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Post-grouting
is normally carried out some time when grout of the initial grouting work has
set (e.g. within 24 hours of initial grouting).
It helps to
increase the bearing capacity of mini-piles by enhancing larger effective pile
diameter.
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Moreover, it improves the behaviour of soils adjacent to grouted
piles and minimizes the effect of disturbance caused during
construction. In essence, post-grouting helps to improve the bond between soils
and grout, thereby enhancing better skin friction between them.
During the
process of post-grouting, a tube with a hole at its bottom is lowered into the
pile and grout is injected. The mechanism of post-grouting is as follows:
The
pressurized grout is initially confined by the hardened grout and can hardly
get away. Then, it ruptures the grout cover and makes its way to the
surrounding soils and into soft regions to develop an interlock with harder
soil zones. In order to enhance the pressurized grout to rupture the initial
grout depth, a maximum time limit is normally imposed between the time of
initial grouting and time of post-grouting to avoid the development of high
strength of initial grout. Consequently, the effect of soil disturbance by
installation of casings and subsequent lifting up of casings would be lessened
significantly.
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