Tangier Island Communications Building Slab Stabilization
The Job
The Tangier Island telephone exchange building houses the island’s critical communications infrastructure. This includes the 911 system, landlines, and wireless equipment. This 400-square-foot structure sits near the airfield on concrete block walls. Local sand fills the interior of these walls to support the slab-on-grade floor.
Transporting material to Tangier Island by ferry.
The Challenge
Over time, the sand fill consolidated and caused the floor to sink. This created voids up to 4 inches deep and dropped the floor by as much as 5 inches. To keep the critical equipment level, technicians had to use shims constantly. This settlement threatened the island’s only 911 system.
If this equipment failed, the island would lose all emergency services. Additionally, the remote location made logistics difficult. All materials and crews must arrive by small ferries or chartered planes, which rules out heavy construction equipment.
The Solution
CJGeo chose chemical grout for this project because it is easy to transport. The material travels in 55-gallon drums and uses compact application equipment. This setup allowed us to bypass the need for box trucks or heavy geotechnical polyurethane rigs that cannot fit on the local ferries.
Our team stabilized the settled slab by filling the voids underneath it and densifying the weak soil. We completed the entire two-day operation without interrupting the island’s 911 services.
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