Soil Nail & Guniting
Soil nailing and guniting are cost-effective techniques commonly adopted by slope designers to reinforce or stabilize common shallow slips of residual soil cut slopes or enhance slope stability when cut slopes are very high or steep with low or unsatisfactory factor of safety. Soil nailing consists of reinforcing the slope with reinforcement bars in drilled holes with cement grout until a block of soil mass is adequately formed to resist lateral earth pressure, sliding, overturning and bearing pressure and possess overall stability. Soil nails are usually installed with nail heads to disperse potential high load concentration at nail head when the slope is very steep and high. The nailed wall or slope surface is also protected with gunite facing to avoid the soil between the soil nails becoming unstable,
Soil nailing is a well proven, cost-effective and widely used technique to strengthen and to enhance the stability of slopes/walls. Soil nailing technique to reinforce slope was first introduced to Malaysia in early 1980s. Today, soil nailing and guniting, after extensive researches in Europe and US, are commonly used to stabilize steep or high slopes with low or unsatisfactory factor of safety. A pull-out test is usually carried out at the end of the project to verify its sufficiency of the soil nail design length. Guniting is the process of spraying dry mix cement/sand mortar pneumatically at high velocity on soil or rock surface of slopes / walls. For those clients who do not wish the existing slope to be disturbed, or when space issue are not crucial, by combining both techniques, these applications provide an efficient and simplified method to stabilize the slope embankment or enhance slope stability.