By: Roads & Bridges
The 1990s expansion of Ft. Lauderdale’s Broward Blvd. placed the new lane directly above the area’s primary east-west concrete storm drain system. When the road began to sink it was discovered that pipe joints had separated or become misaligned over time, allowing soil infiltration into the pipes and massive soil failures beneath the road.
Excavating 18- to 72-in.-diam. concrete pipes located up to 13 ft below the surface was unacceptable. The county engineering team, working with State Contracting, turned to Uretek’s “No-Dig” polymer injection process to rehabilitate the system.
Uretek’s Deep Injection process involved drilling 5/8-in. holes in a pre-determined grid pattern, injecting a hydro-insensitive expanding polymer into the soil at multiple depths and monitoring movement at the surface. The Uretek 486 polymer filled the underground voids, densified loose soils as well as stabilized and sealed the pipe joints. The primary storm-drain line, junction boxes and laterals were repaired on a 3-mile section.
The work went so well that Tim Smith, president of State Contracting, recently commented, “Almost two years after the job’s completion, that entire stretch of Broward Blvd. where Uretek worked is on-grade and looks just like the day they finished.”
For more information, go to www.uretekusa.com.
