The use of the Enviro-Wall-Mat in soft soil conditions for marshalling areas, crane hard stands and lay down areas-Paper

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The paper evaluates the Enviro-Wall-Mat, a foundation system for heavy-duty surfaces on very soft soils. It combines an Enviro-Mat—a layer made by mixing local soil with cement and the Geosta stabilizing additive—with deep, trench-formed walls filled with low-strength slurry. The walls support the mat and transfer or spread loads through compressible soil.<br /><br />The concept was modeled in Plaxis 3D for a site in Zeewolde, the Netherlands, where soft clay and peat overlie denser sand. The design used five walls, each 5 m long and 0.5 m wide, beneath a 0.5 m-thick mat. Modeling predicted maximum deformation of about 15 mm under short-term crawler-crane loading.<br /><br />Two full-scale load tests were then conducted, with crane-track loads positioned perpendicular and parallel to the walls. The worst-case arrangement placed the load between walls. Ballast increased the total load to approximately 3,400 kN, with pressure beneath the test beams of at least 270 kN/m². Measured short-term settlements were about 15–25 mm, broadly consistent with the model; some additional creep occurred during the 16-hour period at constant load.<br /><br />The results indicate that the system can substantially reduce settlement in very compressible ground. A comparable test without supporting walls, conducted nearby, had produced settlements exceeding 250 mm—about ten times greater. The authors conclude that the Enviro-Wall-Mat has potential for crane hardstands, laydown areas, and wind-farm marshalling yards. Longer-duration testing is still needed to assess sustained loading, and further work could optimize wall materials and design.

Keywords

Enviro-Wall-Mat

soft soils

foundation system

crawler-crane loading

Plaxis 3D

Zeewolde

slurry-filled walls

soil stabilization

settlement reduction

load testing