IngentaConnect Deep soil mixing in the UK: geoenvironmental research and recent ...

Authors: Al-Tabbaa, Abir; Evans, Chris

Source: Land Contamination & Reclamation, Volume 11, Number 1, 2003 , pp. 1-14(14)

Abstract:

Soil mixing in the UK started in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The early soil mixing work was carried out for the purposes of excavation support and ground improvement, mainly by the company Cementation Piling and Foundations. Since then this application has been little used until recently. Around 1995, soil mixing was introduced to the UK for geoenvironmental applications for the containment and remediation of contaminated sites. The use of soil mixing took off in the UK around 1997, following government incentives for brownfield redevelopment. In a number of commercial projects, as detailed in this paper, immobilisation of the contaminants in the ground using soil mixing emerged as the favoured remediation option, because of its advantages over other containment and remediation methods. This paper presents some of the research into developments in and applications of soil mix technology in the UK in the area of geoenvironmental engineering. This paper finds that soil mixing has been the most cost-effective method in many commercial applications, with many advantages over other containment and remediation methods. In addition, its versatility and use of well-established techniques mean that it has a wide range of applications.

Deep soil mixing in the UK: geoenvironmental research and recent applications