BAUER

Soil Improvement
Content
Applications........................................................................4

Methods
Vibro Compaction................................................................12
Dynamic Compaction and Replacement..............................13
Vibro Replacement / Stone Columns...................................14
Soil Mixing...........................................................................15
Rigid Inclusion by the Bauer Full Displacement System........16

Projects.............................................................................18

The Island, Dubai, UAE

Vibro compaction of 500,000 m³ of reclaimed
carbonate sand.
Applications
Our techniques have been ap-
plied in a wide range of sectors
such as residential, commercial,
industrial, marine and aviation.
We take pride that our soil im-
provement solutions are based
on our years of experience, our
up-to-date design expertise,
and our skilled operations staff.

Container Terminal, Moin, Costa Rica

Construction of 180,000 lin. m stone columns
with a maximum depth of 24 m.
Ports and coastal Infrastructure Dams
The forecasted increase in marine freight has led to the Whether earth dams, rock fill dams, gravity dams or other
increasing demand for new ports or massive expansion dams, Bauer soil improvement offers suitable compaction
of existing ones. These and other coastal structures like techniques that aim at preventing piping, provide adequate
quays and jetties, often require complex geotechnical margins of safety against geotechnical and bearing failure
works, including soil improvement. At Bauer, our soil and also mitigate liquefaction risks.
improvement solutions like vibro replacement, vibro com-
paction and dynamic compaction have been successfully
implemented on coasts as a means of settlement and lique-
faction mitigation thus allowing economic development to
proceed.

Container Terminal, Moin, Costa Rica Peribonka Hydroelectric Development, Canada

The treatment of the dredged fill executed with vibro re- In addition to the Cut-Off wall construction, Bauer provided
placement by means of stone columns. More than 180,000 a complete construction package comprising soil improve-
lin. m stone columns were constructed with the wet top ment of the in-situ alluvial materials and the placed man-
feed method to a maximum depth of 24 m. A further made fills approx 85,000 m² by means of vibro compaction
380,000 m² were treated by means of surface compaction down to depths of 35 m.
and 330,000 m³ using Mixed-in-Place (MIP) method.

6 Soil Improvement
Transport Infrastructure
Soil improvement works are often necessary for highway
infrastructure projects including railways, bridges, bridge
abutments, road embankments etc. The requirement
usually arises due to the need to control differential set-
tlement within the underlying soil layers, increase bearing
capacity and also to mitigate the impact of liquefaction on
the structures in earthquake prone regions. Furthermore,
Soil improvement techniques are also used as remediation
works to curtail the impact of erosion on existing highway
infrastructure.

Double Railway Track, Kroya, Indonesia

Treatment of the underlying soft saturated clays by means
of deep soil mixing method in order to improve its bearing
capacity and also to limit settlements under the proposed
double railway track. A total of 2,803 no. soil cement col-
umns with diameter of 1 m were constructed.

Soil Improvement 7
Buildings Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy
Prior to the construction of residential and commercial Bauer has been able to deliver soil improvement solutions
buildings, it may be necessary to perform specialist soil for wind turbines, power stations and renewable energy
improvement works in the proposed work area, with a view plants. Due to Bauer in house design and construction
to improve or modify the ground shear strength, stiffness, expertise considerable savings were gained by the client
permeability and also to reduce the risk of liquefaction in whilst achieving the design goals of stringent settlement
areas of seismic activity. Common stabilization techniques control and liquefaction mitigation. Our experience in the
that have been successfully implemented include: rig- Oil and Gas sector is worthy of note, having been involved
id inclusions, the vibro methods and surface compaction in many projects both upstream and downstream across
methods such as dynamic compaction and replacement. the globe.

Ocean Reef Island II, Punta Pacifica, Panama Punta Catalina, Dominican Republic
Bauer soil improvement solution was implemented for the Punta Catalina is a new coal-fired power station, built about
Ocean Reef artificial islands I & II, comprising mostly luxu- 40 km from the capital city of Santo Domingo to improve
rious residential buildings. For this new reclamation Bauer the electrical power supply of the island nation. The scope
undertook vibro compaction. This luxury development of of works executed by Bauer included 210,000 lin. m stone
residential buildings had stringent settlement control. columns with pre-drilling to a depth of up to 20 m and with
a diameter of 1 m.

8 Soil Improvement
 Green Port, Hull, United Kingdom
Improvement works carried out on fill and under-
lying soft, compressible alluvial soil, in order to
control settlement and improve bearing pressure
in an area of approximately 30,000 m². A total of
27,642 lin. m stone columns using the vibro re-
placement method were installed.

INFO
Bauer soil improvement is available
for these applications:

• Ports and coastal Infrastructure

• Dams
• Transport Infrastructure
• Residential and commercial
Buildings
• Oil & Gas, Power Stations and
Renewable Energy

Industrial Park, Slovakia

Bauer BF13 Dry Bottom Feed Rigs were used to
treat over 300,000 m² for the new car manufactur-
ing plant in Slovakia.

Petrochemical Complex, Philippines

The extension of the petrochemical complex in
Batangas, Philippines required soil improvement
works by means of Bauer FDPs. A total of 4,652
lin. m Bauer FDPs to 15 m depths were executed
at this project.

Soil Improvement 9
Methods
Globally and regionally we of-
fer a broad spectrum of soil im-
provement and traditional pi-
ling technology. This situation
allows us to offer sustainable,
in-situ treatments for develop-
ments, reducing the creation
of spoil and reducing carbon
emissions. Bauer has a cost ef-
fective, environmentally friend-
ly solution for all your construc-
tion needs.

Ocean Reef Island II, Punta Pacifica, Panama

More than 11,000 vibro compaction points with
an average compaction depth of 15 m were re-
quired to treat the reclaimed marine sands.
Vibro Compaction
This compaction method is most suitable for loose, me- of liquefaction in areas of seismic activity. The compaction
dium to coarse-grained non-cohesive soils, with the process involves the floatation and subsequent compac-
compaction achieved by means of deep vibration using tion of the soil in the vicinity of the vibroflots by means of
vibroflots. Cohesive soils consisting of silt and clay ma- the horizontal vibration emitted from the vibroflots. The up-
terial do not respond to vibratory compaction. This deep per metres of the subsoil may need supplemental surface
compaction method serves to improve the mechanical compaction treatments to achieve certain specifications in
properties of soils; the relative density of the soil could be addition to the vibro comapction; this is of course included
increased up to around 80%. Furthermore, it offers an ef- in our service as required.
fective means of limiting settlements and mitigating the risk

INFO

For large depths and clean sands vibro compaction is the most cost effective method, whereas for lesser
depths (< 8 m) dynamic compaction methods are excellent. As the fines contents of the soils increase, then
we must look at soft and rigid inclusions (stone columns, full displacement columns, or soil mixing) all de-
pending on the soils, the loads and the timescales.

The Island, Dubai, UAE

Vibro compaction of 500,000 m³ of fill to an aver-
age depth of 16 m. Full-scale zone load tests and
CPTs were also executed to verify the settlement
requirements of this treatment of reclaimed car-
bonate sands.

12 Soil Improvement
Dynamic Compaction and Replacement
Dynamic compaction (DC) involves the use of high-energy properties. The kinetic energy emitted on impact compacts
heavy tamping passes to improve the packing density of the soil via forced re-packing of the grains. With dynamic
loose, coarse-grained soils. The engineering properties of replacement, the dynamic compaction method is applied
a wide range of soils can be substantially improved using in highly compressible, cohesive soils to reinforce the weak
this method. The treatment is achieved by a combination layers by the addition of imported granular material that are
of the weight, drop height, grid pattern, number of passes, driven into the soils by the means of the specially designed
position of the ground water table and the underlying soil pounder, creating in effect a large diameter stone pillar.

Phase 1 Phase 1 Phase 1 Phase 1 Phase 1

Phase 2 Phase 2

Phase 1

Dynamic compaction is a
great technique for com-
pacting large areas of san-
dy soils, even pockets of
silts. It is quick and allows
flexibility in the choice and
location of the
foundations.
Jason Redgers
Soil Improvement Director

Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai, UAE

Approximately 530,000 m² of a combination
of dynamic compaction and vibrocompaction
works performed.

Soil Improvement 13
Vibro Replacement / Stone Columns
This method of deep vibration treatment offers the ad- depth as needed to meet the specification requirements.
vantage of being applicable to a wide range of soils, In the case of the wet top feed method, the void or annu-
from loose granular soils to soft cohesive deposits. Within lus is maintained by means of water flushing. The backfill
Bauer, we offer both the wet top feed and the dry bottom material is then compacted in increments by successive
feed methods of installation. Generally, both methods in- withdrawal and re-penetration of the vibroflot to form a
volve the introduction of backfill material into a void in the continuous column throughout the treated soil layers. In
ground made by penetrating the vibroflot to the design the dry method (as shown below) only air is used.

INFO

Vibro replacement is suitable for:

• Clays
• Silts
• Silts/clays/sand mixes
• Improvement of bearing capacity
• Reduction of Settlements
• Mitigiation of liquefaction

Punta Catalina, Dominican Republic

The scope of works executed by Bauer included
210,000 lin. m stone columns with pre-drilling to
a depth of 20 m and with a diameter of 1 m.

14 Soil Improvement
Soil Mixing
The soil mixing methods are suitable for both cohesive and pores with binder agent slurry. The individual insertions
non-cohesive soils, which may be used as a soil improve- are combined to walls using the pilgrim step method. The
ment method in addition to applications in cut-off-walls, auger dimensions ultimately determine the size of the in-
groundwater or pollution control, and remediation of dykes sertion. In some cases, reinforcement can be added into
and dams. This method has also been successfully used the fresh mix for structural strengthening. The method of-
to secure terraces in the ground and excavation pits. The fers an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly
method involves the breaking up of the surrounding soil ground stabilisation alternative.
with a single or triple auger, turning over and filling of the

INFO

The Mixed-in-Place method is a resource-efficient, environmentally compatible and productive construction

method. The MIP drilling rigs manufactured by Bauer can be deployed in the most confined urban construc-
tion sites as well as in the largest dams and dykes.

Porto Novi Resort Village, Montenegro

123,000 m² Mixed-in-Place elements consisting
of single MIP elements for soil improvement and
deep foundations, continuous MIP walls for soil
improvement and reinforced MIP walls for secur-
ing the sea banks.

Soil Improvement 15
Rigid Inclusion by the Bauer Full Displacement System
This Rigid Inclusion or Full Displacement Column system no physical connection between the Rigid Inclusion and
creates a known modulus column that in conjunction the foundation system as the foundations are supported on
with the load transfer platform (LTP) provides a safe, fast the LTP. The installation equipment consists of a drill rod
and economical solution for medium loaded structures on system, which has an auger as a started, followed by the
soft soils. They are mainly used to mitigate settlement and displacement body and the extension casing. The system
improve bearing capacity of the underlying soil layers. The can also be used for Full Displacement Piles (FDP) in which
displacement system improves the ground and eliminates reinforcement is added to create the FDP, as the situation
spoil arising at the surface thus adding extra benefits in dictates based on loading requirements and the soils.
reduced spoil management, again saving costs. There is

“Full Displacement Columns

have proven to be a popu-
lar option for road and rail
embankments as well as for
tank farms, where control
of differential settlement
is vital.
Jason Redgers
Soil Improvement Director

Sewage treatment plant, Biha, Bosnia

The deep foundation of the sewage treatment
plant (various buildings and tanks) comprised
681 reinforced Bauer FDPs. The rigid inclusions
were executed to depths of 20 m.

16 Soil Improvement
 Petrochemical Complex, Philippines
Bauer performed the design and construction of
4,652 lin. m Bauer FDC. The rigid inclusions were
executed to depths of 15 m.

INFO

This methods are used for Bauer soil

improvement:

• Vibro Compaction
• Dynamic Compaction and
Replacement
• Vibro Replacement / Stone Columns
• Soil Mixing
• Rigid Inclusion by the Bauer Full
Displacement System for FDC or FDP

Diavik Diamond Mine, Yellowknife, Canada

In addition to the cut-off wall and soil mixing
scope, vibro compaction was executed ahead of
the Cut-off wall works to depths of 23 m.

Road Remediation, Plzen, Czech Republic

The leader mounted bottom feed method was
used to install approximately 3,500 lin. m of
stone columns as remediation works on a road
that had excessively settled.

Soil Improvement 17
Projects

With over 50 subsidiaries and

branch offices around the world,
our regional networks, coupled
with our expertise and passion
provide a platform and flexibility
for a world-wide reach.

Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE

Densification of reclaimed carbonate sands by
means of vibro compaction for depths between
12 m to 18 m, to achieve bearing capacity im-
provement, settlement control and liquefaction
mitigation.
Container Terminal Extension, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Bauer was commissioned by Eiffage Génie Civil and used to treat areas with depths less than 7 m. A total of
BellSea Ltd. to carry out soil improvement works by 543,000 m³ were compacted by vibro compaction. Subse-
means of vibro compaction and surface compaction of quently, surface compaction was performed on a total area
the reclaimed marine sand. Given the stringent timeline, of 51,030 m² to treat the upper layers for enhanced speci-
two compaction systems were implemented. The first fication requirements. With the presence of several anchors
comprised vibroflots in tandem suspended from a crawler and tiebacks to support the existing harbour combi-walls in
crane, to treat depths beyond 7 m to a maximum depth the reclamation area, Bauer performed a 3D verification of the
of 24 m, while the second method consisted of a single influence of vibro compaction on anchored quay walls prior to
vibroflot mounted to an excavator. The latter method was commencement of our works.

With the tandem system,

there is the potential to
match and even exceed the
performance of two single
rigs working, at significantly
lower costs.

Ikenna Osayi
Soil Improvement Specialist

Tandem unit being setup prior

to calibration and trials.

20 Soil Improvement
 With the stitcher system
a compaction to 7 m
depths was done.

Structure model for the second section using

PLAXIS 3D – Inclined anchors.

INFO
• The influence of vibro compaction
on already existing anchors and
wall structures was analysed using
PLAXIS 3D.
• Pressure sensors were also ins-
talled close to a chosen wall sec-
tion, to monitor the build-up of pore
water pressure during compaction
in its vicinity.

Surface compaction being undertaken post

Soil Improvement by a 25 kJ High Energy
Impaction Compaction system.

Tandem unit being setup

for compaction to 24 m
depths.

Soil Improvement 21
Layyah combined cycle power plant, Sharjah, UAE
The Layyah combined cycle power plant is an excellent extra to the piling works already awarded to Bauer on the
Bauer Project. The client initially wanted compaction project. Up to 300,000 m³ of sand treated with the Bauer
for the upper layers, but whilst working with Bauer spe- TR75 vibroflot for the government of Sharjah, UAE in con-
cialists saw that deep treatment of the soils for lique- junction with over 2,200 nos. piles (0.6 m to 1.0 m diame-
faction mitigation was needed. This treatment was an ter) up to 22 m depth.

INFO

• Client: Sharjah Electricity and Water

Authority (SEWA)
• Employer: JV Elsewedy Power &
MHPS
• Scope: 250,000 m³ vibro compac-
tion, 45 nos CPTs
• Duration: 1 month

Penetration stage: the vibroflot can be seen

penetrating the in-situ soil by a combination of
its weight, vibration and air and water jetting.

22 Soil Improvement
 Compaction stage aided
by air and water flushing.

INFO

• Up to 15 m depth
• Reclaimed sands from the Persian
Gulf
• Working close to existing pipelines
• Measurement of vibration levels
• Combined team works

Compaction stage with formation of settlement

cracks arising due to the compaction effort.

Completion stage, with

the crater being filled
with suitable material.

Soil Improvement 23
BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH
BAUER - Strasse 1
86529 Schrobenhausen, Germany
Tel.: + 49 8252 97- 0
bst@bauer.de
www.bauer.de

1/2020

The specifications and technical data are provided as indicative

905.026.2

information only, with any errors and misprints reserved.