Mimimising the costs and disruption associated with runway repair is the aim of Uretek UK Ltd

Mimimising the costs and disruption associated with runway repair is the aim of Uretek UK Ltd, specialists in fast yet durable polymer injection processes for ground strengthening and slab stabilisatiion. Used at airports worldwide – including Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Schipol, Bremen  – Uretek’s processes mean that repairs can be completed in hours rather than days or weeks.

With fast installation, curing and cleanup, work can often be done during off peak night time hours, and crews dismantle and remove work zones allowing normal daytime operations to continue uninterrupted.

Polymer injection for ground strengthening was invented and developed by Uretek in Finland 30 years ago, and is now used worldwide as a rapid alternative to excavating and replacing, piling, underpinning and other traditional methods of structural stabilisation and repair.

Subsurface voids can cause a wide range of potentially dangerous problems and defects in concrete surfaces which may be very expensive to treat. Uretek’s slab lifting process keeps the cost down by being fast and minimally disruptive. Injected underground through small diameter holes  the polymers expand rapidly, compressing the ground and lifting the slabs where necessary. The process is extremely accurate and controllable. Injected  polymer resins reach 90% strength within 15 minutes and achieve up to 500% increase in bearing capacity, enabling normal runway operations to continue almost immediately.

The Uretek Deep Injection Process applies the polymers at depths up to 7m below ground. The process drives out water, fills underground soil fissures and voids, and expands to densify the ground. Infrastructures, runways, roadways, bridge approaches/departures and tunnels are put back on solid ground without the need for excavation.

The latest application of polymer injection is the PowerPile system: expanding resins are injected into a furled geotextile tube inserted through a 3cm hole. The PowerPile then expands to approx 33cm,simultaneously supporting the slab and improving the surrounding ground. Piling a concrete runway with traditional methods could mean closing the runway for up to a year, whereas the PowerPile sytem is quickly applied and, like the other Uretek methods, involves no excavations. It provides all the benefits of the Deep Injection process to very soft, cohesive soils, and can cut runway repair costs by up to half.

A single Uretek team can treat up to 400 sq m per day. All material used is 100% environmentally safe: inert, stable, odour free and with excellent chemical resistance. Lightweight and strong, the material has a design life of 100 years.

Uretek UK Ltd Unit 6, Peel Road, Skelmersdale, Lancs WN8 9PT  01695 50525

www.uretek.co.uk