Control of
Filling Operations
Engineers place “fill” to raise the ground to a higher level or to
speed the consolidation of the soil (temporary surcharges). Projects
involving fill include land reclamation and the construction of dams
and embankments.
Dumping and compacting tons of fill increases the load on the foun-
dation soil. The load is immediately transferred to the pore-water in
the soil. The increased pore-water pressure reduces the effective
stress in the soil, and thus its shear strength. If fill is placed too
quickly, without allowing time for excess pore-water pressures to
dissipate, the increased load on the weakened soil may cause failure.
Before construction starts, the project engineer determines the shear
strength of the foundation soil and establishes a safe pore-water
pressure. Piezometers are installed to monitor pore-water pressures
at various distances from drainage boundaries. The engineer then
slows or halts placement of fill to maintain pore-water pressure at
safe levels.
Basic Soil Mechanics
FILL.cdr
Fill Height /
Pore Water Pressure
Critical
Pore-Water
Pressure
Time
Rembco Geotechnical Contractors specializes in
slope stabilization,
soil nail wall,
foundation repair
and support,
grouting,
shoring,
micropile
construction,
rock drilling, and we remediate
sinkholes. We use a
problem-solving approach in the geotechnical portions of buildings, bridges, water plants, sewage plants, tunnels,
installing caisson bottom, and roads. We are experienced in these applications:
micro piles,
sinkhole repair,
permeation and
pressure
grouting,
soil nails,
cement grouting,
chemical grouting,
micropiles,
compaction grouting, and
rock anchors.
Rembco techniques apply when adding new structures: especially
rock anchor,
microfine cement,
soil nailing, and
micropile
installations for foundation support. Our specialties are
soil nails,
rock anchor,
chemical and
compaction grouting,
mini piles,
sinkhole repair,
micropiles, and
soil nailing.
