Increasing bearing capacity of marshlands by using bi-axial grids
Location of work/project:
Germany - Hemmingstedt, Municipality of Hemmingstedt
Low & Bonar
How can one turn former marshalnds into economically viable land, when load bearing capacities are so poor that in times of heavy rainfall one cannot even walk on the land? By creating a floating foundation witht he use of diffent kinds of Enkagrids.
The municipality of Hemmingstedt had been facing the matter of the dormant marshlands for quite a while before a simple solution was presented: create a floating foundation with the use of high quality bi-axial geogrids to deliver the critical soil stabilization, on which economic activities can be initiated. In the Hemmingstedt case, this meant building a 12 ha greenhouse complex.
The greenhouse complex consisted of several elements: a greenhouse platform which also served as a working platform during the building process, a network of distribution and main feeder roads, rainwater basins (including dikes) and a water tank. Each element having its own specific demands for load-bearing capacity, so EnkaRoad - Low & Bonar’s design program - was used to calculate which geogrids and intermediate layers of fill would be necessary to deliver the required load-bearing capacities for each of the elements. In addition, the individual layers were separated by nonwoven geotextiles.
An important part of the solution for this unique and large project is Low & Bonar’s EnkaGrid TRC which is used when conventional geogrids are not adequate.
EnkaGrid TRC is a composite of an aramid mesh for reinforcement, embedded in a nonwoven geotextile for separation. The aramid fibers are five times stronger than steel and combine high strength with low elongation.
Nowadays, 5-axle, 60-ton trucks may drive, unidisturbed, in an area of former marshlands, where a major greenhouse complex was built on a floating foundation. New economic value - thanks to the outstanding stabilizing properties of EnkaGrid.