Heavyweight grain containers stabilization and soil bearing capacity strengthening

In Imavere, Estonia, heavy grain containers were installed during the construction of a rapeseed factory. The empty container weighed 104,3 tons and could reach up to 659,3 tons when full. Uneven subsidence of the container foundations, due to the heavyweights, caused tilting up to 70 mm. The piping system atop the containers couldn’t be relocated due to the risk of system failure. To ensure container and system functionality, subsidence needed an immediate halt and original container height restoration. With a foundation of two layers – 600 mm of crushed stone and 600 mm of concrete slab – traditional methods were unsuitable. URETEK Baltic team introduced air lifting bags with a lifting force of 80 tons.

The purpose of URETEK Baltic team was to compact the subsoil of the grain containers, recover the soil’s bearing capacity, and restore the designed position of the foundations without removing heavyweight containers and systems attached to them.

URETEK Baltic technical team used 3-4 air lifting bags per container to maintain elevation until soil bearing capacity was restored with geopolymer resin injection. In just 10 days, the original heights of the containers and soil-bearing capacity were achieved. Due to URETEK Baltic experienced team and solution, factory construction proceeded without significant delays.