Case Study Details

As part of the Wayne County Airport Authority’s on-call maintenance program, a drainage system improvement was executed at Detroit Metro Airport. The project aimed to extend drainage through new steel sheet piling and eliminate hydrostatic pressure buildup using JET Filter’s maintainable weep hole assemblies. In high-traffic infrastructure environments like airports, steel sheet piling walls often require supplemental drainage to manage water accumulation behind structural barriers, pressure-related cracking or shifting, backfill erosion and foundation deterioration. WCAA’s Engineering team recognized the importance of integrating maintainable weep holes to protect concrete-adjacent structures and increase service life without major future disruptions.

Products Used

• 31 units of JET Filter – JF3SS: 3″ Diameter Open End Maintainable Weep Hole Filter, featuring ASTM 316/316L Stainless Steel Housing and Mirafi® Filter-Weave FW 300 Geotextile Filter Media.

Solutions

Ram Construction Services, under direction from WCAA, installed 31 JF3SS maintainable weep hole assemblies behind newly proposed steel sheet piling. This solution delivers a clean, maintainable flow path for water buildup behind steel walls – essential for extending structure integrity in demanding transportation environments. Without proper drainage behind sheet pile walls water pressure builds and pushes walls outward, soil saturation weakens backfill stability, and repairs become disruptive and expensive.

Technical Details