Press Releases
Nortex and TerraThane Stabilize Houston Area Highways
Houston’s Highways, Some of Busiest in Nation, Use Innovative TerraThane Polyurethane Foam Technology to Repair Bad Bridge Approaches, Uneven Joints, and Roadway Depressions.
MOUNT AIRY, NC—Highways around Houston, TX, known as one the nation’s worst cities for traffic behind Los Angeles, D.C., and Atlanta, need constant repair, but can’t be closed while the work is done. Nortex Concrete Lift and Stabilization, Inc., a Ft. Worth, TX company, recently completed a whirlwind repair project on one of the city’s busiest corridors in the NE quadrant where I-10, 610 Loop, I-59, and I-69 feed millions of cars daily to, from, and around Harris County.
Normal groundwater erosion beneath the highways causes the concrete highway slabs to drop, roadway depressions, uneven bridge approaches, and uneven joints that make driving bumpy and uncomfortable, dangerous, and causes severe wear and tear on automobiles.
To make the repairs, the Texas Department of Transportation, TXDOT, brought in Nortex. The company carefully planned out the repairs for the half million pound project, and sent out four crews each with it’s own box truck rig to use a relatively new technology called “foamjacking.” Foamjacking uses high-density polyurethane foam to fill the subterranean voids, and lift the concrete slabs to proper level. “We’ve been lifting and stabilizing roadways with polyurethane foam since we got into the business back in 2003,” says Casey Derosa, asst. gen. mgr. of Nortex. “It’s a far superior method versus the old way of mudjacking.” Mudjacking is a ubiquitous term for a mix of mud, sand, cement, crushed limestone, and water hydraulically pumped into large holes drilled into the concrete slabs to fill voids and level the slabs. Mudjacking uses more and much larger equipment, and requires larger holes to be drilled. It typically requires the roadway to be closed much longer than foamjacking, and takes more time to clean up.
[Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release from GeoPrac sponsor NCFI Polyurethanes. [/Editor]
Geologic Hazards
Amazing video of 2011 magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan
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Rockman's Ramblings
A Geoengineer’s Christmas List 2010
So last year at this time, I gave Santa my geoengineer’s Christmas list, but apparently I wasn’t good enough to get everything. I did get two things off my list, the new FHWA Drilled Shaft Manual, and the New FHWA MSE Wall Manual, but that’s about it. That’s like getting pink bunny PJ’s as a kid! So over the last year, I tried to be REALLY good, and this year I’ll just let last year’s list roll over with two additions:
An iPad
This year’s hottest gift would be great for reading my growing library of geotechnical papers, manuals, reports and books in PDF format. I like the iBook app on my iPhone, especially being able to highlight and make notes and bookmarks. And you can read an eBook allright, but try reading a scanned PDF report or paper on that little screen, doesn’t work too well. I like the idea of having my entire library of technical papers, books and reports available at my fingertips!
And the coolest goodie on my list, the one I really want… […]