Trench cutting and remixing deep (TRD) soil mix walls are mixed in place using a specialized vertical cutter post mounted on a base crawler machine.

TRD soil mix walls technique illustration

Common uses

Create barriers to groundwater flow
Support excavations

Process

The vertical cutter post, resembling a large chain saw, is inserted vertically in sections by the crawler machine until the design depth of the wall is reached. The crawler machine then advances along the wall alignment while the cutter post cuts and mixes the in situ soil with cement-based binder slurry injected from ports on the post. 

The vertical mixing blends the soil profile, eliminating stratification and creating a soil mix wall.

Specialist contact

Vince Hull | Senior Project Manager | 813-884-3441

Advantages

High degree of uniformity and low permeability
Very stable trench and very low chance of tip over
Very consistent mix so designers can count on same strength top to bottom
Very vertical wall (TRD has inclinometers in the post)
Less materials versus total excavation

Quality assurance

We can ensure quality through the following:

  • Continuously checking binder at the plant and TRD (specific gravity, temperature, flow rate)
  • Data acquisition to show the exact quantity of product installed for each meter of wall
  • Constantly monitoring verticality
  • Checking the workability of the mix with a flow table twice per shift
  • Taking wet samples at any depth and checking for strength permeability or other requirements
  • Coring the wall to check wall consistency
  • Upfront Bench Scale testing of mix and soils