Gravel cores

Soetaert offers a broad spectrum of soil improvement techniques. Next to vibroflotation and Deep Cement Mixing (DCM), we execute gravel cores as well. These compact the soil, increasing the load-bearing capacity, and reducing movements are reduced. Gravel cores are compacted columns in the ground filled with gravel or recuperated concrete. The latter makes gravel coring not just an efficient, but also a sustainable solution.

To make a gravel core, we firstly vibrate a steel bush into the ground. When the tube has reached the required depth, we fill it with gravel, with the possibility of cementing it with grout. By regularly moving the tube up and down, the gravel compacts and a strong core is formed to build upon.

Multifunctional machines provide efficient placement

At Soetaert, we dispose of multifunctional machines we deploy for both gravel cores, soilmix, and secant piles. In this way, we can easily mobilise machines and execute large projects quickly. For example, in Ostend we placed in record time 2,814 gravel cores from recuperated broken concrete using only four machines.

Properties:

• Few vibrations
• Cheap foundation technique
• No soil removal

Application:

Gravel cores are ideal for foundations with equally divided loads, such as reservoirs, warehouses, and pipelines.