Characteristics of Fill Material 4.

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Characteristics
of Fill Material
HCGE/4/01
4.01 Characteristics of Fill Material

General

As stated in the previous section, quality, consistent fill will pay

the effectiveness of a HESCO dividends. For shorter-term and
Concertainer® structure is emergency use, readily available
heavily dependent upon the fill will have to be used.
characteristics of the fill
material. Fill material could be Depending upon the
anything from concrete, through characteristics of the material,
“engineered soils”, naturally the structure’s design may have
occurring soils, to expedient to be altered. For example, the
material such as snow. thickness may have to be
increased to provide the required
The selection of the fill material degree of protection.
will be based on a number of
considerations. For example,
the tactical situation, the threat
level, the time available for
construction, types of fill
material and the logistic effort
required to transport them
to the construction site.
A secondary consideration,
which may not be known to the
planners or construction team is
how long the structure may be in
place for. If the structure is
expected to be in place for a
length of time then the effort
expended in providing high
HCGE/4/01
 Characteristics of Fill Material 4.02

Characteristics of Fill Material

Fill Construction/ Blast Ballistic

Material Structural Stability Protection Protection
Concrete Generally excellent. Generally good Generally likely to
• Structural Concrete Foundation required for unless blast results produce the highest
• Lean Concrete long-term stability. in catastrophic level of protection of
• Ground failure of the all of the materials
Impregnated structure resulting in this table.
Aggregate in dangerous
secondary effects.

Crushed Rock Generally very good Generally good. Generally good.

• Type 1 with suitable foundation. Care should be Unlikely to
• Scalping Stability not significantly taken to avoid supersede concrete
affected by moisture inclusion of large materials but
variations within the rocks, which may generally better
fill material. form damaging than clays.
secondary
projectiles.

Gravel, Sand Generally very good Generally good. Similar to

with suitable foundation. Minimal crushed rock
Stability not significantly contribution to
affected by moisture secondary
variations within graded projectile threat.
fill material.

Clay Generally only suitable Generally not as Generally

for short-term good as the significantly
construction. materials above. inferior to materials
The moisture content above. The moisture
of the material may content of the
significantly influence material may
performance (increased significantly affect
moisture = decreased performance
performance). (increased
moisture =
decreased
performance).

Organic Matter Generally unsuitable Generally not as Generally inferior

• Peat and should only be used good as the to the materials
• Top Soil when alternative materials above. above.
material unavailable.

Other Materials Only suitable for short- Variable depending Variable depending
• Ice Concrete (Ice term applications unless on the nature/ on the nature/quality
Bound Aggregate) in a permanently cold quality of the of fill.
HCGE/4/01

• Snow environment. material.

©Fortifications Section, QinetiQ

4.03 Characteristics of Fill Material
Selection of Wall Design
HESCO Bastion Concertainer®
structures, with appropriate fill,
will also provide protection
against the effects of radiation.
This Handbook will not provide
design criteria. Existing
survivability publications do
provide guidance to the
protection provided by bulk
fill materials.
Once all the above is known then
the enclosed table can be
studied to select the correct wall
thickness required. The table
has been drawn up using trial
data from a variety of sources.
It is important that the wall
designer understands the notes
and limitations for the table.
Notes
Fill Material. Good quality fill is
well-graded crushed rock, sand
or gravel. Poor quality fill
materials are clay, clayey sand
and silts. The user must make
an informed decision on the type
of material in use.
Structure Height. The height of
a HESCO Concertainer®
structure is dependent on the
angle of attack and /or the
height of the structure or asset
to be protected. This may
involve the construction of
pyramid type structure.
Blast Mitigation. Many tests
have been conducted around the
world on the blast mitigation
effects of defensive structures.
HESCO Concertainer® defence
walls have consistently
performed well in these tests,
however, the protection offered
by HESCO Bastion in relation to
large air delivered bombs or
vehicle borne devices is that of
containment of shrapnel and
blast mitigation. Test result data
is available on request.
Where the threat is likely to be
large devices, the defence wall
should be build to a minimum
height of 3 metres.
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