DSM. A DSM perimeter wall was installed to serve as both support for excavation and hydrostatic cut-off. Large, closely spaced steel beams supported the wall without the need for internal bracing or tie-back supports. An internal, unreinforced DSM wall was also installed around the tower’s footprint, the deepest section of the excavation. In addition, 317 36-inch diameter and up to 155-foot deep Auger Cast piles were installed. Additionally, 500 18-inch auger cast piles were installed from the original grade elevation, penetrating the DSM plug to provide the necessary uplift resistance.

“The design performed better than expected, and the DSM solution allowed the project to proceed on schedule,” commented Chris Sammon, Malcolm’s Project Manager.