Combined Packages
Review · Profile · Design · Specification · Combination Application · Validate · Verify · Report · Warranty
Mix-in-Place...Stabilisation - Modification - Solidification
Soil stabilisation is an established earthworks process, pioneered by Powerbetter over many years, since 1980’s
Mixed-in-place techniques and applications are used to prepare the ground for new construction projects and to reduce the risk of settlement; on projects ranging from airport runways and taxiways; motorway and trunk road pavement infrastructures; residential, retail, commercial and leisure developments.
The Powerbetter Mix-in-Place treatment processes are now widely recognised as an effective and efficient means of constructing pavements and foundations with significant savings in construction costs
Powerbetter is the longest-established and most experienced soils improvement treatment contractor in the UK and Ireland, having pioneered and developer of numerous applications for soils stabilisation, modification and solidification, demonstrating environmental, practical, financial, and geotechnical benefits available of Mix-in-Place treatment processes.
Powerbetter have widely used soils improvement techniques and processes on large construction and civil engineering contracts, on sites as varied as highway and motorway constructions; airport runway & apron constructions (at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Glasgow), industrial, commercial and retail developments; provision of alternative means of constructing bulk fills, cappings, subbases and cement-bound layers; and treatments of pollutants and contaminants in soils.
Land Remediation - Immobilise and Stabilise Contaminants within either a loose or solid matrix
Soils improvement (in the form of recycling, modification and stabilisation), as an engineered earthworks process, has been widely used for many years. The principal application has been to improve soil subgrades, by the introduction of or by introducing chemical additives such as Lime and/or Cement, in road pavement construction, but further developments have led to the use of soil modification and stabilisation techniques being incorporated within a wide range of construction engineering projects.
The imposition of legislation designed to conserve natural resources, including Landfill and Aggregates Taxes, has led increasingly to a desire by more designers to seek ways of utilising existing insitu materials, with Mix-in-Place processes, in an environmentally sensitive approach to design requirements.
Powerbetter holds a mobile plant licence for the treatment of soils and contaminated material, substances or products from the Environment Agency, permit number UP3092ZE, in accordance with the standard rules permit SR2008No27 for Mobile Plant
Use of Powerbetter treatment processes, which focus on powder-based Mix-in-Place procedures, can provide the following typical benefits:
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The elimination of expensive offsite removal of unacceptable soils, leading to savings on disposal, and tipping costs, and also improvements in programming and environmental considerations
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Options for engineering greater soil strengths, providing alternatives to other foundation processes - e.g. piling, vibro-compaction, stone columns
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Engineering of subsoils for use in temporary haul roads, storage areas and stable working and piling platforms
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Engineering subsoils to replace the import of aggregates, avoiding the depletion of natural mineral resources, and eliminating unnecessary road traffic
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Providing alternative treatment solutions which will actively and significantly reduce the carbon footprint impact of the construction process
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Sealing and encapsulating soils containing high and unacceptable levels of contamination on brownfield sites
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Increasing shear strength, stiffness and bearing capacity of treated soils.
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Permitting site works to be resumed at a far earlier stage after the cessation of inclement weather.
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Improving workability and compaction characteristics.
There is an increasing requirement to remediate brownfield sites, The major changes which have taken place are making available for development many of what would have been considered to be blighted sites, due to their former uses as gas works, rail sites, landfill, refineries, former opencast mines and similar heavy industrial application sites.
Contaminated materials can be successfully dealt with on site, using established Powerbetter Mix-in-Place techniques and procedures, where Powerbetter’s proprietary technology can be used to immobilize and stabilise contaminants within either a loose or solid matrix.
As a general rule of thumb, most soil conditions encountered can be modified or stabilised to achieve enhancement - typical soils treated include both cohesive and granular materials, chalks, glacial till, mudstones and silts
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Impact...Deep Ground Improvement
Powerbetter – Rapid Impact Compaction (RIC-9T) has arrived ready for 2020
4m to 6m depth insitu ground improvement on granular made ground / varied mixed fills – Brownfield Sites
“The depth of influence is the depth where improvement in the soil is no more practically observable”
(Hamidi, Varaksin and Hamid 2011)
The last thirty years have seen a significant expansion in the application of deep ground improvement techniques to provide solutions to the problems of ground treatment for both new and existing civil engineering projects. This growth has been assisted by the need to develop both, previously avoided Brownfield sites, deep un-controlled fills and weak natural soil sites.
Coincident with this growth, Powerbetter have made great strides in their understanding of soil behaviour, and specialist contractors have also continued to improve and develop impact compaction ground improvement techniques to meet the challenges presented today. Through many years of studying ground engineering, design and behaviour before & subsequent to ground improvement treatments, Powerbetter have generally relied upon three methods for increasing strength in variable fills, and weak naturally occurring soils:
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Pre-Loading and Surcharging Static
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Impact Compaction (Impact):
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Dynamic Compaction (DC)
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Rapid Impact Compaction (RIC)
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Rolling Dynamic Compaction (RDC)
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Polygon Compaction Roller (PCR)
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Conventional Removal and Replacement with Select / Stabilised Fills (Re-Construct)
An economic solution for insitu ground improvement, to enhance the load carrying characteristics of the existing variable, un-controlled, loose granular materials or mixed clay fills prior to development, can be accomplished using high-energy impacts to the surface, known generally as “impact compaction”
“Impact compaction is the repeated dropping of a weight onto the ground surface and is one of the simplest and most basic methods of compacting loose, partially saturated fill”
(Building on fill: geotechnical aspects 3rd edition - Charles & Watts 2015)
All “impact compaction” processes; inclusive of dynamic compaction (DC), rapid impact compaction (RIC) and rolling dynamic compaction (RDC) are now classified as “ground improvement without admixtures in non‐cohesive soils or fills”, under a classification set out by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) technical committee on ground improvement (TC 211)
Powerbetter completed a ground improvement project with its NEW Rapid Impact Compaction (RIC-9T) application for 5m deep improvement requirement to enable foundation support and ground bearing floor slab amongst earthworks and soil modification/stabilisation program for logistics warehousing at Sproughton Enterprise Park in Ipswich; a redevelopment of former sugar beet factory site.
Powerbetter have completed a number combination ground improvement projects inclusive of twelve tonne Dynamic Compaction (DC-12T) application for 5-7m deep improvement requirement with large surcharging works and soil modification / stabilisation in-filling for industrial & commercial warehousing at CONNEQT Alpha and CONNEQT Beta in Kingswood Lakes, Cannock. Project totaled 25,000m2 DC-12T 5-7m deep at -5m level dig and 125,000m3 surcharging & re-engineered in-filling.
Powerbetter completed a ground improvement project inclusive of both nine-tonne Rapid Impact Compaction (RIC-9T) and fourteen-tonne Rolling Impact Compaction (RDC-14T) applications for 5m deep improvement requirement with earthworks and soil modification / stabilisation in-filling for industrial warehousing at PLP Bessemer Park Phase 1 urban distribution & logistics park in Sheffield; a redevelopment of Outokumpo’s former steel works site.
Our strategy is to extend our soil stabilisation / modification / solidification leadership in the UK and Irish markets by introducing our own specialist impact compaction ground improvement application (RIC-9T) through organic growth, particularly in developing markets, and targeted complex ground improvement projects requiring combined solutions.
Expansion · Growth · New Technologies · Partnering Alternative Solutions · Combination of Solutions · Continuous Improvement · Competitive Edge
Warranty...Validation Verification Monitoring
Performance Testing · Load Tests · In-situ Penetration Tests
Ground Response Monitoring · Integrated GPS
Induced Settlement · Quality Control · Reporting
2020 - Amazon - Ipswich
Rapid Impact Compaction RIC-9T
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Max 5m deep to enable foundation support and ground bearing floor slabs
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Automated Telemetries - energy input, induced settlement, void removal etc
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Ground response and total/differential indeed settlement monitoring & reporting
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Static Cone Penetration Testing (SCPT) 5m deep before and after RIC-9T
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Zone Load Testing (ZLT) 2m x 2m steel plate with 50 tonne steel blocks
2018 - Mountpark Logisics EU - Baldonnell, Ireland
Soil Stabilisation/Modification
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40,000m3 to achieve a CBR of 15% to enable ground bearing floor slab support and external pavement construction
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0.6m Plate Load Testing (PLT) and Dynamic Probing (DP) 2m deep
2020 - Peel Logistics Property (PLP) - Bessemer Park Phast 1, Sheffield
Rapid Impact Compaction RIC-9T
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Max 5m deep to enable foundation support and ground bearing floor slab
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Ground response and total/differential induced settlement monitoring & reporting
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Static Cone Penetration Testing (SCPT) 5m deep before and after RIC-9T
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Zone Load Testing (ZLT) 2m x 2m steel plate with 50 tonne steel blocks
2019 - Lanxess Urethanes UK Ltd - Baxeden Facility
Polygon Compaction Roller 23T
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Max 2m deep to enable foundation support
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Ground response and total/differential induced settlement monitoring & reporting
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0.6m Plate Load Testing (PLT) and Dynamic Probing (DP) 2m Deep
RIC-9T deep ground improvement (5m deep) validated/verified through Static Cone Penetration Testing (SCPT) and 2m x 2m 50 Tonne Zone Load Testing (ZLT)
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