Application of Curtain Grouting in the

Pile Foundation Construction in Watery

Strata

Liu Hui
Sichuan College of Architectural Technology, Deyang, Sichuan, 618000, China
[email protected]

ABSTRACT
The difficulty of hole forming during pile foundation construction in strata with high permeability
coefficient and artesian head can be solved with curtain grouting method which strengthens all
kinds of stratum and decreases permeability coefficient obviously. Combined with a real project,
the design keys, construction technology as well as the in-situ test method for judgment of water
resisting result are discussed. The practice shows that the water resisting result of curtain grouting
is obvious and it ensures the smooth construction of the pile foundation.
KEYWORDS: Curtain grouting; Water resisting; Piles construction; Packer permeability
test; Permeability coefficient

INTRODUCTION
The main bridge of Caiyuanba Yangtze Bridge is 800m long whose main span and north
approach bridge is 420m and 886m respectively. The main bridge adopts the pattern of half-
through tied arches with steel-box ribs, and the bridge deck is a double layer bridge with six lanes
in both directions. The upper layer are 6 automobile lanes while the lower layer are 2 light rail
lanes. The 9# pier of the bridge’s north approach bridge and ramp lies on the shore protection
engineering area of Yangtze River where the geological condition is complicated. The
construction was done with manually excavation firstly and then with drilling when the hole
depth entered the underground water level. In order to ensure the construction period, the curtain
grouting technology was finally selected after plan comparison and consideration from multiple
aspects to consolidate the foundation around the pile so as to achieve the goal of resisting water
and controlling the quicksand.

PROJECT PROFILE
Geological condition
The 9# pier on the inner side of the embankment of Yangtze river, where the strata are
constituted by 3 parts: the surface layer is large amount of miscellaneous fill of sand and cobble,
rock block of mudstone, gravel and construction waste and so on, of which the structure is

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 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2690

slightly dense to medium dense and the thickness is between 16 to 28m; the layer below is sand
and gravel of flood plain, of which the cobble content is 60 to 70%, the structure is slightly dense
to medium dense and the thickness is between 8 to 12m; the third layer is sandy mudstone which
is selected as bearing layer of the foundation. See Fig. 1.

Figure 1: Engineering geological profile

 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2691

The size of the pile foundation

The 9# pile foundation of main approach bridge adopts 8φ2.2m with 49m design length while
that of B, D ramp adopts 4φ1.8m with design length of 50m.

The arrangement of the pile foundation

The plane arrangement is shown in Fig.2.

Figure 2:The layout chart of the pile foundation (cm)

Difficulties in the construction

Underground water exists in the backfilled layer and sand and gravel layer, and the
underground water is connected to the river. Thus, the underground water is infiltrating recharged
by the water of the river in the flood period and the back infiltration of the river water affects the
foundation construction a lot. The construction was done with manually excavation firstly and
then with drilling when the hole depth entered the underground water level. However, the drilling
failed because the hole collapsed due to underground water gushing and quicksand. In a word, the
foundation construction suffered from large amount of surge water and high water pressure
around the pile which resulted in frequent quicksand and hole collapse. Therefore, curtain
grouting was adopted to consolidate the foundation in hope of sovling the above-mentioned
problems.

DESIGN OF CURTAIN GROUTING

The mechanism of curtain grouting
The curtain grouting pressures cement paste or slurry of cement and sodium silicate into the
hole drilled through the working face. The slurry squeezes out water or air in the voids of the rock
and soil within a certain range around it so that it is ensured that the fractures of the rock and soil
is densely filled by the slurry that has certain strength. The slurry penetrates into the void of the
soil under relative high pressure and forcefully drains the void water out of the soil body, then the
slurry solidifies and fills the void between the particles of the soil. As a result, the soil’s
permeability reduces and its strength rises. The setting time, filling capacity and strength after
 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2692

consolidation of different slurry with different mixing formula and solidification agents can be
different and controlled. Besides, the slurry mixed with sodium silicate has very good groutability
and is suitable for seepage control project in many types of stratum. Finally, the slurry
consolidates with the rock and soil and forms an integral whole as a sealed curtain to prevent
quicksand and water penetration. The plan applied in this project has advantages as follows: ①
the construction equipment is not limited by space; ② it is unnecessary to deal with large amount
of back flow slurry and waste liquid; ③it can achieve relative good water resistance effect in the
layer of sand and weathered bedrock as well as soil reinforcement effect in the layer of sand and
cohesive soil; ④ it has no pollution to the underground water and environment.
The physical and mechanical properties of the soil after grouting are enhanced obviously on
following aspects: ① the water content of the soil body decreases; ② the permeability of the soil
is weakened and the test result of the permeability coefficient reduces; ③the strength of the soil
increases obviously especially the cohesive force.

The arrangement diagram of the location of grouting

Combined with former successful experience, the diameter of the hole was selected at
100mm and their depth was set as 1m into the integrated bedrock according to the field condition
of equipment and geological data gained from geological survey. The slurry diffusion radius was
set as 500mm and was uniformly and concentrically arranged as 2 rings with the radius 1000mm
and 2660mm bigger than the original pile radius. For the pile foundation of main approach
bridge, 33 grouting holes should be set while 31 grouting holes should be set to the pile
foundation of ramp B, D. Fig.3 shows the curtain finally formed.

A
B
C

Pile

Curtain formed after diffusion

Figure 3: The formation of curtain

The mixing proportion of the grouting slurry

Cement and sodium silicate slurry was adopted: the water cement ratio was 1:1~1:1.5; the
concentration of sodium silicate was 30~35 Be'; the cement sodium silicate ratio was 1:0.45~1:1;
8% expanding agent and 1% retarder were admixed and the gelation time was about 75s. The
working mix proportion was strictly identical to the laboratory mix proportion and the
concentration of cement slurry was subjected to adjustment according to the different condition
instructed under the specific laboratory mix proportion.
Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2693

D/2
t

H
P

soil pressure
Pore water pressure

Figure 4: The sketch map of the lateral pressure

48
Depth(m)

44

40

36

32

28

24
0.6 1 1.4 1.8 2.2 2.6

Grouting pressure(MPa)

Figure 5: The curve of grouting pressure changing with depth

 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2694

Calculation of grouting amount

Assuming the slurry is uniformly diffused in the strata, thus the grouting amount of individual
hole is:
Q = πR 2 Lnαη （1）
where
Q is the grouting amount of individual hole, m 3 ；
R is the diffusion radius of the slurry and equals 0.5m ;
L is the length of the grouting hole, m ;
n is the fissure ratio(porosity) of the strata and is determined as 4.3% through pump-in test
in this project;
α is the filling coefficient of the slurry in the fissures of rocks and is 0.3-0.9 according to
the rock condition.
η is the consumption rate of the slurry and is 1.1
According to the formula 1, the estimated grouting amount is about Q总＝ 670 m 3 .

48
Depth(m)

44

40

36

32

28

24
0.09 0.19 0.29 0.39

Grouting volume(m3)

Figure 6:The curve of grouting amount changing with depth

The retaining effect of the curtain

The lateral pressure and water pressure of the deepest segment of the retaining wall which is
the maximum loaded point is calculated as shown in Fig.4.
P = γHtan 2 (45 - ϕ/2) + ((γ - γ w )h + γH)tan 2 (45 - ϕ/2) + hγ w - 2c tan(45 - ϕ / 2) （2）
where
 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2695

γ is the gravity weight of the soil, γ＝21 kN/m3

γw is the gravity weight of water, γw＝10 kN/m3
H is the depth of the pile foundation above the underground water, H＝22m;
h is depth between the surface to the underground water and is considered as the highest
flood level, h=27.7m
D is the outer diameter of the bored pile, D=2.3m
ϕ is the internal friction angle of the soil, ϕ ＝27°
c is the cohesive force of the soil, and c = 0 for conservation.
The maximum pressure calculated is P = 380.54kN
The effective thickness of the curtain is 1000mm, the strength of the curtain after grouting is
more than 3.0MPa through test of core samples, and 2.4MPa is selected.
Thus the required curtain thickness is calculated in accordance with axial compression
member:
t ≥ [t ] = kPD /(2 × 2.4 × 10 3 ) （3）
where
t is the thickness of the retaining curtain;
k is the safety factor, k=1.65;
[t]=1.65×380.54×2.3/(2×2.4×103)=0.3009m
Thus the curtain thickness is far bigger than the required thickness even at the location with
maximum lateral pressure, that is t>[t] and satisfies the retaining requirement during hole
forming.

THE KEY POINTS OF CURTAIN GROUTING

CONSTRUCTION
Hole forming
The hole is bored with rotary drilling rig of model 100 to the design depth with a single try. If
the hole drilling encounters difficulties, different rigs can be selected, for example, the backfilling
strata can use percussion drilling, the bedrock can use rotary drilling rig and the pebble bed can
use percussion drill or drilling with casing.
The technological process of hole forming is:
Hole position setting out → hole opening → drilling → casing installing → strengthening with
cement mortar → drilling(with different bit diameter) → coring → hole drilling finished → hole
cleaning with fresh water → drill translocation
The drilling is done one by one with one hole interval.
In order to ensure the grouting result, hierarchical grouting should be adopted when the hole
is deeper than 8m. Generally, retrograde grouting is adopted when the water pressure is not high;
 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2696

when the water pressure is high, retrograde grouting should be replaced by forward grouting.
However, no matter which grouting method is used, reliable drill sealing device must be equipped
to realize the solid connection between grouting casing and wall. The design grouting pressure is
1Mpa, and the maximum water inflow pressure is 0.277MPa, based on which the hole sealing and
slurry ceasing system can be designed.

Grouting
After the hole is formed, pump-in test must be carried out before grouting as the unit water
absorption obtained from the test will determine the concentration of the slurry. Before the test,
residue in the hole should be removed until the rock powder thickness is less than 0.2m and then
the hole is washed with pressured water for 5 min until the water back flowing is clean. The
pump-in test should be carried out strictly according to the code.
The grouting should be done with pump form bottom to the hole opening, which means the
grouting pipe is lowered to the bottom, continuously grouting upwards. During the grouting, the
slurry is gradually changing from low concentration to high concentration and grouted to about
1m above the underground water level.
The grouting technological process is:
Lowering the grouting pipe in the hole → washing the hole with pressured fresh water →
residue removing → check valve installing → cement slurry mixing → high pressured grouting at
the bottom → grouting pipe lifting → high pressured grouting ceasing → grouting device cleaning
The initial grouting pressure is 0.6 MPa and the ceasing grouting pressure is 2.0 MPa . The
ceasing criterion is: if the slurry back flowing changed from low concentration to high
concentration, and the grouting amount is less than 1L/min in three tests at the interval of every
10 min, the grouting can be ceased after the grouting lasts 30min under the pressure of 1MPa.

The relation of grouting pressure and amount

The statistical analysis of grouting pressure and amount of 11 holes shows that the relation of
grouting pressure and amount differs with properties of strata under given grouting time(10min)
and amount(10~20L/min). The fundamental rule is that the grouting pressure is low in the
miscellaneous fill layer and rises in the sandy mudstone as the depth increasing, and the grouting
amount reduces as well. The pressure in the sandy mudstone is over 2.5MPa while the grouting
amount is less than 1/3 of that in the miscellaneous fill layer.

Evaluation of water resistance effect

Because the water was resisted with the curtain and the upper 25m of the pile foundation was
bored manually, it was found that the water resisting effect was satisfactory. Massive water
penetration did not occur on the hole wall with only little amounts of water appearing at
individual places, which had no harm to the construction. The hole boring went well and no
collapse happened during the hole drilling afterwards. The whole pile foundation construction ran
smoothly. 4.1 Pump-in test and result analysis
The pump-in test was carried out 2 weeks after grouting was done. The pump-in test was
classified as 2 method: pump-in at hole opening and hierarchical pump-in within the hole. the
purpose of the former was to acquire the comprehensive permeability coefficient of the strata and
that of the latter was to acquire the permeability coefficient of each stratum. The test was carried
out with the method and formula of Lvrong to gain the permeability coefficient of strata. The
 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2697

control criterion of the water pressure is: 0.3Mpa for the former method; for the latter method,
0.6Mpa was chosen in the medium and strong weathered bedrock and 0.3Mpa in other strata.
Pump-in test at hole opening and result analysis
Pump-in test at hole opening was carried out at 2 holes. As shown in Fig.6 and 7, the P-Q
curve of the hole A and B(shown in Fig.3) are fundamentally laminar flow. Fracturing only
appeared when the water pressure was bigger than 0.3Mpa in hole B which reflected good
grouting, good fractures and voids closing effect and low permeability. Following rules can be
gained from the test results: ①under ordinary pressure, the comprehensive permeability
coefficient of strata is at magnitudes of 10-5cm/s; ② the curtain may be hydraulic fractured under
more than 0.3 MPa water pressure, resulting in increased permeability coefficient.
Injection pressure P(MPa)

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Injection volume of water Q(L/min)

Figure 6: P-Q curve of pump-in test of Hole A

0.5
Injection pressure P(MPa)

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 3 6 9 12

Injection volume of water Q(L/min)

Figure 7: P-Q curve of pump-in test of Hole B

 Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2698

Hierarchically pump-in within the hole and result analysis

The hierarchical pump-in test was done in drilling holes with buried sleeve valve barrels.
Totally, the hierarchical pump-in test was carried out at 12 points in hole C and D(Fig.3). Drilling
positions were hole C and hole D respectively (see Fig. 3). Hole C was sampled with drilling
before grouting and the sleeve valve barrels were set and sealed as the test holes of hierarchical
pump-in test after grouting. And the hole D was sampled with drilling 14 days after grouting and
the sleeve valve barrels were set and sealed as the test holes of hierarchical pump-in test after
grouting. The permeability coefficients of different strata after grouting were all at the magnitude
of 10-5cm/s, as shown in Table 1.
The void ratio of the rock can be determined by pump-in test in advance, based on which the
slurry amount required of single pile can be estimated and the filling rate can also be inverse
commutated with this void ratio and the grouting range. The result of inverse computation shows
that the grouting ratio in the strata is above 85%.

Table 1: The permeability coefficient of pump-in test in different stratum

Stratum Tested points Permeability coefficient(cm/s)
Miscellaneous fill 2 2.94×10-5
Pebble bed 8 7.86×10-5
Sandy mudstone 2 3.47×10-5

CONCLUSIONS
(1) The result of the test shows that the curtain grouting improves the engineering properties
of the foundation with good water resistance effect. It achieves the expected objectives.
(2) The curtain grouting resists water and prevents quicksand which helps avoiding potential
safety hazard to the bank arising from excessive water pumping during the construction. The
curtain of grouted strata's hydraulic fracturing pressure is larger than0.3Mpa which satisfies the
water resistance requirement of the deep pile foundation below the water level (27.7m)in this
project; during the grouting, only a little waste water was discharged from the drilled hole and
generally no waste slurry needed to be dealt with which is an obvious advantage.
(3) The curtain acts well as retaining wall during the hole forming.
(4) The adoption of curtain grouting technology ensured the construction period and
redeemed great economical losses; the grouting machine is small in size and easy to operate, and
thus, it could satisfy the requirement of limited space downtown.
(5) The double liquid grouting technology with cement and sodium silicate achieves the goal
of greatly reducing the permeability (the permeability coefficient is smaller than 10-5cm/s ) and
enhancing the strength of the strata in this project.

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Vol. 22 [2017], Bund. 07 2699

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© 2016 ejge

Editor’s note.
This paper may be referred to, in other articles, as:
Liu Hui: “Application of Curtain Grouting in the Pile Foundation
Construction in Watery Strata” Electronic Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering, 2017 (22.07), pp 2689-2699. Available at ejge.com.