Madrid Engineering Group, Inc. was part of a team of engineers and architects working on the design of the new, 45,000 SF, 3-story medical clinic located on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland, Florida. The building is designed for doctors and medical personnel specializing in cardiology, neurology, rheumatology, orthopedics, and radiology. The project construction cost is estimated at $10 million.

Special isolated foundations were required for some heavy equipment on the first floor, specifically the CT Scanner and the PET Scanner. MEG worked with environmental and materials consultant Imperial Testing, and structural engineers McCarthy & Associates, Inc., both of Lakeland, on Clark & Daughtrey the project. SPT borings were completed to between 20 and 60 feet below ground surface. The profile generally consisted of near surface sand underlain by relatively dense clays and clayey sand. The water table was encountered at 15 feet below ground surface at the time of the subsurface investigation. Due to the stratigraphy encountered and anticipated loads, shallow foundations were chosen for the structure. The wall loads were estimated at 8,400 pounds per foot, and concentrated column loads as high as 250,000 pounds. Over-excavation and re-compaction of the near surface soils in the vicinity of the footings was required to assure uniformity of the density, strength, and compressibility of those soils.

“I think a lot of geotechnical engineers would have used deep footings as the design alternative, but that would have been the easy way out. A more rigorous analysis showed that shallow footings could be used, at considerable savings to the clinic. We are proud to be part of the design team” says Larry Madrid, P.E., the principal geotechnical engineer. The grand opening was in May 2007.

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