Chewy Distribution Center

Project overview

The Chewy distribution center is a heavy-load warehouse and fulfillment facility built to move high volumes of freight daily. A project of this scale sits or fails on what happens below grade: the bearing capacity of the soils, the behavior of the pavements under constant truck traffic, and the strength of every yard of concrete placed. Geo-Tech was engaged as the geotechnical engineer and construction materials testing (CMT) firm from early exploration through vertical construction.

Our team paired geophysical engineering with a program of standard penetration test (SPT) soil borings to build an accurate picture of the site’s subsurface, then translated that data into foundation and pavement recommendations the design and construction teams could build against with confidence.

On a distribution center, the ground does the heavy lifting. Geo-Tech’s role is to prove, with data, that it can carry the load for the life of the building.

The challenge

North Central Florida’s geology brings a specific set of risks to large slab-and-tilt-wall warehouses: variable sandy soils, the potential for soft or organic zones, and a shallow water table that can complicate compaction and foundation work. For a facility carrying racking loads, heavy machinery, and continuous trailer traffic, the tolerance for differential settlement is narrow. The site had to be characterized thoroughly before a single footing was designed.

Geo-Tech’s scope of work

Geo-Tech provided an integrated geotechnical and materials-testing program across the life of the project:

1. Geophysical engineering & exploration. Site-wide geophysical exploration to map subsurface conditions and identify anomalies before intrusive testing, reducing the risk of surprises during construction.
2. SPT soil boring analysis. A program of standard penetration test borings across the building pad and pavement areas to determine soil stratigraphy, density, and bearing characteristics, the data foundation for every recommendation that followed.
3. Foundation preparation recommendations. Engineered recommendations for site preparation, allowable bearing pressures, and foundation design, giving the structural team defensible parameters for footings and slabs.
4. Pavement section recommendations & drainage parameters. Pavement section design for the truck courts and access drives built to withstand sustained heavy-vehicle loading, plus drainage retention area parameters to support the site’s stormwater design.
5. Soil & limerock density testing. In-place density testing throughout earthwork to verify that fill and subgrade were compacted to specification before construction advanced.
6. Threshold inspections. Special-inspector threshold inspections during vertical construction, as required for a structure of this size under the Florida Building Code.
7. Concrete compressive strength testing. Sampling and laboratory compressive-strength testing of structural concrete to confirm every placement met specified design strength.

Outcome

Geo-Tech’s exploration and testing program gave the design and construction teams the subsurface certainty a facility of this size demands, foundations and pavements designed on measured data, earthwork verified before it was built on, and every concrete placement confirmed to strength. The result was a distribution center delivered on a sound, well-documented geotechnical footing.