Perkins Homes

About

Awards:
“Award of Excellence,” 2023 by Maryland Building Industry Association (MBIA), Land Development Council

GTA provided subsurface explorations and geotechnical engineering to evaluate subsurface conditions and provide recommendations for the redevelopment of the Perkins Homes public housing in downtown Baltimore.  This award-winning development consists of a mix of low-rise apartment buildings and townhomes, containing 2,172 units, the majority being affordable housing. The project spans six city blocks, throughout which GTA performed approximately 150 borings, as well as test pits and over 30 infiltration tests. The site is underlain by highly variable, historic fill soils and layers of very soft native soils, due to its proximity to the harbor.  GTA provided recommendations for ground improvement, including Aggregate Piers, Helical Piers, and undercutting of unsuitable soils, due to the complex subsurface conditions and construction vibration concerns. GTA’s explorations had to be performed before demolition of the roughly 50 Perkins Homes buildings, which required extensive planning and coordination with utility locators and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. Additional challenges included drilling into naturally occurring pockets of compressed methane gas.  GTA is also performing construction observation and testing services during construction of this challenging project which is being built in five phases.