Client: C A Blackwell
Background
The client had recently constructed an access road and bridge into a new enterprise zone on the outskirts of Nottingham. The water main running beneath the embankment and feeding in to the adjacent Boots factory fractured some time after the completion of the work causing a significant amount of damage to the highway abutment.
The burst water main had blown out one side of the abutment embankment. In doing so this had created voiding and compromised ground to a depth of 7 metres below the carriageway. The softened clay soils below the bridge wing wall had also caused it to settle by as much as 10-20mm.
Following the rupture Geobear was invited by C A Blackwell and their structural designers to provide a solution for the ex-situ treatment of the damaged embankment using its innovative Geopolymer materials.
Geobear Solution
After careful consideration of the location, site investigation data, open excavations and exposed surfaces, Geobear were able to issue a remediation treatment plan.
We injected geopolymer to fill the abandoned water main and render it safe, recompacted the ground below the carriageway to achieve a loading of 150 kN/m2. Furthermore we recompacted the ground within the three investigation trenches and stabilised the ground below the wing wall to prevent further settlement.
Alternative solution
Traditional re-construction methods involving mass excavation to depth to remove the pipe, and the recompaction of the of the embankment fill prior to resurfacing. It was feared that had the client gone down this route they could have destabilised the adjacent bridge and potentially caused further damage. This would have taken them a considerably longer amount of time to complete with an unknown cost.
Why Geobear
Geobear was selected due to the speed and minimal disruption to road users. We are also able to treat the ground at significant depths with minimal impact on the environment.
