Year: 2012

Location: Zwijndrecht

Country: The Nertherlands

Volume: 9.000 m³ expanded clay 4-8 mm and 4-10 mm

Owner Builder: City of Zwijndrecht

Contractor: De Klerk BV

Designer: Eng. Drechtsteden

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Problem / Solution

For the reconstruction of a quay wall in the Uilenhaven in Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands, the contractor choose to use expanded clay fill. With these kind of projects, expanded clay fill is used to reduce the anchoring and profiles of the quay wall. This way, the total cost of the construction will decrease too.

Experience

This project was executed in a wet environment. This made the reconstruction of the Uilenhaven a very helpful experience in handling the expanded clay aggregates in such circumstances. The main volume of expanded clay was delivered by boat and a small part in trucks and tipped directly into the working space.

Why expanded clay?

The use of expanded clay reduces the horizontal loads and deformations which result from the mass of the embankment and, possibly, of the hydrostatic pressure. At ebb-tide, the rivers water level almost drops as fast as the water level in the expanded clay fill behind the steel quay wall.The access in the port by boat and the option to load the expanded clay in the factory was clearly a huge advantage in order to facilitate the delivery.