Slurry walls and slurry trenches - construction quality control

Conference · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:576477

Poletto, R J; Good, D R ^[1]

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1. Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, New York, NY (United States)

Slurry (panel) walls and slurry trenches have become conventional methods for construction of deep underground structures, interceptor trenches and hydraulic (cutoff) barriers. More recently polymers mixed with water are used to stabilize the excavation instead of bentonite slurry. Slurry walls are typically excavated in short panel segments, 2 to 7 m (7 to 23 ft) long, and backfilled with structural materials; whereas slurry trenches are fairly continuous excavations with concurrent backfilling of blended soils, or cement-bentonite mixtures. Slurry trench techniques have also been used to construct interceptor trenches. Currently no national standards exist for the design and/or construction of slurry walls/trenches. Government agencies, private consultants, contractors and trade groups have published specifications for construction of slurry walls/trenches. These specifications vary in complexity and quality of standards. Some place excessive emphasis on the preparation and control of bentonite or polymer slurry used for excavation, with insufficient emphasis placed on quality control of bottom cleaning, tremie concrete, backfill placement or requirements for the finished product. This has led to numerous quality problems, particularly with regard to identification of key depths, bottom sediments and proper backfill placement. This paper will discuss the inspection of slurry wall/trench construction process, identifying those areas which require special scrutiny. New approaches to inspection of slurry stabilized excavations are discussed.

• Research Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 576477
• Report Number(s): CONF-970208--Proc.; ON: DE98001967
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BENTONITE
CONTAINMENT
EXCAVATION
GROUND DISPOSAL
POLLUTION CONTROL
SEDIMENTS
SLURRIES
SOILS
WALLS