Plastic Cut-Off Wall

by Foundation Specialists

Definition of  “Plastic Cut-Off Wall.”

A  ”Plastic cut-off wall”  is a deep-foundation technology, employed to form impervious, permanent, underground “diaphragm” (or  barrier), to “seal off” certain underground areas and prevent passage of fluids [generally water],through it.

The use of the word “Plastic” is  to describe the very nature of the diaphragm, barrier or membrane created  with  this technology, in fact the “Plastic Cut-Off wall” is made of a mix of bentonite,  cement,  water and other components, proportioned in such a way to remain indefinitely plastic (and impervious) with time.

The word “Cut-Off” is meant to define the specific purposes of this technology, i.e. to either stop the flow,  to “Dam”  the underground stream, or to surround   and seal-off  an area, to prevent  water inflow  and  water outflow from the encircled area.    For this technology, the medium employed to “Cut-Off”  is  the Plastic Wall, or  Plastic Diaphragm  that  has the effect of completely stopping the water flow at a chosen section of a river bed  underlaid  by [deep] alluvium, or sealing-off an area[tipically underlaid by alluvium], surrounding  it, with a cut-off wall along the entire perimeter.

Applications of “plastic cut-off wall”

Plastic Cut-off Walls are used to provide a totally impervious underground diaphragm from the base of cofferdams to the lower end of the alluvium strata. Plastic Cut-off Walls  are usually installed from the top of cofferdam, thus providing also an impervious core  to the cofferdam, in addition to sealing the areas below it.

Plastic Cut-Off Walls are a very important medium for the protection of the environment, insofar as the bentonite-cement mix  also called  self-hardening mud, or cement stabilized bentonite mud,  is an extremely stable material, unaffected  by  the  leachates and  contaminants produced by landfills.

Plastic Cut-Off walls are used to construct  impervious barriers around old and new landfills to prevent leachates from contaminating the water table and the water streams  around the landfill locations. For the purpose, the cut-off walls are installed to depths sufficient to eliminate the possibility of polluting streams and water table by escaping landfill leachates.

A very important application of Plastic Cut-Off Walls in areas with scarce rainfalls, shrinking water reservoirs, dwindling water tables, deep alluvium and large rivers’ catching basins, is to close the underground outflow of water within the alluvial river bed, by forming an underground continuous “dam” perpendicular to the river longitudinal axis, resembling a vertical gate inserted through the river bed to close the underground water outflow.

Advantages of using  Plastic Cut-Off Walls.

The advantages of using plastic cut-off walls as described above, are several,   self hardening Bentonite-Cement mud are extremely stable  chemically,  are not affected by polluted and aggressive underground water.

By remaining indefinitely plastic in time, Plastic Cut-Off Walls can deform without cracks and fissures in response to the surrounding ground’s settlements, thus remaining as impervious as it was built, throughout time.

Experienced Specialized Contractors can install Plastic Cut-Off Walls , totally impervious in any kind of alluvial formation, at a relatively fast pace.

Foundation specialists has expertly and successfully designed and installed  Plastic Cut-Off Walls for over thirty years in the most diverse soil and hydro-geological conditions.

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Foundation Specialists ("FS " for short) is a Multinational Construction Company with Italian participation and management.
Foundation Specialists  [FS ] was formed in the 1970s by merging and consolidating into It two Partnerships with  solid background and successful accomplishments in the Engineering and Management of Large International Infrastructure  Projects.

The two Concerns that were merged to form Foundation Specialists, had, over the years dedicated to develop and manage the planning and  construction of large Underground  Hydropower Schemes, including Pump-Storage Hydropower Plants, in difficult geological and geomorphological conditions. managed through theoretical and field R & D to fine tune field applications of Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering, Soil and Rock Mechanics and develop Construction Methods and Technologies applicable to general conditions.

Because of the way it was formed,  Foundation Specialists started “ab initio”  as a leader in its consolidated  fields of expertise, i.e.  large, complex infrastructure projects with important foundation-engineering-related components.  
Foundation Specialists   has continued for the past three decades  to be a successful contractor of large infrastructure projects with sensitive Soil Mechanics & Foundation Engineering related component, and a recognized leader in the field of   Foundation Engineering applications, Deep Foundation works , Bridges & Bridge-related Engineering Works, Bridge Retrofitting, Soil Remediation, Large Excavations under the water table, Hydro-Structures and  in the Design-&-Development of Construction Methodologies and Technologies, both "ad hoc" (i.e. for specific project) and for general application.

Foundation Specialists  has been successfully engaged in a multitude of projects in coastal areas, including reclamation areas,  with high seismicity  and difficult soil conditions, bridge construction, ports & harbor works, industrial plants, Telecom outside plants, power generation and power transmission, mass-transit systems, roads & highways, road tunneling and infra development in general, in South-East Asia, Middle East, Africa and Australasia, where FS operates alone or in Joint Venture, Consortium  and Association with other Companies.
Aside from Project-based  J.V., Consortium,  Association, all usually co-terminus with the projects, Foundation Specialists  has permanent Companies and Representative Offices, in Europe: Italy, SouthEastAsia: Philippines, Australasia: PNG Papua New Guinea, Middle-East:  Qatar, Dubai  UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

http://foundationspecialists.eu/  http://foundationspecialistspng.com/  http://foundationspecialistsqatar.com/   http://foundationspecialistsdubai.com/   http://foundationspecialistssaudi.com/

Foundation Specialists  Head-Quarters are in the Central Business District of  Makati City, Metro-Manila, Philippines, where, the Philippine company Foundation Specialists, Inc. with  "AAA" PCAB category for general engineering and general building, and Large "B" for the Public Sector  Infrastructure Projects, has been engaging in the construction of large INFRASTRUCTURES [flyovers, bridges, underpasses, overpasses, wharfs & piers, tunnels, roads, mass rail transit systems, hydro power schemes and irrigation schemes], BUILDINGS (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional), INDUSTRIAL PLANTS, MULTI-LEVEL BASEMENTS, projects involving large amounts of FOUNDATION WORKS, for the last three decades.

Foundation Specialists  Head-Quarters are in the Central Business District of  Makati City, Metro-Manila, Philippines, where, the Philippine company Foundation Specialists, Inc. with  "AAA" PCAB category for general engineering and general building, and Large "B" for the Public Sector  Infrastructure Projects, has been engaging in the construction of large INFRASTRUCTURES [flyovers, bridges, underpasses, overpasses, wharfs & piers, tunnels, roads, mass rail transit systems, hydro power schemes and irrigation schemes], BUILDINGS (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional), INDUSTRIAL PLANTS, MULTI-LEVEL BASEMENTS, projects involving large amounts of FOUNDATION WORKS, for the last three decades.

Pioneering in the field of foundation engineering, Foundation Specialists has introduced technological innovations on foundation methods and technologies, such as large diameter bored piles, barrette piles, diaphragm walls, tie-back anchor systems, slurry walls, grout-plugs, jetgrout, whick drains, tangent/secant/contiguous pile-wall.  multi-stage-injected steel micropiles, soilcement columns, composite soilcement columns Post-tensioned ground anchors, soil & rock anchors, soil stabilization, soil remediation, pile wall, pile testing, among others.

Foundation Specialists, a well established leader in the construction industry, has been known since inception for targeting and consistently achieving a high degree of Customer satisfaction, early projects' completion, high quality of work standards, sound financial management. FS. deep involvement in R & D, has permitted the development of technological innovations and of proprietary technologies in the field of engineering.

Foundation Specialists  guarantees that:

• Foundation Specialists delivers High quality service in conformity with international engineering standards.
• Foundation Specialists delivers Solutions to problems associated with construction and especially in the field of foundations on "difficult soil" both onshore and offshore.
• Foundation Specialists delivers Design, development, testing and implementation of special technologies and new construction methods.
• Foundation Specialists delivers Responses to the ever changing market requirements, through continuous Research and Development of new technologies and improvement of existing ones.
• Foundation Specialists  delivers Timely or early completion of Projects.
• Foundation Specialists delivers Development of skills and training of engineers and technicians in the field of Foundation and Geotechnical Engineering in a joint program with "Philippine Institute of Research on Foundations and Structures".