Slurry walls are constructed using either cement-bentonite or soil-bentonite based slurries to produce an in ground low permeability barrier.
Common uses
Process
A cement-bentonite slurry cut-off wall or slurry trench wall is typically excavated using a backhoe while simultaneously pumping a cement bentonite mix into the trench often to depths in excess of 25m. Once cured, the slurry cut-off wall provides a permanent low permeability barrier to groundwater and leachates.
Where gas migration is the issue a high-density polyethylene membrane is placed in the wall in panels connected with an interlock system.
Soil bentonite walls are constructed in a similar manner using a backhoe excavator but using a temporary bentonite slurry to support the excavation while surface mixing the excavated soil with bentonite and potentially imported clay material before backfilling the trench and displacing the temporary bentonite slurry.
Advantages
Quality assurance
Keller has decades of experience installing slurry walls.
A specially developed mix combined with a strict quality control ensures consistency and a product installed and designed to withstand the test of time.
Samples from the top and bottom of the trench are taken daily and a series of testing can be done including slump, specific gravity, bleed, shear strength and pH.