CONTRACTOR'S INNOVATIVE SYSTEM STANDS ALONE IN SITE TESTING

Researchers at Texas A&M University are testing a new gravity-retaining wall system that its specialty contractor-developer says can function without bracing or tieback anchors. Vertical Earth Reinforcement Technology (VERT) is a system of soil-cement columns at the face of an excavation backed by several rows of staggered columns to create a composite action gravity wall. Using a top-driven, hollow-stem auger, soil-mixing system, cement grout columns up to 90 ft (27 m) deep were drilled into adjoining positions to form a front wall. By staggering two or three rows of single columns behind the face, at a distance of 0.7 times the height of the excavation, a treated soil mass, equal to approximately 30% of the total soil mass, is created to form the wall. The continuous face creates a watertight excavation that requires no additional toe depth and can have permanent architectural facing attached. The technology is cost-effective, because it allows the construction of retaining walls up to 36 ft (11 m) high without steel or other tensile reinforcement. Also under test is Geo-Con's Hyrda-Mech soil mixing system. The technology creates extended diameter columns and plugs by injecting grout under pressure without compressed air. Hydra-Mech plugs avoid venting of spoils caused by compressed air and overlapping columns can be formed without drilling into previously formed ones.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/08919526
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Page Range: pp 27, 29
• Corporate Authors:

  McGraw-Hill, Incorporated

  330 West 42nd Street
  New York, NY  United States  10036
• Authors:
  • Angelo, W J
• Publication Date: 1998-6-15

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: 2 p.
• Serial:
  • ENR
  • Volume: 240
  • Issue Number: 24
  • Publisher: McGraw-Hill, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0891-9526

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bracing; Columns; Compressed air; Construction; Geotechnical engineering; Gravity structures; Ground anchors; Plugs (Fillers); Research projects; Retaining walls; Soil cement; Soils; Structural design
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Geotechnology; Highways; Research; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00751300
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 27 1998 12:00AM