Approaches to Grouting in Karst

Michael J. Byle, D.GE., F. ASCE

Michael.Byle@tetratech.com

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Outline

1. Background
― Geotechnical Grouting
― Karst

2. Grouting Sinkholes

3. Grouting Karst Rock

4. Verification

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Types of Grout

 Grouting can be classified in a number of ways:

 By Material:
 Cement

 Ultrafine Cement

 Soil Cement

 Chemical

 By Mechanism:
 Permeation

 Displacement
 Hydraulic Fracture

 Jet (replacement)

Types of Grout

 Grouting can also be classified by Objective:

 Compensation
 Compaction
 Curtain
 Cap
 Consolidation
 Stabilization/Solidification

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Permeation Grouting

Jet Grouting

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Deep Mixing

Limited Mobility Grouting

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Compaction Grouting

Compacted zone

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Compaction Grouting

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Controlled FractureGrouting

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Karst

 The condition and features resulting from the effects of dissolution of

carbonate rock

 These consist of:

 Enlarged joints – enhanced permeability
 Voids and Caves – openings in the rock and overlying soil
 Pinnacles – spires of rock left from dissolution of adjacent rock
 Sinkholes – Settlement or collapse of soils into karst voids
 Boulders (Floaters) - unconnected rock masses left from dissolution of
surrounding rock

 Originally named for Karst (or Kras) physiographic region of limestone

northeast of the Gulf of Trieste in Slovenia

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ConSequences of Karst

 Loss of support for structures

 In rock
 In soil

 Loss of integrity for reservoirs

 Collapse endangers people, livestock, vehicles, and facilities

 Subsidence damages structures through distortion

 Groundwater susceptibilty

 High flows for dewatering

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Consequences of Karst - Guatemala City Sinkhole 2010

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Consequences of Karst – Allentown PA 1994

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Consequences of Karst – National Corvette Museum, Bowling Green ,KY

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What makes karst difficult
• Often overlain by variable
depth of soils resulting from
weathering of limestone
• Water tables fluctuate
• Areas of interest are what is
not there – voids, weakened
soils, and are relatively small
• Needle in a haystack issue
Sinkhole Repair
• Depth to karst features
of interest can vary
considerably and often
exceed the effective
depth of surface
geophysical methods
• Borehole investigation
only looks at a small
volume of a highly
variable condition
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Approaches to sinkhole repair

 Fill it

 Plug it

 Cover it

 Bypass it

 Span it

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Sinkhole Repair: Fill it

 This approach aims at restoring the ground by filling the opening

 Good for defined “throat” features visible from the surface

 Fill hole with concrete, flowable fill, etc.

 Usually by gravity flow

 For shallow depth to rock, may consider excavation to place permeable

fill or inverted filter (non-grouting solution)

 May use combination of surface filling with deeper grouting at top of

rock.

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Sinkhole Repair: Plug it

 This
approach aims to close the “throat” in the top of rock to
prevent further ground loss

 Good for single “throat” features that may or may not be

visible from the surface

 Inject
concrete or low mobility grout to plug the bedrock
opening.

 Grout injection location must intersect “throat” feature.

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Sinkhole Repair: Cover it

 Thisapproach aims to seal the top of rock to prevent further

ground loss in an area where one or more openings in the
rock are producing ground loss.
 Good for areas where small openings in top of rock are
causing ground loss within a defined area
 Use overlapping injections of low mobility grout at the top of
rock to form a relatively continuous cap of grout over the top
of rock. (Cap Grouting or Jet Grouting at top of rock)
 Groutmust be mobile enough to flow along the top of rock,
but cohesive enough not to be drawn far into the karst
features present.

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Sinkhole Repair: Bypass it

 This
approach aims carry the surface loadings to intact rock
below the zone of solution and ground loss
 Good for well defined loads where structural elements of
grout may be constructed (this is similar to caissons or
micropiles)
 Requires drilling and grouting into rock.
 May include grouting cavities to increase the integrity of the
rock.

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Sinkhole Repair: Bridge Over It

 Thisapproach aims spread the surface loadings to span

over small openings to bear on surrounding intact rock.
 May be done in soil or in rock
 Mayconsist of elements created by Limited Mobility
Grouting, jet grouting, soil mixing, or low mobility grouting
 May avoid drilling and grouting into rock where completed in
the overburden.
 May be completed by grouting joints and cavities in the rock
to create a raft of integrated rock.

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Sinkhole Repair

 Sometimes a combination of approaches is most effective

 Cap Grouting with Compaction Grouting
 LMG in rock with Compaction Grouting
 LMG with Permeation Grouting to reduce permeability
 others

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Gravity placement

 Suitable for direct filling of large openings

 Inexpensive

 Rapid placement

 Limited travel for stiff mix, but may travel considerably for fluid mixes

 Requires large pipe

 Typically concrete/flowable fill (CLSM), but cement and lime slurries are
sometimes used.

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“Pressure Grouting”

 Fills small openings

 Can cover larger area (greater travel)

 Some approaches can displace infill

 Can indirectly grout large openings

 Use a variety of materials

 Materials are equipment dependent

 Versatile

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“slurry” grout

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“slurry” grout with gel control

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Preplaced Aggregate

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Advantages of Aggregate

 Inexpensive

 Fills large openings

 Reduces grout quantity

 Adds strength

 Reduces shrinkage/running

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Disadvantages of Aggregate

 Requires large opening

 Can bridge off

 Usually requires additional measures

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 Jet Grouting Methods

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Jet Grout/Deep Mix Columns

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Jet Grout Columns

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Jet Grouted Raft/Cap

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 Limited Mobility Grouting
Methods for Karst Mitigation

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Cap Grouting

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Karst Mitigation with
Low Mobility Grout

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LMD/Compaction Grouted Columns

Schmertmann
and Henry (1992)
Approach

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LMD Grouted Raft in Rock

Driven Piles Grout

Injection

Raft Limits 47

Grouting For Seepage Cutoff

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Grouting for Seepage Cutoff

Grouting programs to control seepage in Karst are similar

to other cutoff grouting;

however, feature size and connectivity are more variable

and play an enormous roll in determining success

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Grouting for Seepage Cutoff

Multiple methods may be needed

 Normal high mobility grouts are likely to travel a great

distance in Karst conduits and may never achieve closure
(refusal)

 Lowmobility grout or grout with a controlled gel time may be

needed to seal large openings

 Highmobility balanced-stable grouts will then be needed to

assure final closure after large openings are filled

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Success Depends on the Conditions

 Clean open voids are relatively easy to fill and seal… if you
can find them

 Knowledge of the geologic structure and expected

distribution of Karst features is essential

 Oriented grout holes to intersect all known and anticipated

features

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Design Strategy

 What is the biggest thing I can miss?

 What is the impact of a feature that size on performance?

 Ifyou cannot conduct grout injections in a way to reduce the

size of the largest missed cavity to an acceptable level, the
grouting may not succeed

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Cutoff Approach

s s

Let’s try a closer

spacing

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Cutoff Approach

s s

Even Doubling
the Number of
Holes Does Not
Improve
Coverage a
great deal

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Cutoff Approach

How likely is it that I could

miss something this big? 55

What makes karst difficult

 Often overlain by clays  Depth to structures of

resulting from weathering of interest can exceed the
limestone effective depth of
 Water tables fluctuate surface methods

 Areas of interest are what is  Borehole methods are

not there – voids, weakened
soils, and are relatively small
 Distribution of Karst features is
not always obvious or
predictable
always more costly due
to cost of drilling and
casing boreholes.
 Karst voids may be air
filled, water filled, soil
filled, or partially filled.

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Success Depends on the Conditions

 Soil filled voids are a problem

 They are difficult to grout
 If soil is not completely displaced, pathways for future
seepage and erosion may remain
 Assessing this potential is difficult
 Watch out in high head/high gradient conditions

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Grouting to Control High

Volume Flows

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Flow Control

 Stiff Mix with Anti-Washout Agent and High Rate Injection

 Chemical Fast Setting Gel/Foam

 Hot Melts

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Low Mobility Grout with Setting Agent

 Use cement based grout with anti-washout and chemical

agent (sodium silicate)

 Inject with high volume pumps directly into flow conduit

 May inject with more than one pump to overwhelm water

flow

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Hot Melts

 Injection of a molten solid that

 Requires specialized
solidifies in the ground
equipment
 Predominantly Bitumen
 Dangerous: hot fluids under
 Used to control high volume pressure
water flows
 Few Competent Contractors

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Hot Bitumen Grouting

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Verification of Geotechnical
Grouting was published By the
ASCE Committee on Grouting
in 1995

It is still available and still has

useful information

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Verification is Important

 Verification provides a basis for:

 Measuring success
 Payment for performance based contracting
 Modifying the means and methods during construction
 Satisfying third parties
 Insurance companies

 Financial institutions

 Owners

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 Verification is Important
 Verification begins with proper design

 Careful evaluation and thorough understanding of the nature and

distribution of Karst features is critical to good performance

 Properly executed, grouting is its own verification

 Drilling
 Injection performance
 Volumes
 Pressures
 Grout behavior

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Planning for Verification

Verification Objective Factors Monitored

 Cutoff of Seepage
 Resultant bearing capacity
 Settlement Reduction
 Structural support
 Subsidence prevention
 Soil Stiffness
 Presence of grout
 In-Place grout quality
 Resultant Permeability
 Size and shape of injected
mass

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Using Correlated Properties

Desired Properties Correlated Properties

 Defining limits of grout  Seismic wave velocity

intrusion
 Ground movement
 In-situ grout compressive
strength  Acoustic emissions

 Settlement  Drill penetration resistance

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Using Correlated Properties

Desired Properties Correlated Properties

 Hydraulic Cutoff  In situ permeability

 Permeability Reduction  Groundwater gradients

 Sealing Leaks  grout permeability

 Electrical
conductivity/resistivity

 Acoustic emissions

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Grouting as Verification

 Range Detection Pipes for Jet Grouting

 Deflection measurements during grouting

 Pressure/volume relationships

 Digital real-time measurement of grout pressure, consistency, and flow

rate for each injection can show ground performance.
 For low mobility grouts injected at a controlled rate, the pressure is a measure
of ground response
 For high mobility grouts injected at a constant pressure, the flow rate is a
measure of ground response

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Direct Sampling

 Coring

 Test Excavations

 Directly measure properties of sampled materials

 Some materials difficult to sample

 May not measure intended objective

 Consider spatial variability vs. sample size

 Can you find the void that should be filled?
 A core that encounters neither voids, nor grout proves nothing about grouting
effectiveness

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Test for What You Need to Know Directly if Possible

 Permeability
 Borehole tests
 Wells

 Strength
 Cores
 Grout samples
 Load Tests

 Stiffness
 Dynamic Modulus

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Basis for Verification

 Remember that in situ values will differ from ex situ test results

 Variability in the formation will result in variability of the grout injection

and properties

 Recognize that in many instances it will not be possible to directly

measure the property of concern in a meaningful way

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Multiple Tools

 There is no magic bullet

 Each site is unique

 Combining methods of grouting and of verification can produce a

superior result

 Grout monitoring together with a sampling method and a

geophysical method can provide a more complete picture

 KARST IS COMPLICATED

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Sinkhole Repair Example - Trickling Filter

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 Sinkhole
Location

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A’
N Trickling
Filter Edge
~ 3 ‐ 4.5 m
~ 4.5 m

Limits of Footing Slope

laid back
Surface  7.6 cm water line Backfilled with
2H:1V
on‐site soil
Expression Upper shelf
~2.5 m
of Sinkhole ~ 3.3  m
A Trickling
Filter
7.6 cm
Plan of the Trickling Filter and Sinkhole Water
Line

~2.5 m
Trickling Filled with ~ 3 ‐ 4.5 m
Filter Limit of 
Void Flowable Fill
Excavation

7.6 cm Cross‐Section A ‐ A’ of Surface Treatment

Water Loose
Line Void
Soil
~ 3 ‐ 4.5 m

Cross‐Section A ‐ A’ of Sinkhole Opening

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 N
Primary
Trickling
Filter 2
A
B B’

A’
LEGEND Primary
Grout Hole Locations
Battered Hole Drill Paths
Trickling
Utilities
Filter 1

Grout Hole Locations
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Trickling
Filter LEGEND
Grout Hole Location
Grout Hole Location 
Intersecting Section
Dolomite Bedrock
Subsidence Zone
Limit of Surface 
Treatment

B13

B15 B2
B1
B17 B10
V1A/B

V7 B8
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Cross Section A – A’

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Introduction to Geotechnical
Grouting
Michael J. Byle, D.GE., F. ASCE
Michael.byle@tetratech.com

Thank You
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