Hanover Riverwalk

Geotechnical engineering for a high-rise residential tower with complex loading demands

Hanover Riverwalk is a 35-story residential tower with an attached seven-story parking garage in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Designed to elevate urban living, the project required a foundation system capable of supporting shear wall loads up to 10,000 kips. ECS, serving as the geotechnical engineer of record alongside structural designer Cohen Freedman Encinosa & Associates, confirmed subsurface conditions and delivered foundation recommendations. The challenge? Highly variable limestone layers and complex loading requirements demanded advanced geotechnical expertise.

Challenge: Erratic limestone complicates pile design

The primary challenge was erratic limestone conditions at depth, which complicated pile embedment. ECS addressed this through deeper confirmatory borings, advanced geotechnical analysis and a tailored foundation strategy validated during the test pile program. These efforts produced structural integrity and maximal performance for one of Fort Lauderdale’s tallest towers.

Solution: Deep borings and validated pile performance

ECS performed soil borings to depths of 75 to 125 feet at key shear wall locations and conducted geotechnical laboratory testing and engineering analyses. A test pile program and pile monitoring verified design assumptions and confirmed performance during construction.