Tesco Distribution Centre – Slab Re-leveling
Slab dropped by 25mm
Background
This Tesco distribution centre has two large submerged diesel fuel tanks used for refuelling the delivery vehicles operating to and from the distribution centre. On one of the fuel islands the entry and exit slabs had settled up to 25mm, both slabs were also rocking and close to fracturing as the trucks passed over.
During the COVID 19 pandemic, these fuel islands were in constant use keeping the Tesco stores stocked, losing one island would have caused severe delays to their operations.
Customer alternatives
The options for Tesco were to remove and relay the slabs, however, the time scale for this was 7 to 10 days and the process would have taken one fuel island out of service. This was out of the question due to the necessity to keep the operations running.
Slab re-leveled
Why Geobear
Traditional repairs to the fuel island would have taken the facility out of service for up to 10 days, causing severe disruption to the client, notably, during the COVID 19 pandemic this would have meant additional disruption on the restocking of our client’s superstores. Geobear could provide a solution that would re-level the slabs within two days.
Geobear solution
Geobear provided a design to stabilise and lift the slabs back to their original datum, without disruption to the site.
Scheme design
The Geobear design involved drilling 12mm holes on a 1.5m grid pattern as shown on the treatment plan and subsequently injecting one of our expansive geopolymer materials into the fill beneath the slab. The material expands, filling micro-voids and lifts the slabs back up.
The photographs show the slab stabilised and returned back to their datum point, these pictures are immediately post-injection and before the site has been cleared indicating how little disruption the Geobear solutions cause to our clients.
