Residential Retaining Wall Stabilized in Buffalo Wyoming
Problem
A torrential late spring storm dropped 10 inches of rain over a short 36-hour period in Buffalo, Wyoming. The extended, heavy downpour caused a landslide that ripped out a portion of a homeowner’s deck and boardwalk. Water and rocks that broke loose carried soil away, leaving voids and unstable areas within the retaining wall along the steep slope directly below the home. The homeowners felt they were maybe one or two steps away from a major catastrophe. Additionally, any plans to rebuild the deck and boardwalk first required a solution for the eroded slope.
Analysis
The homeowner called URETEK to evaluate the situation. The steep slope would need to be reinforced to ensure a safe, stable area to rebuild on. Also, the area needed to be reinforced to ensure that it could withstand future water flow incidents and remain stable for years to come. The URETEK Deep Injection® (UDI) process was proposed to stabilize the soils beneath the deck area and along the retaining wall. Finally, the safety of URETEK crewmembers performing the work on the steep incline was a major factor for consideration.
Solution
URETEK technicians arrived on the scene, using fall protection and tie-off methods to ensure their safety during the project. The injection plan was designed to improve the stability of the slope where the deck and boardwalk would be reconstructed. Crews carefully worked along the hillside, injecting URETEK 486 Star® polymer in increments. UDI compacted the soil, filled voids, protected against future erosion, and increased the load bearing capacity of the slope.
Result
The entire retaining wall area and hillside were stabilized, compacted, and void filled in less than five hours. The load bearing capacity of the soil was increased, and the entire area was made safe for future reconstruction work. The repair method involved no excavation or disruptive underpinning methods. For this homeowner, the URETEK solution saved the considerable costs associated with heavy equipment in such difficult terrain. Best of all, destruction that took 36 hours to create was repaired in only five hours, and the homeowner was quickly able to put the unfortunate incident behind him.
URETEK Deep Injection® (UDI)
Widely referenced throughout our industry, UDI involves the injection of structural polymer into base and subgrade soils to increase the load bearing capacity. This is achieved by injecting the polymer through small holes drilled directly through the pavement structure to depths determined by site-specific analysis. Our URETEK 486 Star® material flows easily into voids and weak zones within the soil mass below. Through a controlled chemical reaction, the expanding polymer compacts surrounding soils and applies a controlled pressure on targeted areas of the affected pavement above. If needed, a multi-injection design plan is utilized to gently return the pavement to its original grade. The composite material quickly cures into a strong, dimensionally stable, and water-resistant geo-material, providing years of reliable service.
URETEK 486 Star®
URETEK 486 Star® polymer is a two-component, high-density, expanding thermoset polyurethane system. It was developed to be the ideal solution for under-sealing, void filling, lifting of settled pavement, stabilization and stiffening of weak soils, and for encapsulating and sealing buried infrastructure. URETEK 486 Star® is environmentally inert, non-toxic, and resists underground water erosion or weakening due to its industry-leading hydrophobic properties.
