Banner

Polyurethane Grouting Projects

By applying unique solutions to increase the safety and longevity of our environment.

North Carolina Compaction Grouting

The Job

This North Carolina compaction grouting project is located at a military facility in eastern North Carolina. To facilitate the renovation of an adjacent office building, the owner installed eight mobile office buildings. Before the mobile offices were put into use, they settled up to three inches. As a result, the owner had to stabilize the structures before moving any equipment and people into the structure.

The Challenge

The site comprises of sand backfill over native loose sands. The eight mobile buildings bear on masonry piers resting on plastic load distribution pads. The piers and pads are on approximately 6′ centers, spread uniformly throughout the structure. The crawlspace is too shallow to safely enter.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed using CJGrout 35NHV to perform compaction grouting below the piers to stabilize the loose soils. 35NHV is a 3.5lb/cuft rigid polyurethane foam. It performs well for void filling and compaction grouting in wet environments.

Special polyurethane grouting rigs generate CJGrout 35NHV onsite. The rigs have hoses up to 400 feet long, which convey the material from the grouting rigs to the placement area. For this project the 35NHV was injected using sacrificial tubing. The tubing passes through holes in the floor through the crawlspace, to roughly 3′ below the pads.

One of CJGeo’s polyurethane grouting crews was onsite for three days to complete this North Carolina compaction grouting project. CJGeo used rotary lasers to monitor the floor elevation over each pier during grouting. The cutoff criteria was movement of approximately 0.25 inches. Then, a carpentry crew jacked and shimmed the beams after the grouting. Finally, a flooring crew restored the flooring afterwards.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

Coke Gas Pipe Fill

The Job

This coke gas pipe fill project is located in Middletown, Ohio, at Cleveland Cliff’s Middletown Works facility. Middletown Works determined that the coke plant would be more costly to repair than to replace, so elected to demolish the plant.

The Challenge

A demolition contractor working to dismantle parts of the onsite coking plant had to remove approximately 350LF of coke gas pipe. The work area is located in the basement of the coking plant.

Coke gas residuals will spontaneously combust when exposed to the air, but the pipe had to be cut into roughly 3′ pieces to remove it. The pipe fill grout had to:

  • completely fill the pipe
  • coat the residuals to minimize air exposure
  • cut easily
  • add as little weight as possible to the pipe sections

The Solution

CJGeo proposed using CJGrout-20SDB to fill the pipes. 20SDB is a 2lb/cuft rigid polyurethane foam, specifically formulated to flow long distances before setting.

CJGrout 20SDB is generated onsite by special polyurethane grouting rigs. The rigs have hoses up to 400 feet long, which convey the material from the grouting rigs to the placement area. For this coke gas pipe fill project, the crew had to run hoses approximately 250 feet into the building, down multiple stair cases. The hoses are lightweight and about 2 inches in diameter, so this isn’t a problem.

One of CJGeo’s polyurethane grouting crews was onsite for two days to complete the project. Once the coke gas pipes were filled, the demolition contractor cut them into 3 foot long pieces with traditional band saws bagged the sections, and removed them from site.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

Sheet Pile Joint Sealing

The Job

This sheet pile joint sealing work is part of the Thimble Shoals parallel tunnel project. The project is located between Islands 1 and 2 of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel crosses the opening of the Chesapeake Bay, connecting Norfolk/Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore.

The Challenge

Water was leaking out of a joint in the precast splash wall adjacent to the TBM slurry separation pit. Any time it rained, precipitation landing in the slurry pit would flow out of gaps in the sheet pile wall. It then passed through the roughly 3′ of soil between the sheet pile wall and splash wall, and then out through joints in the splash wall.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed using a single component, hydrophilic chemical grout to seal the joints. Hydrophilic grout is best for this particularly repair because:

  • the area is rather dynamic, so hydrophilic’s ability to flex and stretch without tearing helped to ensure longevity
  • the area is constantly exposed to moisture, so dimensional stability is not a concern.

A CJGeo chemical grouting crew of three people completed the sheet pile joint sealing repairs in less than a day. Some chemical grout extruded out through the joint in the splash wall. It was broken off flush with the surface and disposed of offsite.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

NY Grade Crossing Repair

The Job

10 panels of StarTrack modular grade crossing tubs settled in an urban street crossing owned by a short line. As a result of the settlement multiple clips broke. This caused the panels to pump.

The Challenge

The crossing tubs settled, and when crossed by trucks, pumped water containing the sub-ballast up between the tubs and adjacent pavement. The adjacent track also settled significantly.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed grouting immediately below the panels, and also into the underlying disturbed subballast using CJGrout 48NHL geotechnical polyurethane grout.

The CJGrout 48NHL was injected through 5/8″ holes drilled through the panels. The settlement pattern of each panel determines the specific hole spacing. It takes about five minutes for the grout to cure to 95% of its ultimate strength. After grouting, it’s important to tamp the approaches. Because the rails are clipped, lifting the panels lifts the rails & ties in the approaches. If the approaches aren’t tamped, the crossing can teeter totter, which is bad. Tamping is done immediately after grouting, and preferably before any rail traffic resumption.

CJGeo performed the StarTrack modular grade crossing repair without impacting rail traffic. The facility was able to function normally throughout the repair, which took less than a day.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Kirk RobertsMartha Moore
d: 804-396-4845d: 804-404-2683

New York Tub Crossing Lifting

The Job

Eight panels of StarTrack modular grade crossing tubs settled. As a result of the settlement multiple clips broke. This tub crossing lifting project was for a short line serving an industrial facility in Geneva, New York.

The Challenge

The crossing tubs settled, and when crossed by trucks, pumped water containing the subballast up between the tubs and adjacent pavement. The crossing was the only entrance into an industrial facility that took two trains per day. Because of limited onsite storage, rail service couldn’t be disrupted at all.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed grouting immediately below the panels, and also into the underlying disturbed subballast using CJGrout 48NHL geotechnical polyurethane grout. CJGeo performed the tub crossing lifting work without impacting rail traffic, and the facility was able to function normally throughout the repair, which took less than a day.

Polyurethane grouting with CJGrout is an excellent alternative to cement based grouting, because:

  • CJGrout cures within a few minutes, so there are no limitations on rail traffic
  • CJGrout is not brittle, so does not break down in dynamic environments like thin layers of cement-based grout tend to do
  • CJGrout application is not weather dependent; in this case, it was snowing during installation
  • CJGeo controls the entire CJGrout logistics process, so there’s no need to wait on ready mix trucks or coordinate deliveries of material that goes bad within a few hours of offsite mixing

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

Valve Vault Infiltration Grouting

The Job

This valve vault infiltration grouting project is part of the Purple Line project in Maryland. A large diameter water line was relocated, with the tie-in done inside a 10′ diameter vault that was about 20′ deep. The vault structure, which is precast, and set inside a line plate shaft, was leaking at multiple joints and at a poured in place pipe penetration closure.

The Challenge

The vault structure wasn’t concentric in the shaft. This left little room to pour the closure around the pipe penetrations. One of the penetrations leaked, causing the structure to completely fill with water. Per specifications, it needed to be dry.

Most of the shaft was backfilled with 57 stone. Highly permeable backfill material can make water control grouting particularly difficult. When grouting to seal relatively tight leaks in a structure, the less permeable the adjacent soils the better. All grouts want to take the path of least resistance, and with highly permeable backfills, that often means traveling out into, and permeating, the backfill material instead of into tight cracks and water passageways.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed grouting the infiltration points with CJGrout-35NHV61. 35NHV61 is a hydroinsensitive, plural component geotechnical polyurethane, certified for potable water contact. 35NHV61 is a moderately mobile grout, selected to minimize mobility into the 57 stone backfill and reduce material loss during grouting.

CJGeo mobilized a three person crew to the site, and performed the valve vault infiltration grouting over a few hours.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

Illinois Spillway Grouting

The Job

A spillway serving as a dam for a lake owned & maintained by a property owner association outside of Carbondale, Illinois stopped having water flowing over the spillway, requiring spillway grouting. The property owners determined that the lake was draining through voids under the spillway slab. This made them concerned about destabilization of the spillway, which was the sole access for six homes.

The Challenge

The flow velocity was rather high, and immediately on the other side of the spillway was a 30′ cliff. The water was designed to spill over as a waterfall. Given the extraordinary difficulty of retrieving any material washed over the waterfall, the grout had to have an exceptionally fast set. It also needed to provide adequate bearing capacity for the roadway slabs.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed grouting below the spillway with CJGrout 40NHL. CJGrout 40NHL is usually used for differential settlement correction. CJGrout 40NHL performs well for differential settlement correction because it reacts very quickly. It’s used for medium duty lifting, such as highway pavement, so it would provide more than enough bearing capacity.

The owners were very excited that it would be significantly less expensive to grout the existing spillway than to have someone local install a portadam and replace the entire structure. CJGeo mobilized a single polyurethane grouting crew to the site. They stopped the leaks and kicked all the water flow over the spillway in a single day.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

Willow Springs Crossings

The Job

BNSF’s Willow Springs Intermodal yard is a critical facility in United States’ freight rail network. The facility is colocated with a large UPS trucking operation, and BNSF has very tight time lines for transferring containers from inbound trains to UPS.

The Challenge

80 StarTrack modular grade crossing panels across 10 different crossings in the facility experienced settlement. The settlement was affecting the safe operation of yard trucks, causing delays in container transfer times.

Because of the 24/7/365 operation, and very tight performance times, there was no tolerance for downtime.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed grouting the affected panels with CJGrout-48NHL. 48NHL is specially formulated for differential settlement correction in high load applications, such as heavy haul rail.

CJGeo mobilized a polyurethane grouting crew with extensive modular grade crossing repair experience and grouted the 10 crossings over a period of five days onsite. The grouting was done without affecting rail traffic, yard truck operations, or performance metrics.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

8′ CMP Joint Grouting

The Job

A spec warehouse was planned for a vacant piece of land which had 1700LF of 8′ CMP running through it. The pipe was 10 years old. Because the site was vacant, there was no maintenance. Nearly every joint showed signs of soil infiltration, and there were massive sinkholes along the entire alignment. Given the depth, size, and short work window, the contractor sought out a CMP joint grouting repair alternative to replacement.

The Challenge

To avoid replacing the entire run of pipe, the joints had to be sealed. There were 80 pipe joints and 12 pipe to structure joints to seal. The pipe crossed under a roadway, and then crossed the site at an angle. The downstream end of the pipe transitioned to new 96″ RCP.

The Solution

In preparation for the repair, CJGeo had to educate the town, contractor, owner & consulting engineers that polyurethane grouting is an effective CMP repair method.

CJGeo mobilized a polyurethane grouting crew to the the site. Over the course of a week onsite, the crew performed all of the CMP joint grouting.

CJGeo used CJGrout 20SDB geotechnical polyurethane. 20SDB is a high mobility geotechnical polyurethane, so seeks out and fills even the smallest of voids outside of pipes. Because it’s highly mobile, it doesn’t deflect or damage the CMP that needs repair.

The manholes also had significant defects. Made of non-parged sewer brick, they leaked extensively. To address the widespread infiltration through the structures, CJGeo sprayed the interior of each structure with CJGrout 60FDC. 60FDC is a hybrid polyurethane/polyurea spray coating. For durability, the 60FDC was coated with polyurea. The 20SDB, 60SDB & polyurea coating were all installed using the same equipment, significantly reducing costs.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

Medical Clinic 3′ Void Fill

The Job

The medical clinic on a military base was being renovated. As part of the renovation, the 650sqft elevated slab front porch needed to be replaced. The slab “sounded hollow,” and the presumption was that there were nominal voids below the slab.

The Challenge

At the start of demolition, the demolition contractor determined that the voids below the slab were closer to 3′ deep. This presented a safety problem for the demolition. The concern was that the slab would fail catastrophically during demolition. The general contractor reached out to CJGeo about ways to reduce the void depth.

The Solution

CJGeo proposed void filling below the slab using CJGrout 20SDB. CJGrout 20SDB is a low exotherm bulk void filling geotechnical polyurethane specifically formulated for deep fill placements without scorching or charring. A two person crew mobilized to the site and placed approximately 2,900lbs of CJGrout 20SDB in a few hours onsite, allowing the demolition contractor to safely resume work.

Speak With An Expert

Facing a similar challenge? Give us a shout or shoot us a text.

Virginia to MaineEverywhere Else
Lauren LeVineMartha Moore
d: 804-471-3022d: 804-404-2683

Top