Typical residential foundation settlement profile
Available Resources

Residential Foundation Investigation Standards

Bob Brown with Arizona Foundation Repair, a foundation repair contractor, has a nice blog post about the need for better standards for forensic investigations for residential foundation investigations. He points to some standards by a […]

Dr. Fred H. Kulhawy, 1943-2015
In Memoriam

Dr. Fred H. Kulhawy: 1943 – 2015

Fred Howard Kulhawy was born in Topeka, Kansas on September 8, 1943 to Fred and Gloria (Hahn) Kulhawy. He spent his childhood and early adulthood in New Jersey, where he received his B.S.C.E. in 1964 […]

Failing Retaining Wall in Colorado Springs near Lower Gold Camp and Bear Creek Road in May of 2015
Failures

Retaining Wall Collapses in Colorado Springs

A private homeowner’s retaining wall experienced a major failure near Colorado Springs, causing the evacuation of several families. According to KKTV, the homeowner obtained a permit to construct a 20 foot high retaining wall, however […]

Nortex employees stabilizing Houston area freeway with TerraThane Polyurethane Foam
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.

Nortex employees stabilizing Houston area freeway with TerraThane Polyurethane Foam

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]

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