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Vinyl sheet piles with gaskets i.e. how we perfect our solutions
Anti-filtration barriers are important elements of hydrotechnical structures or waste landfills. Their primary objective is to significantly reduce or even completely prevent the migration of water or pollutants through the structure. The technology of vinyl sheet piles with gaskets seems to be a break-through alternative to traditional methods of building leak-proof cut-off walls in the ground.
What is worth highlighting, contrary to other technologies using, for example, steel sheet piles or CDMM / TrenchMix cut-off walls, the use of vinyl sheet piles results in instant tightness immediately upon installation, without the need to wait for the soil clogging effect to occur in locks or for hardening of the cement-ground mixture.
The gasket is not glued or stuck into the lock in any way, but is thermally combined during the extrusion of the profile. As a result, it becomes a completely integral part of the entire sheet pile and there is no threat of damaging the gasket during the installation of sheet piles in the ground.
Field tests and further research
Before being commercially introduced into production, the technology of vinyl sheet piles with a seal has undergone a series of tests in both laboratory and field conditions. Laboratory tests carried out by the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery at the Lodz University of Technology showed that the tightness parameter ρs of locks equipped with a gasket is 0, as evidenced by a certificate confirming the results of the tests performed. It was confirmed that the maximum pressure at which the tightness of such a solution was found was 2.0 bar, i.e. 20 meters of water column.
The field study consisted of the installation of a 12-meter long anti-filtration barrier made of vinyl sheet piles with a gasket installed in dense sandy soil with ID = 0.7. The length of the sheet piles used in this study was 10 meters. After correct assembly, the wall was excavated on both sides, to a depth of 5 meters, and a visual assessment of locks and sheet piles was made, which confirmed the 100% quality of the connection of female and male locks and the absence of cracks and damage. Then, one of the trenches was flooded with water in the amount of about 10,000 liters. The water was mixed with a red dye to better control leaks. The water level on one side was 2.5 meters. The test result also turned out to be positive, no leaks to the other side of the barrier were noticed at any point, neither in the bottom of the trench nor on the locks of vinyl sheet piles. The tests confirmed 100% tightness and operation of the gasket.
Potential use in hydrotechnical projects
The technology of vinyl sheet piles with an integrated gasket is used primarily in projects where extremely high tightness is required. In hydrotechnical engineering, the filtration coefficient of anti-filtration barriers should not exceeded k=1*10-8. Such tightness cannot always be achieved using conventional methods. Using vinyl sheet piles with a gasket, with correct assembly, this factor is easily achieved. When constructing strategic flood embankments or dam reservoirs, both steel sheet piles and CDMM / TrenchMix cut-off walls may not achieve the required tightness due to the large difference in water pressure and the possibility of preferential flow paths.
Vinyl sheet piles with a seal minimize water filtration through the anti-filtration barriers.
The field study consisted of the installation of a 12-meter long anti-filtration barrier made of vinyl sheet piles with a gasket installed in dense sandy soil with ID = 0.7. The length of the sheet piles used in this study was 10 meters. After correct assembly, the wall was excavated on both sides, to a depth of 5 meters, and a visual assessment of locks and sheet piles was made, which confirmed the 100% quality of the connection of female and male locks and the absence of cracks and damage. Then, one of the trenches was flooded with water in the amount of about 10,000 liters. The water was mixed with a red dye to better control leaks.