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Repairs without disruption |
 Speed, lack of disruption and positive environmental credentials are keynote benefits which have enabled Uretek’s polymer injection processes to gain a significant foothold in the road repair market over the past two decades.
Widely used as a rapid treatment for subsidence and sunken flooring slabs, the processes are now coming into their own for carriageway repairs. The polymer material is ideal for road use, as it is extremely fast to apply yet highly durable, and requires no excavations. It’s also lightweight, adding little burden to distressed subgrades. And the process is unaffected by temperatures ranging from 0*C to 100*C, allowing work in colder seasons.
Uretek’s method originated in Finland 30 years ago, and is nowadays used throughout the world. It involves injecting expanding polymer resins through a series of very small-diameter holes, drilled at 1 to 1.5m centres. The holes are small enough to cause no slab breakout at the base of the concrete and no overall slab weakening. Once injected the material expands up to 30 times its volume, providing a strong vertical lift if needed.
Importantly, the process is highly controllable. This is partly because of the very rapid curing time of the material, and partly because the Uretek method does not depend on pumping pressure to lift the slab – it’s an all-in-one process, both consolidating ground and lifting the slab to tolerances of +/- 5mm, a result which is carefully monitored by laser level. This precision also makes it possible to stabilise only, without any lift.
Strengthening the sub-base of flexible surface roads is equally straightforward with the Uretek polymers.
Very little equipment is required on the road – a hose from the self-contained Uretek vehicle, a laser level, a drill – and this means a very fast clear-up. Uretek teams can deal with problem areas between rush hours and be off the road quickly.
At first, polymer resin’s environmental credentials were not a significant factor in winning work. Yet with the ‘greening of the supply chain’, the advantage that no road material needs to discarded, and no new material brought in has made Uretek’s process an attractive option. Nothing needs taking to landfill, the polymer itself is neutral to the environment, being harmless to plants and animals, and the carbon footprint of producing the polymers is far less than for cementitious alternatives.
Geopolymer injection looks set to achieve a higher profile. Uretek is confident that the speed and lack of disruption achieved on a smaller scale over the past fifteen years on Britain’s roads will be rolled out on larger contracts, and that the technology will come to be a standard part of road maintenance best practice.
For more information
Tel: 01695 50525
Web: www.uretek.co.uk |
