Slab stabilised for Hovis at Avonmouth plant
Geobear was contacted by the Hovis bread production plant in Avonmouth, as a collapsed drain beneath the floor slab in the warehouse had allowed water to leak into the soil causing washout and voiding beneath the floor slab.
Consequently the slab was unsupported and had began to settle. A cooler was sitting on the slab at this location and the client were looking for a solution to stabilise the floor slab. The solution ideally needed to be one where the cooler could remain in place during the works.
The only plausible alternative would be to install mini-piles beneath the slab, however the nature of the work causes a lot of disruption for weeks.
The chosen solution needed to have no impact on other sections on the bakery plant line during the works. Geobear was contacted to see if geopolymer injection would provide the desired solution to stabilise the floor slab.
The campy says: “With the Geobear method, we require minimal access and can implement our solution with little or no effect on the operations of a site. We can implement solutions either when there is a scheduled shutdown or in localised areas whilst operations continue. There is no contamination with our dust-free solutions and materials we use have no adverse effect on the environment.”
The floor slab stabilisation involved the injection of a geopolymer directly beneath the floor slab to fill voids and compact the sub-base. The selected geo-polymer was injected through the slab with the intent of fully re-establishing contact between the underside of the slab and the underlying soils by filling voids & permeating any voided soils directly beneath the slab.
This ensured the presence of a firm horizon of reinforced soil to act as a base course for the slabs to sit on, the purpose of which is to help prevent future settlement.
The work was completed across the 168 sq m slab within two days resulting in minimal mess and disruption. Geobear was able to complete the works in limited headspace beneath the cooler, with no need for the cooler to be relocated, and also with no impact to other plant within the warehouse during the works.
