The Science Behind Chemical Grouting And Why It Works
Science has a way of creating dozens of new processes in many different fields. Take construction for example. In construction, you can use a process known as chemical grouting. Grout is injected into the ground to help stabilize a foundation. This may seem strange until you understand the science behind it and why it works.
Bonding with the Soil
When a low-viscosity (i.e., more liquid, fine particle) grout is injected into the ground, it bonds with the soil and fills the spaces in between the particles. The soil itself has to be rather fine, as it makes up the lack of particles in the grout. When it bonds with the soil, the grout mixture becomes complete and begins to harden.
Displacement
Displacement is a scientific word that describes what happens when a liquid, solid, or gas is injected into another material and subsequently pushes (or displaces!) the original material from its position. With chemical grouting, that is exactly what happens when the soil and grout bond. They begin to push/displace the surrounding soil upward and outward into the only directions the soil can go once the grout displaces it.
Chemical Changes
Here is where the chemical part of chemical grouting comes into play. The bonded grout and soil turn into a massive sandstone. The grout has utterly transformed the soil in such a way that the soil cannot collapse or sink. The soil inside this sandstone mass is just a remnant of its former self. A chemical reaction has occurred, and nothing can change it back again, except maybe erosion.
Why Chemical Grouting Works
Are you ready for this? Chemical grouting works because of the number of changes happening underground.
- First, you have the looser soil bonding with the loose grout to create a fuller, stronger grout.
- Then you have the entire lump creating displacement, which pushes upward against the foundation of the structure sitting above it. When that happens, the foundation can no longer sink, and the building becomes level again.
- Finally, the hardened mass of grout and soil transforms into sandstone, a very hard substance that cannot be removed or displaced itself without putting more grout in the ground underneath the mass that was created. If you were to dig down around the sandstone mass, you could not break through it, and only time, wind, and rain could remove it.
If you think that this process could rescue your building from sinking, call a contractor in your area like A-PAC Pressure Grouting Inc.