Geotechnical News • September 2012
25
THE GROUT LINE
Paolo Gazzarrini
Overture
Here we are with the 28th edition of
the Grout Line, approaching midsum-
mer, hoping that everyone is enjoying
the well deserved sunshine.
For this issue, the first thing I am
publishing is the following email
from Stuart Littlejohn (gslittlejohn@
ntlworld.com) as “
Errata Corrige
” of
an article published in the June issue
of the Grout Line:
Dear Paolo,
Having just received a copy of Volume
30 Issue No. 2 of Geotechnical News,
I read with interest the article on the
conference reprinted from the maga-
zine “Deep Foundations”. Unfortu-
nately, there is a serious error in the
2nd paragraph of the 2nd column
concerning the 5,200 anchors holding
down the floor of the Burnley Tun-
nel over a 2km length beneath the
River Yarra in Melbourne, Australia.
The reprinted article states “all 5,200
grouted anchors were corroded and
had to be remediated”. Nothing is
further from the truth as the 5,200
anchors were in fact the remedial
solution.
The original paper was presented at
the conference by Dr Devon Mother-
sille and written by Devon and myself.
Following grouting to seal construc-
tion joints in the tanking membrane,
it was found during testing that the
tunnel concrete invert was unable to
withstand uplift pressures of 600kPa
without up to 200mm of heave in
places and cracking of some floor pan-
els. As a consequence, concerns were
raised about the ability of the tunnel to
withstand the 60m head from the river.
As the structural remediation solution,
5,200 permanent corrosion protected
ground anchors were installed through
the concrete invert and grouted into
the underlying Melbourne Mudstone
to a very high standard of practice,
after which each anchor was rigor-
ously proof load tested to 150% work-
ing load before being accepted.
I would be grateful if you would
recognise the importance of the error
and arrange for a correction in the next
issue of “Geotechnical News”.
Kind regards,
Stuart Littlejohn
(P.S. I am proud to be one of the
G.R.E.A.T.S.)
Thanks Stuart for your email and clari-
fication about the mistake. I would
like to remind our readers that Stuart
was awarded with the G.R.E.A.T.S.
at the recent 4th Grouting conference.
G.R.E.A.T.S. in the grouting industry
is an award for Grouters dedicated to
Research, Education, Advancement of
Technology and Service.
The second thing I would like to point
out to anyone interested in grouting
is that I just came back from Golden
(Colorado School of Mine), where the
33rd Annual Grouting Fundamentals
and Current Practice Course was held.
Here is a short note from Jim Warner
.
Another grouting extravaganza
33rd Short Course on Grouting
Each year, pressure grouters from
around the world gather for a week
of education and interplay during the
week long short course on Grouting
Fundamentals and Current Practice
at the Colorado School of Mines in
Golden, Colorado. Though some are
new to the field, many are well sea-
soned but attend to learn what is new,
as well as rub shoulders with each
other. This past June 18-22, nearly
80 specialists from around the world
including 13 from Canada alone, as
well as Australia, Austria, Brazil, Nor-
way, and Sweden gathered.
Pressure grouting is a specialized
construction procedure few geo-
professionals use often, but most will
employ occasionally. Traditionally
used for strengthening and reduc-
ing seepage through soil or rock, it
now extends to correcting settlement
problems, and even repairing porous
concrete and masonry. Grouting pro-
cedures are also essential to the ever
increasing use of ground improve-
ment, construction of micropiles, and
soil and rock anchors.
A high point of the annual event is
the Thursday afternoon Demo, and
this year was as spectacular as ever.
Following a barbecue lunch provided
by Rio Grande Construction Supply,
the Demo began with a review of the
latest packer technology by Hank
Baski. Following were demonstra-
tions of special headers and equip-
ment attached to a mini submarine for
installing injection ports in deep water,
formulation and use of cellular grout,
