Vibrated Beam
In addition to slurry trenching, soil mixing, and the Geo-Trencher, Geo-Solutions has the ability to install vibrated beam cutoff walls.
Overview of Vibrated Beam
The vibrated beam method is a specialized technique for installing vertical cutoff walls. A steel beam is driven into the ground, via loaded vibration, to create a narrow cavity. This cavity is then filled with a low-permeability grout, typically a cement-bentonite (CB) or slag-cement-bentonite slurry.
In applications such as dam resilience, the barriers can be vibrated into position without compromising the strength of the overall structure. The cutoff wall functionality curbs loss of water through seepage and thereby guards against undercutting and internal erosion cavities caused by such.
Unlike trenching methods, the vibrated beam process does not remove soil during installation. This makes it well-suited for sites with contaminated materials where soil handling is to be minimized. The method is also advantageous in constrained work areas or near obstructive structures or topography because it requires minimal workspace. This method generates low vibration and disturbance to surrounding environments.
Vibrated beam cutoff walls are used to isolate contaminant impacted zones by restricting lateral groundwater flow. They can be keyed into underlying low-permeability layers or bedrock to achieve hydraulic cutoffs. Alternatively, these vibrated beam cutoff walls can be used to redirect lateral groundwater flow towards a treatment or collection area. This is typically referred to as a funnel-and-gate system. The cutoff walls funnel the groundwater to an underground area where it is treated in-situ, such as via a permeable reactive barrier; or first collected, then treated ex-situ.
environmental remediation
As a specialty geoenvironmental contractor many of the sites that Geo-Solutions works on are environmental remediation sites. Since Geo-Solutions specializes in slurry trenching and soil mixing, most of its sites include one of those technologies as a component of the remediation.
preconstruction services
Ground improvement or ground modification can be used to refer to a variety of construction techniques designed to solve problems using the ground, the soil, as a component of the solution.
funnel and gate
The term “funnel and gate” is widely used in the environmental remediation industry to describe passive groundwater collection / treatment systems wherein cutoff walls, i.e. the funnel, are used to guide groundwater towards a high flow barrier, i.e. the gate.
cutoff walls
Geo-Solutions has pioneered the use of alternative materials such as attapulgite clay, special cements and silicates for cutoff walls where site leachate conditions and incompatibility prohibited the effective use of bentonite.