Soil Stabilisation

Soil stabilisation is a quick and effective way of preparing the ground surface to construct a temporary roadway or a hard standing area.

It mitigates the need for intrusive groundworks and reduces the amount of material, movement, time and cost it would take to install on-site infrastructure via traditional methods. The process also offers the ability to return the land to its original state far more easily.

The capacity for a soil-stabilised roadway can range from light to heavy traffic and, if conditions permit, the same process can be used to create a crane platform. It is therefore ideal for temporary access ways, service roads, parking or storage areas and any sites that do not have to support the frequent movement of heavy vehicles.

Working closely with the renewable energy and utilities sectors, Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency, Spencer understands that the footprint left by construction activity on working sites must be as un-intrusive as possible. The company is therefore pleased to offer a soil stabilisation service, together with a range of its other services for constructing roadways and hard-standing areas.

The soil stabilisation process can be broken down into the following phases:

• A binder – usually Quicklime - is added into the top layer of the host material to reduce and stabilise the moisture content and turn what could be a potentially unusable surface into a viable formation.
• A cement-based material is then introduced to the prepared area, together with a controlled amount of water, to provide a more substantial formation that can then be compacted.
• Additional binders can be incorporated to provide an even stronger and more durable formation, with greater frost resistance.
• To provide an even harder-wearing surface, the formation can be capped with a layer of cement or asphalt. A soil-stabilised road also creates an ideal base for access mats and trackway.
• To return the stabilised soil to its original state, once any surface layer is removed, the supporting formation can be crushed back into the soil and reinstated, whether it is land used for agricultural, industrial or recreational purposes.