Improvement of site

It often happens that an engineering project has to be placed on the site which is not ideal and
which in fact might be having negative geological characters as joints, faults, shear zones and
poor strength. In such conditions the rock or soil has to be improved by artificial methods. This
process is called as improvement of site.
The methods commonly used to improve the strength and stability conditions of the rocks are
grouting, backfilling and rock bolting.
Grouting- Grouting involves injecting under pressure a good quality of cement slurry with
admixtures into the rocks of the site. The cement admixtures are carried deep and all the minute
cracks are sealed by the cement slurry. The grouted rock becomes impermeable, strong and
free from any weakness planes or open spaces.
In grouting there are 3 main operation involved:
1) Drilling of bore holes at properly selected position with predetermined diameter, depth
and angle. Number of bore holes to be sunked depends on the area to be grounted.
2) Preparation of grout slurry- it involves thorough mixing of precalculated quantities of
cement and if needed, other admixtures of asphalt and chemicals like sodium silicate
and calcium chloride. Ashes and even gravel have been used as ingredients in grouting.
3) Injection- the slurry is injected into the ground through perforated injection pipes
generally under definite pressure. On the basis of pressure applied, grouting is
differentiated into low pressure ( pressure below 10k/cm 2 ) and high pressure (pressure
above 40k/cm2)
Backfilling
In many cases there exist a zone of weak rock which is sheared to such an extent that it cannot
be improved by grouting at economical costs. In such cases the treatment of this zone would
require: i) excavation of the entire volume of weak material ii) cleaning of the excavated zone
and iii) backfilling the excavated region with concrete of proper mix.
The depth to which these weak zone should be excavated and backfilled depends on number
of factors such as (a) location of the weak zone (b) likely loads that are to act upon at that
location.
Rock bolting
Rock bolting is perhaps the most popular and prevalent method for keeping the fractured rocks
together. A rock bolt is a specially designed steel bolt with the main function of holding broken
pieces of rocks together by providing reinforcement and support. It is inserted without
disturbing the natural environment of the rocks. When the rock bolt is inserted into the rock, it
provides grip as well as additional strength and thereby contributes to improve the stability of
the rock. The main types of rock bolts are the slotted type, the expansion type, and the groutable
rock bolts. The slotted type is the most commonly used rock bolt in fissured rocks. The process
starts with drilling holes which is slightly bigger in size than that of the bolts according to
predetermined scheme. Then wedges are placed in the holes and bolts are driven over them.
After proper placement, each bolt is clamped, tightened and tensioned at a proper stress.