Soil Stabilisation
With over 25 years of experience we are experts in our field at using a variety of stabilisation techniques.
Using lime, cement and other binding materials to improve areas of weak soil. Soil stabilisation techniques reduce the moisture content of cohesive soil, improving the bearing capacity of the soil allowing the ground to take a greater loading for construction. Our stabilisation methodologies allow us to offer a cost-effective alternative to removing the material off-site and importing other fill materials. This reduces pollution along with potential health & safety risks by eliminating the requirement for road lorries to transport materials in and out of site.
O’Keefe Soil Plant
Our wide range of industry-leading plant allows us to tackle the most complex Soil Stabilisation projects with the highest regard for the environmental considerations within the industry today.
At O’Keefe we only use integrated systems, maximising the input of powder into the ground and minimising dust. Both of our Wirtgen WR2500’s and Wirtgen Spack enable us to achieve this.
We have a variety of excavators ranging in size, along with dozers, two 50t holding Silos Storage, an 18t Hamm vibrating roller, a 10,000 litre water tank and 7,000 litre water bowser.
In-House Testing Laboratory
Our in-house laboratory, situated at our Head Office in Kent, has modernised & specialist equipment within air-conditioned facilities, allowing us to carry out our own testing with regards to stabilisation, compaction studies, trial mixes using lime and cement, gradings and swell tests to name a few.
By having our own in-house laboratory we can turn around testing results faster than using an external laboratory allowing a continuous workflow on site and minimal disruption to programme time.
However, where required we will utilise external, UKAS-accredited, laboratories for certification.
Case Study- Ardersier Port (Inverness, Scotland)
The project created a new 1.5km-long haul road and a steelwork fabrication yard ready for the main construction works. Originally the haul road was to be constructed using a reinforced concrete slab on existing ground and was budgeted at £6m.
However, O’Keefe visited the site in August 2022 and collected several samples. These were then brought back to our Laboratory for testing, where cement additives were used to meet the proposed loadings on the haul road.
The haul road had to achieve 45 units of HB loading for a minimum 8m width, with infrequent loading of 300KPa to allow cranes and rigs to track over the haul road during erection, the dismantling of structures, and the steel fixing.
The Steel fixing area was 100m x 100m – 300KPa to accommodate 80-tonne capacity cranes, from the suitability test results O’Keefe then designed a stabilisation option with a 10 year warranty to meet the required loadings which gave the client a cost saving of 85% and was completed within 5 weeks.
Services Provided
By using all of our in-house plant, engineering and expertise along with our in-house laboratory facility, we can work efficiently and productively whilst not having to rely on external sources, offering anything from the full package to earthmoving and recycling. Teaming up with our in-house BIM team, we can also carry out topographical surveys using the data collated for cut and fill volumetrics to produce 3D models and drawings.
Our Soil Stabilisation services can also be used for the following:
Waterlogged or winter working platforms
Brownfield sites
Piling mats
Haul road construction
Car parks
Highway pavement construction
Value Engineering
Capping and sub-base replacement
Engineered fill
Formation improvement
Use Our Services
If you are planning a project and are have an enquiry on our Soil Stabilisation services, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss your requirements. You can do so by giving our team a call on: 020 8858 9124 or alternatively you drop us an email by clicking the button below.
