Keller’s wide equipment fleet and extensive experience with multiple techniques provide a design-build excavation support solution for the future home of the Buffalo Bills.
The project
With the existing Highmark Stadium in need of costly repairs, New York State and the Bills Organization opted to construct a new stadium, increasing capacity to 62,000 seats and featuring state-of-the-art scoreboards, video, and broadcast facilities.
Requiring a 25 ft excavation, Keller partnered with the client and engineering consultants to propose a soldier pile and lagging solution that met the project's schedule requirements while mitigating potential groundwater inflow.
The design included 207 soldier piles with precast concrete lagging and 314 tieback anchors. Although using pre-cast concrete lagging was an advantage in maintaining the strict project schedule, it also meant that achieving soldier pile verticality was vital. The team selected an approach that maximized bearing area for permanent lagging and streamlined fabrication of tie points. This allowed for efficient procurement of standard materials and supported the project schedule. Up to 2 rows of strand anchors were used to provide horizontal restraint, with anchor lengths ranging from 20-50 feet.
Keller’s creative development enabled the successful installation of all elements at the required verticality, allowing construction to proceed on schedule.