ASCE Geo-Institute and

The Deep Foundations Institute

Traveling Lecture

In Person Event – Thursday March 31, 2022

Mandalay Bay Micropiles

by:

Thomas D. Richards, Jr., P.E., D.GE

The Mandalay Bay Hotel, a 3,700 room hotel complex consisting of 43 stories, and three radial wings, had a center core that was sinking at a rate of about ½ to ¾ inches per week.  This caused differential settlement between the center core and radial wings, adding additional stress onto the structure.  Nicholson Construction Company was engaged as a consultant for the owner and developer to solve this problem. 

Join us to hear Tom Richards provide a first-hand account on the problem and how they came up with the solution to save the hotel with 536 emergency micropiles installed at key locations.

Tom Richards is a retired chief engineer, and now consultant, at Nicholson Construction Company. For over 30 years at Nicholson, he dealt with technical aspects of a multitude of specialized geotechnical projects using micropiles, anchors, soil nails, diaphragm walls, and numerous grouting techniques.  Richards’ responsibilities included design, quality control, research, testing and instrumentation.  He was active in numerous committees of DFI, ADSC, PTI, and ASCE, leading to frequent commenting on FHWA and other industry documents.  He is a past chair of DFI’s Micropile Committee and the Anchored Earth Retention Committee, and remains active on a few DFI and ADSC committees.  He is also a member of The Moles.  In 2019, Richards was awarded DFI’s Distinguished Service Award.