We have had the Northern California and Nevada regions in our thoughts and prayers as flooding has ravaged the areas causing substantial damage to personal and public property and structures. As the water recedes, there may be structural damage that may need to be addressed immediately to ensure further damage does not occur due to settlement or further soil erosion.
As water moves, soil moves, it is a fundamental concept of erosion. Moving or shifting soil causes base support soils to erode and leads to structural settlement, voids, or shifting structures. In these cases, it is usually best to address the issue as fast as possible as the soil weight-bearing capacity needs should be restored.
Affected structures vary, from residential and commercial buildings to sewer and roadway infrastructure. There are many ways to deal with these issues in a time and cost-efficient manner. Here are some solutions for your needs.
Determining the cause of your problem
You must ensure that the cause of your problems is known. Without this, any proposed solution for your structure may be inadequate or too costly for the repair. If you are going to invest the money in repairing your property, then you should be sure the repair is successful and cost effective.
Soil Repair
If the soil supporting the structure was compromised, any present voids need to be filled and the soil’s weight-bearing capacity re-established. Void filling and soil stabilization can be done using the EagleLIFT polymer injection process. Once injected, the polymer will actively seek out any voids below the structure and throughout the soil. The polymer will then begin to expand and densify, restoring or improving the weight-bearing capacity of the soil. The soil repair process is used for a variety of applications including roadway repair, embankment stabilization, dam repair and levee reinforcement and infrastructure sealing.
Structural realignment
EagleLIFT offers two forms of structural lifting and realignment, utilizing the polymer injection process or through the use of helical and push piers. If a good option, EagleLIFT’s polymer injection process is by far the most cost-effective solution for lifting. A proprietary injection pattern is used to allow the polymer’s expansive qualities provide upward, which can result in foundation or structural realignment.
Roadway Repair
Flooding and soil saturation can cause roadways, culverts and bridge approach slabs to sink or become unstable, due to the base soil being undermined by washout or infiltration of the soil into manholes, culverts, and lateral lines. With the use of the EagleLIFT polymer injection application, the soils are stabilized, the infrastructure is sealed, and the structures roadway or bridge approach slab can be leveled and restored to use. The application is quick and cost-effective and can be completed on an emergency basis.
Outfall, Emergency Levee and Dam repair
Water control structures are needed to hold back the floods and if undermined can cause the waters to impact areas they were designed to protect. The Polymer injection application can be used to stabilize these structures by binding the soils and increasing their weight-bearing capacity. This can be used to help the soils from being undermined due to washout.
Conclusion
The EagleLIFT team is here to help you combat the issues that are being created by these floods. If you need any help, please contact Derek Berthelot at derekb@eaglelifting.com.