Ground improvement

Vibro stone columns are the most commonly specified ground improvement method. They can be tailored to meet a wide variety of bearing capacity and settlement requirements and provide an economical and sustainable alternative to traditional piling and deep foundations.

Vibro stone columns are ideal:

• In granular soils, mixed fills, and cohesive soils, with bearing pressures of between 100-200kN/m2 typically achievable
• To construct columns to depths of up to 12 metres (depending upon the loading and ground conditions)
• To improve settlement by a factor of 1.5 to 3 on most projects
• To accelerate the dissipation of excess pore water generated by loading pressures
  As an alternative to more expensive piling systems - due to speed of installation and cheaper materials
• For a vast array of sectors and applications, including housing, road, rail, ports, commercial, retail, industrial, education, medical, wind farms, utilities, leisure and military projects

Vibro concrete columns are an effective ground improvement technique developed to provide integrity through weak organic soils or to provide greater settlement control than can be achieved with vibro stone columns

Vibro concrete columns are ideal:

• On contaminated piling sites where spoil removal is to be avoided, i.e. for regeneration of brownfield sites
• Where peat and organic soils preclude conventional vibro techniques
• Where founding at a high level is required to avoid piling into an aquifer
• Where short construction programmes dictate fast-track installation & high production levels
  For loads/settlement control with a load transfer platform

Vibro compaction is an established technique for stabilising granular soils such as loose sands, gravels and some hydraulic fills using vibroflots.

Benefits:

• Vibro compaction techniques are well established and in suitable soil types can be used for construction of tank farms, ports and marine structures
• Vibro compaction is extremely effective for sand compaction, and to date, we have utilised the technique in the Middle East, North America and the Mediterranean
• Vibro compaction can provide fast, in-situ densification of loose sands to depths of up to 30 metres and is one of the most economical and sustainable ground improvement methods available
• Vibro compaction significantly reduces the threat of liquefaction in the event of seismic shocks

A brand new ground improvement technique that offers an economical alternative to piling that, unlike other systems, can be used in virtually any ground conditions.

Because it is a ground improvement method it produces little or no spoil and what's more, it's really fast. Up to 2,500 metres per week can be achieved.

• Suitable applications include:
• Road and railway embankments
• Retail/industrial units
• Housing
• Tanks
• Retaining walls
• Slopes

The dynamic compaction technique involves using a crane to drop weights of between five to 20 tonnes, from heights of up to 20 metres. As a result this technique is best suited to large, open sites where few obstructions are present.

Dynamic compaction is beneficial to your project as:

• Excavation is not usually required making the solution highly suitable for use on contaminated or obstructed sites
• Levels can be reduced by up to 10% of the depth of fill being treated reducing the amount of spoil requiring disposal
• It is frequently used for re-development of old domestic landfill sites, to collapse existing voids and accelerate the long-term settlement between piled structures and the surrounding hard standing areas
• It is extremely economical and can be used for large sites
• It can be combined with rapid impact compaction and vibro techniques to allow treatment to within 10 metres of buildings