Slurry Mixing and Cutoff Walls Are Important in Construction

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<h1>Slurry Mixing and Cutoff Walls Are Important in Construction</h1><strong> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Mr William Hauselberg.aspx'>Mr William Hauselberg</a></strong><br /><p>Anyone who has conducted a construction project at or near the water line is very familiar with slurry walls, slurry mixing, and cutoff walls. This is also the case when a construction project will be open for a long period of time, and the site will be exposed to rain water for an extended period. Slurry walls and cutoff walls are the best ways to drain or de-water a construction site for the duration of the construction. They are obviously most important when dealing with wet sites in places like marshes, swamps, and dams, however they are key even for basic projects such as digging a basement. How Slurry Walls Work Slurry walls are most commonly constructed by digging a trench with a backhoe or other large digging implement and then back-filling it with bentonite slurry. Bentonite is a unique rock in that it is clay-like in nature yet extremely absorbent. This allows the slurry wall to absorb water instead of merely deflecting it, ensuring that the water does not penetrate the job site nor does it crop up in another unwanted place. Bentonite also has the unique property of expanding slightly when wet, and as the bentonite becomes moister, it packs the wall tighter and tighter, preventing further seepage. Getting the Slurry Mixture Right It was discovered early on in the use of bentonite that mixing bentonite with other materials (most commonly soil) not only makes it more effective, but keeps down the cost. This necessitates that large quantities of the clay be mixed in large slurry mixers, generally mounted on large, mobile slurry plants. As the slurry must be used immediately after mixing, it is always mixed on-site and then immediately poured into the trench. Due to the unique nature of any particular soil, great care must be taken to ensure that the slurry wall has the correct consistency and contents. Since it is very expensive to dig up and re-fill a slurry wall, it is necessary to get this mixture right on the first try. After the End of the Project Slurry walls are often left in place at the end of construction and merely buried, where they can provide an important barrier to future seepage by absorbing and blocking water. This does not remove the need for subterranean parts of buildings to be waterproofed, however, and sump pumps will be needed in many deep buildings even with an extensive array of slurry walls. Slurry walls may also be used to prevent polluted water from seeping out of garbage dumps or chemical storage areas.</p><strong>About the Author:</strong><br />The author o f this article is well experienced in <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.geo-solutions.com/equipment/slurry-grout-mix.php">slurry mixing</a>. The expertise of this author in slurry mixing is expressed in the articles written on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.geo-solutions.com/construction-technologies/slurry-walls.php">Slurry walls</a>.<p> Article Source: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Slurry-Mixing-and-Cutoff-Walls-Are-Important-in-Construction_11155.aspx'> http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Slurry Mixing and Cutoff Walls Are Important in Construction_11155.aspx</a></p>

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Keywords : slurry mixing, Slurry walls,

Category : Business : Business