Case Studies

Groundwater Barriers and Collection Trench Temple Inland Bogalusa, LA

Project Summary

A groundwater barriers system was designed and constructed to limit contaminate intrusion into the Bogue Lusa Creek from a former underground landfill used by the paper mill and chemical plant about 50 years ago. In addition the groundwater system also was designed to extract and treat groundwater. The only available area to construct the system was in the narrow areas beside a 4 lane urban street. A very high groundwater table, very soft soils, two operating industrial plants, and busy traffic made this a challenging project.

For groundwater collector a 2,310 lf bio-polymer trench was installed. The trench was lined with filter fabric to protect the backfill from fine silts, vertical collection wells, and a horizontal under-drain pipe. The groundwater barrier was a soil bentonite slurry wall up to 50 ft deep. In some areas, underground utilities prevented conventional slurry wall construction so overlapping jet grout columns (test columns shown in picture) were installed to extend the barrier around the utilities to avoid interfering with continued utility service while preventing damage to the utility lines.

Geo-Solutions teamed with ARCADIS to design and build the groundwater barrier and collection trench. Geo-Solutions provided turnkey construction services to ARCADIS for the bio-polymer drain, slurry wall and jet grouting. Geo-Solutions also supervised the Quality Control program for the geotechnical specialty aspects of the work.

Specialty geotechnical equipment included a slurry mixing plant that produced bio-polymer, bentonite, and cement slurry for the various phases of the work. A long stick excavator (see picture) was employed to dig the slurry wall. Remote mixing was required of the SB backfill because of the very close proximity of the street. Geo-Solutions also provided the drill and jet pump to form the jet grout columns.

Despite the flooding of 2008, difficult soil conditions, and a constant flow of traffic, the project was completed within the allowable schedule. In addition, there were no reportable accidents or injuries.

Geo-Solutions Can Help

To download, read, and learn more about the various slurry wall sample specs and technical papers we offer online here at Geo-Solutions.com, click on the links below or to your left:

• Slurry Wall Sample Specs– Geo-Solutions provides slurry wall sample specs which can be modified for real world use on your project. Download sample specification for Slurry Wall Construction.

• Slurry Wall Technical Papers – Browse our library of Slurry Wall Technical Papers.

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