Stabilisation of ballast and gravel banks
Steep gravel slopes may become instable due to train traffic loads and vibrations or weather events such as, flooding events. As a result settlement, erosion, breaching and land slide may occur. Especially in case railway ballast embankments it can result in huge safety issues.
A fast remedial and low-coast measure is to stabilize the gravel bank by filling voids with a high expansive polyurethane resin. After curing PU-foam needs to withstand high tensile strengths and consequently it needs adhere extreme well to loose material and soil.
The AP STAB N180 injection resin was specially developed for this application and its expansion capacity is up to 1400 %. Once cured polyurethane is harmless for the environment and resistant to biological attacks.
The weatherproof product can also be used as a buffer zone between concrete elements and the ballast bed to reduce vibrations. It helps to reinforce the ballast, to reduce loose stones and dust and prevents pulverisation of the gravel. When excavation is required under and adjacent to the ballast and tracks, e.g. for applications such as microtunnelling, the PU-resin provides an excellent binder for ballast stabilisation to prevent collapse.