Arcosa Lightweight Aggregate Stabilizes Soft Louisiana Soils
Key Insights:
Quick Facts:
- Name: English Turn community
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Client: Private homeowner
- Size: Multiple areas of paver driveway and walkways
Challenge: A homeowner in New Orleans’ historic English Turn community faced severe land settlement issues, which caused the driveway, walkways, and areas under the house to sink into the soft Louisiana soil.
How Arcosa Helped
- Our Solution: A homeowner in New Orleans’ historic English Turn community faced severe land settlement issues, which caused the driveway, walkways, and areas under the house to sink into the soft Louisiana soil.
- Why Lightweight Works:Lightweight aggregate is less than half the density of normal materials and offers free-draining properties, making it ideal for stabilizing soft soils without further consolidation.
Final Results
- The home’s long-term stability was restored. The lightweight aggregate not only reduced settlement but also provided a permanent solution for the sinking driveway and walkways.
Key Quote
“The goal is to achieve net-zero weight impact on the underlying soil, and our product makes that possible.” — Bill Wolfe, Marketing & Technical Manager, Arcosa Lightweight
Context:
- Considerations: Lightweight aggregate proves ideal for stabilizing homes and infrastructure in areas prone to settlement, offering a long-term, cost-effective solution.
- Lesson to Learn: Using lightweight aggregate to reduce vertical loads can prevent future settlement, particularly in regions with soft soils
Explore Further
Discover how Arcosa Lightweight can stabilize your next project with advanced lightweight aggregate solutions.
Arcosa Lightweight Aggregate Stabilizes Soft Louisiana Soils
Lightweight aggregate is actively stabilizing a home in New Orleans’ historic English Turn community, tackling Louisiana’s age-old problem of land settlement. The homeowner was relieved after the landscape surrounding the property began sinking a few years ago, threatening the integrity of the driveway, walkways, and space under the house.
Structurally, the house remained in good shape due to its construction on pilings. However, over a four-year period, the concrete paver driveway and walkways began to sink into the soft, flexible soil, as did the area under the house. Andre C. Monnot, P.E., Vice President at Principal Engineering, specified the use of lightweight aggregate sand to be pumped under the house to address the significant settlement.
To repair the driveway and sidewalks, the pavers, along with several feet of base and subbase material, were removed. Lightweight aggregate sand was then placed at a depth of approximately two feet. Friction pilings and a concrete base were also added in preparation for reinstalling the pavers.
In both the driveway and under the home, lightweight aggregate sand was selected over traditional fill due to its lighter weight and resistance to consolidation. Arcosa Lightweight’s expanded clay aggregate, produced by heating selected materials in a rotary kiln to 2,000°F, results in a durable, stable, and free-draining material that is perfect for the region’s unstable soils.
Bill Wolfe, Marketing & Technical Manager for Arcosa Lightweight, explains why the aggregate is ideal for Louisiana’s soil conditions.
Contractor Pleased with Results
Raymond Burlette, currently owner of Live Oak Landscaping in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, used lightweight aggregate for the first time on this project. “We pumped the lightweight sand mixed with water under the house, and it flowed seamlessly,” Burlette explains. Due to its lower weight, the product traveled faster and more efficiently than traditional sand. For the homeowner, this lightweight aggregate offers a longer-lasting solution, and Burlette expressed eagerness to use it on future projects.
English Turn, an exclusive 2,000-acre community located eight miles from New Orleans, sits along the Mississippi River, where French forces famously outmaneuvered the English in 1699. Like many homes in the area, this house experienced sinking due to soft soils. However, thanks to lightweight aggregate, its long-term stability has been restored.
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