Jet-Grouting: A Soil Improvement Technology: Images Courtesy Sea To Sky Geotech Inc

Jet-grouting: A soil improvement technology - Construction CanadaConstruction Canada Page 1 of 7
Jet-grouting: A soil improvement technology

March 1, 2012
[1]
Images courtesy Sea to Sky Geotech Inc.
By Andy Vizer, P.Eng., LEED AP

Jet-grouting is a soil improvement technique used in many parts of the world. It involves mixing in-
situ soil with water-cement grout, which is then injected into the soil with the aid of special tools at
high speeds of over 200 m/s (656 ft/s) and under high pressures ranging from 30 to 60 MPa (4500 to
9000 psi). Jet-grouting was introduced to British Columbia in 2004; since then, several applications
for soil improvement––both temporary and permanent––have been successfully carried out in the
Lower Mainland.
Historically, the technology was developed in Japan in the mid-70s and imported to Europe in the
decade that followed. In Europe, most notably in northern Italy, this technology was quickly adopted
and became popular (due to soil conditions particularly suitable to jet-grouting, made up of alluvial
soil with sand and gravel). In North America, the use of jet-grouting has also made inroads in recent
years. During the last grouting conference in 2003 in New Orleans––a conference held every 10 years
––papers presented on the jet-grouting technology were the focus of the event.
[2]Introduction to jet-grouting
technology
As mentioned, jet-grouting employs a grout mix injected into the ground under very high speed and
https://www.constructioncanada.net/jet-grouting-a-soil-improvement-technology/print/ 2/1/2019
pressure. Created at the bottom of the drilling rods, the jet erodes the native soil matrix and
simultaneously introduces a water-cement mix into the soil. After the drilling rod is lowered into the
required soil depth, the jetting begins. The rod is then withdrawn upward at a constant speed and
rotation as shown in Figure 1. The result is a series of grout columns resembling structures.
There are several parameters influencing the characteristic shape and size of a constructed jet-grouted
column. Selected by the designer and controlled in the field, these include:
• grout mix pressure;

• air and water pressure (a function of the jetting type employed);
• diameter and number of nozzles (located on the drilling rod);
• grout mix composition; and
• rod withdrawal and rotation speed.
Types of jet-grouting
There are three main types of systems normally used in jet-grouting.
Single fluid
In this method, soil disaggregation and its mixing with the grout mix is done directly by the same
grout mix.
[3]
Typical equipment for jet-grouting operations. The plant can be
seen at left while the drilling rig is at right.
Double fluid
For this system, soil disaggregation and its mixing with the grout mix is done directly by the grout
mix in combination with a coaxial air jetting to increase the delivery energy.
Triple fluid
For triple-fluid systems, soil disaggregation is done directly by high-speed water pressure and a
coaxial air-jetting. The mixture is created by the grout mix delivered at a lower jet pressure done from
a nozzle located below the air/water nozzle. This way, the grout mix is injected into the already
eroded soil.
Typical equipment
The execution of a typical jet-grouting operation is usually carried out by medium-sized equipment
comprising the following components (as seen in Figure 2):
• a high-pressure grout pump, typically 350 HP;

• a grout plant including a cement silo with a capacity to typically produce 9 to 12 m3 (318 to 424
cf) of grout mix per hour required to continuously feed the pump;
• a drill rig specially equipped for jet-grouting consisting of a mast between 15 to 18 m (49 to 59
ft) high (this mast length usually allows the construction of most jet-grouted columns without
the need for rigging up additional rods);
• compressor (when double or triple jet grouting is used); and
• accessories such as a high-pressure grout hose, special swivel, nozzles, computer station, and
special single-, double-, or triple-rods.
Quality control
State-of-the-art jet-grouting requires installation of sophisticated sensors located at the pump and drill
rig hooked up to a computer station. These sensors are required to keep all the parameters described
above under control during the drilling and jetting operations.
Sensors are installed to evaluate the drilling rod depth, grout pressure and flow, and withdraw speed
and rotation in real-time. A computer on the drill rig is able to record and store all these parameters to
allow for control of each phase during drilling and jetting. The collected data is then stored in the
computer and available either electronically or in hard copy.
[4]
Structures using jet-grouting applications.
Applications of jet-grouting technology

Some key advantages of jet-grouting technology are the easy and safe installation processes without
unwanted disruption to other operations. This often results in reduced construction time when
compared to alternate and competing systems. When used as a soil improvement technique for
building foundations, jet-grouting eliminates ground vibration often associated with other soil
improvement technologies. This benefit is of particular importance in dense urban environments
where unwanted vibration during construction may damage the surrounding facilities.
Several case histories of jet-grouting are available in construction literature. These uses range from a
simple groundwater cut-off wall to more complex applications, such as structural underpinning. A
typical list of jet-grouting applications, illustrated in Figure 3, includes:
• cut-off wall;
• shoring (temporary and permanent);
• vertical shaft;
• various foundation structures (footings and slabs);
• single pile with or without steel reinforcement (casing or bars);
• underpinning of existing structures; and
• tunnel liners.
Vancouver Olympic Village

Vancouver’s largest application of jet-grouting so far was used as a permanent shoring structure at the
recently completed residential Millennium Water development in False Creek. The facility hosted
athletes for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and was subsequently converted into
housing and is currently being sold to the marketplace. The site comprises 10 parcels of land,
covering an area of 46,000 m2 (495,140 sf) in close proximity to False Creek waterfront (Figure 4).
The development contains about 15 residential and commercial buildings.
[5]
Future Olympic Village site––Vancouver South False
Creek area.
Jet-grouting was used on this project for shoring of the single large excavation of the whole site. More
than 1100 jet-grouted columns were installed along three sides of the site perimeter, some in close
proximity to the ocean. Jet-grouting was selected to create a soil-cement wall with two primary
objectives:
• to create an impervious cutoff wall protecting the site from water seepage; and
• as a support of streets and other adjacent public space improvements.
Site conditions
The city had commissioned a design for infrastructure improvements at the site, which included all
new roads and utilities north of 1st Avenue. The intent was to complete all these works before building
construction on the site began. The city’s geotechnical consultant concluded the existing fills were
compressible and could not be used to support future roads and utilities. Therefore, before installation
of any improvements, all the existing fills were to be removed from the future road right-of-ways and
replaced with compacted engineered fill.
The Olympic Village site was previously used for various industrial activities, including wood-sorting
and log-milling facilities and a zinc-plating plant. Much of the current site was originally reclaimed
from False Creek by placing up to 6-m (20-ft) thick layers of variable soil materials. Due to the
previous industrial use, a significant amount of soil and groundwater contamination was identified
and needed to be remediated before the beginning of construction.
[6]
The site before soil remediation.
Photo courtesy Cement Association of Canada
The site cleanup employed another soil improvement technology called solidification and stabilization
(SS), which uses cement as a primary medium to bind soil contaminants. About 280 tonnes classified
as ‘hazardous contaminated soil’ was stabilized using cement. In this application, the SS technology
reduces the leachability characteristics of the lead in the soil, and thus renders the treated soil non-
hazardous (Figure 5).
The developer negotiated a delay to the installation of improvements on some roads to reduce the
amount of shoring required and also lower the potential to which existing works would interfere with
construction. Therefore, only the site’s perimeter was shored, and Parcel 4 was shored separately.
The subsurface soil and groundwater conditions were carefully investigated by city staff and the
information was made available to all the parties involved in the project. Soil profile at the location of
the shoring walls consisted of up to 7 m (23 ft) of compact to dense clean granular fills over native
soils consisting of loose to compact post-glacial marine sediments overlying dense glacial till. The
glacial till was made up of a well-graded mixture of silt and sand with some gravel and occasional
cobbles and boulders, and underlain by sandstone to siltstone bedrock. The fill thickness generally
increased from the south side (as little as 1 m [3 ft] thick) toward the north side of the site where up to
7 m of fill was identified. The long-term static groundwater level was located at about 0.5 m (1.6 ft)
geodetic, although a perched transient groundwater condition occurred along the south end of the site,
where fills were generally thinner.
[7]
An excavated and trimmed jet-grouted wall.
Photo courtesy Sea to Sky Geotech Inc.
Figure 6 shows the completed jet-grouted wall construction. To improve the wall stiffness, vertical
steel H-sections were installed in alternate columns every 1.5 m (5 ft) on centre (oc). The knife-
trimmed wall provided a smooth surface on which a synthetic drainage material could be applied
directly against the shoring. The minimum required column diameter was 900 mm (35.4 in.) with
centre to centre spacing of 750 mm (30 in.) to ensure full overlap between the columns and
watertightness of the shoring wall.
A traditional sheet pile wall was also initially considered. However, based on the designers’ previous
experience, there were concerns with groundwater leakage at the interlock and anchor head. Further,
sheet piling could not be relied on to be driven through debris-laden fill and also as a permanent cut-
off wall because of close proximity to a marine environment where groundwater was shown to be
brackish.
Conclusion
The Olympic Village jet-grouting project confirmed the flexibility and suitability of this construction
technology in variable ground conditions where a high-strength and low-permeability structural wall
is required. The system was able to be installed in the vicinity of existing utilities and fixtures, with
low vibration levels and generally low impacts to the surrounding lands.
Removing the upper portion of the walls required for various parcels servicing was also
straightforward once shoring was complete. The work was able to proceed regardless of the discovery
of unexpected materials, including wood waste, steel and concrete fragments, and boulders that would
have impeded the installation of other shoring systems.
Andy Vizer, P. Eng., LEED AP, is the director of engineering with the Cement Association of Canada
(CAC) Western Canada Region. He spent a decade in the consulting field before joining CAC, where
Vizer spent 30 years working in various positions. He can be reached via e-mail at
avizer@cement.ca.
Endnotes:
1. [Image]: http://www.constructioncanada.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Column.jpg
2. [Image]: http://www.constructioncanada.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/erugif-1.jpg
Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/jet-grouting-a-soil-improvement-technology/
Copyright ©2019 Construction Canada unless otherwise noted.

Jet-Grouting: A Soil Improvement Technology: Images Courtesy Sea To Sky Geotech Inc

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jet-Grouting: A Soil Improvement Technology: Images Courtesy Sea To Sky Geotech Inc

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jet-grouting: A soil improvement technology - Construction CanadaConstruction Canada Page 1 of 7

Jet-grouting: A soil improvement technology

By Andy Vizer, P.Eng., LEED AP

• grout mix pressure;

• a high-pressure grout pump, typically 350 HP;

Applications of jet-grouting technology

Vancouver Olympic Village

Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/jet-grouting-a-soil-improvement-technology/

Copyright ©2019 Construction Canada unless otherwise noted.

You might also like