Winchester, VA Hospital Basement Wall Lightweight Backfill
The Job
This construction project involved a new hospital building in Winchester, Virginia. The design specified a requirement to significantly reduce the lateral earth pressure exerted on the newly constructed basement walls. This critical need necessitated a specialized load reducing backfill solution with extremely low density.
Placing the 25lb/cuft CJFill-Ultra Lightweight backfill.
The Challenge
Hospital basement walls require careful engineering to manage the immense forces from surrounding soil. Traditional backfill materials, like crushed stone or soil, carry substantial unit weight, translating to high lateral loads. The design engineer required a backfill material weighing no more than 25 pounds per cubic foot (pcf) to maintain structural integrity and limit the wall design requirements. The project timeline also demanded rapid installation, with a total volume of approximately 5,300 cubic yards needing placement quickly.
The Solution
We deployed CJFill-UL, our ultra lightweight low density cellular concrete, with a target density of 25 pcf. This engineered fill provided the required lateral load reduction. We chose a dry batch production method to meet the high-volume, accelerated schedule. This setup utilized a mobile dry batch plant to mix the cement and water and then inject a pre-formed foam directly into the paste stream. This process allowed us to produce and place an average of 800 cubic yards of material daily. The fluid nature of the cellular concrete allowed for efficient placement directly against the basement walls, ensuring complete void filling without the need for manual compaction. This approach successfully met the density, volume, and scheduling requirements of the large-scale hospital construction.
Speak With An Expert
Our specialized low-density cellular concrete solutions provide essential lateral load reduction for retaining structures and foundation walls. Do you have a project with stringent lightweight fill or load reduction requirements? Contact our technical experts today to discuss your project specifications and discover how our engineered fill solutions can meet your complex construction challenges.
