Bulkhead & Seawall Repair
Is Your Seawall Showing Signs Of Failure?
Professional Seawall Repair
For those who live near the water on the Delmarva Peninsula, seawall condition and integrity are very common worries. iIf you have a bulkhead or seawall that is leaking, soils eroding or settling soils its imperative to have a professional to densify soils and stop water intrusion. At Stabil Solutions we can stabilize the eroding soils and stop active leaks when you need it most when you need it most, utilizing a single-grout component system that can strengthen any retaining structure along the coastline.
What Causes Seawall Degradation?
Seawalls can destabilize and collapse for a number of reasons, but the leading cause is often subsidence of the wall's support soils. As water finds its way through cracks in the wall, the soil becomes unconsolidated, and voids are formed that compromise the integrity of the bulkhead or seawall. If left alone, the wall can eventually crumble entirely, leaving your property with no protection from coastal waves and any tidal surges.
The Advantages of Single-Component Urethane Grouts For Seawall Rehabilitation
Grouting contractors, especially those along the coastal United States, have made rehabilitating and repairing seawalls and bulkheads a major focus of their business. While plural-component systems have proven to be effective in the past, the use of single-component grouts is steadily gaining ground as the preferred seawall rehabilitation solution.
Seawalls often begin to show signs of failure due to the subsidence of the wall's support soils. This degradation typically stems from water intrusion that erodes the soil, leading to voids, gaps, and unconsolidated soils, causing the walls to crack and settle.
When using single-component grouts to repair a seawall, the focus is rehabilitating the soil, reestablishing its structural integrity, and filling any present voids where water intrusion can occur.
Single-component urethane grouts are low-viscosity polymers that are thinner than water. They’re injected into the voids behind the seawall, aggressively filling in any gaps and locking the urethane and soil into a highly dense matrix. There’s little to no risk of blowout, as the material is not rigid enough to push against or lift the seawall. The urethane grouts also don't leech any chemicals into the soil, making them safe to use near estuaries and drinking water supplies.
How It Works
Single-component grouts require a blowing agent. Water is the most common option, and this water can come from saturated soils or humidity, or it can be added to arid areas to ensure reaction. Because of the low-viscous nature of the urethane grout, it can take advantage of moisture found deep in fine soils. The grout reacts and hardens, so once the polyurethane has permeated the soil, it will lock into a highly dense matrix of soil and urethane.
The urethane is injected with an electric airless sprayer to pump through a ball valve injector, either with a metal rod or "needle rod" (a rod attached to the end of the valve that can be inserted in and out of the injection zone). The urethane is typically pumped at 3,000 psi, with the low-viscosity nature of the grout being the primary driver of its permeation into the unconsolidated soils and voids.
Excellent Permeation
Single-component urethane grouts are low-viscosity polymers that are thinner than water. When the urethane grout is injected into a soil substrate, it permeates into fine, sandy soils and aggressively fills any voids.
High Control
Single-component grouts are highly adaptable to varying environmental conditions, and you can change your approach based on what the environment is giving you. For instance, if you have high humidity or high moisture, you can use less activator to decrease reactivity, or if more activator is needed in arid climates, you can add water to the soil.
In addition to chemical adjustments, permeation grouts are relatively easy to judge and have high confidence in regards to their travel time, blowout risks, injection approaches, and project success rates.
Minimizing Risk
The potential for damaging a structure by over-injecting is nearly zero. Low-viscosity single-component urethanes are able to expand up to 40x their initial volume. However, as it expands, the material is not rigid enough to push or lift against any confinement. It will continue to permeate the soil until the urethane has hardened. This ensures the voids have been effectively filled, the structure hasn't been damaged, and the project is a success.
Urethane grouts are environmentally inert, meaning once they harden, they do not leach chemicals into the soil. If they do enter estuaries or drinking supplies, the water acts as a blowing agent and the urethane hardens and floats to the surface. These hardened materials can be collected by a net and/or are contained by boom equipment.
As an extra precaution, NCFI's Terra-Lok formulas are certified to NSF-61 ANSI-safe drinking water standards.
Excellent permeation, high control, and minimal risk make single-component grouts a safe and reliable solution. With these advantages, it's easy to see why they have become a preferred method of seawall rehabilitation.
We Offer Financing Options!
If you’d like to know more about our bulkhead and seawall repair services, or you want to inquire about how the repair process works, please feel free to contact us right away. We’d love to show you how we can repair and restore your seawall to its proper shape and integrity.
TESTIMONIALS
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Excellent customer service - regular communication when there were rain delays. Was the best price as well. Gave estimate efficiently by using photos i uploaded. The work was very good - can hardly tell any work was done at all as they filled all cracks and holes and cleaned up nicely. Would highly recommend them
Ravi J.
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Mike was fantastic. Easy to work with. On time and provided recommendations on ways to best accomplish the task. Finally, came in under his estimate and his estimate was a good bit lower than what I was expecting based on online research. A++
Lance B., Havre de Grace, MD
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Mike was fantastic. Easy to work with. On time and provided recommendations on ways to best accomplish the task. Finally, came in under his estimate and his estimate was a good bit lower than what I was expecting based on online research. A++
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Thanks Mike. Your service was very professional. Great communication both e-mail and telephone. Timely responses and accurate estimate. Work completed was exactly as hoped, great outcome. You also identified another slab that needed adjusted and corrected that issue as well. I would and will recommend your service.
Jim H., Baltimore, MD