M INING

SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Mining Science and Technology 20 (2010) 04720477
www.elsevier.com/locate/jcumt

Estimation of jet grouting parameters in Shahriar dam, Iran

NIKBAKHTAN B1,*, AHANGARI K1, RAHMANI N2
1
Department of Mining Engineering, Science & Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1475753568, Iran
2
Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz 5157617676, Iran

Abstract: Jet grouting is a method for improving of soil and its physical characteristics. However, in this method, grouting of ce-
ment slurry with high pressure and velocity may cause damaging to soil structure, and then excavated grains of soil are removed
from the borehole and replaced with cement slurry. The grains, which are remained around the borehole, mixed with slurry (cement)
in-situ, can create an improved mass of soil. This mass is named Soilcrete. Soilcrete mass has special characteristics such as high
strength, low deformability and very low permeability. In this paper, principles of jet grouting and effective parameters have been
analyzed. Then the test results obtained from Soilcrete column have been investigated. Finally, the paper concludes with presenting
amount of principle jet grouting parameters at foundation of Shahriar dam according to the results of jet grouting test. Based on the
measurements, the diameter, Soilcrete UCS (uniaxial compression strength), amount of the water, grout and air pressure and lifting
and rotating speed in original site of jet grouting are 1.2~1.5 m, 2~3 MPa, 370~390 bar, 10~15 bar, 6~8 bar, 7~8 cm/min and 7~8
cm/min, respectively. Also it can be seen that while the column diameter falls within the upper half of the range, some values of the
compressive strength are close to the lower limit of the range.
Keywords: jet grouting, ground improvement, Soilcrete column, Shahriar dam

1 Introduction water for shearing, omission and making the Soilcrete

Grouting is a method that the mixture of material
penetrates to pore spaces, joints, cracks and voids of
rock and soil structures and therefore improves the
physical and mechanical characteristics of these
structures, thus the permeability of formations and
deformability of them will reduce. On the other hand
the strength of these formations will be increased[1].
Important grouting methods for soil improvement are,
compacting grouting, permeation grouting, hydraulic
fracture grouting and jet grouting. In 1960 decade the
chemical grouting was a very popular method which
was used for the improvement and reformation of soil,
but disadvantages and deficiencies of chemical
grouting such as environmental, irregular shape and
low strength of the soil mass made the specialist of
grouting science to invent new method for better
reformation of soil[2]. One of them is jet grouting
which a suitable substitution for traditional grouting
systems, deep slurry trenching, underpinning system,
piling and compressed air or freezing in tunneling and
mining[2-3]. Suggestion and the idea of invention of
the jet grouting method using high speed flow of
Received 30 September 2009; accepted 13 November 2009
*Corresponding author. Tel: 98 9144038234
E-mail address: nikbakhtan@gmail.com
doi: 10.1016/S1674-5264(09)60228-3
was presented by Yamakoda brothers about 1965 and
since that the method is being improved[2,4-6]. Jet
grouting can be used in tunneling, civil, dam and
mining projects for improving soil characters,
decreasing permeability in cofferdams or cutoff walls
and increasing stability of soil or rocks in slopes.
According to above explanations, a principle of jet
grouting and effective parameters which affect on the
results of jet grouting operations are one of the most
important aims in this paper. In other hand the paper
explain, test results which obtained from Soilcrete
columns and also the paper concludes presenting
amount of principle jet grouting parameters at
foundation of Shahriar dam according to the results of
jet grouting test
2 Principles of jet grouting
The jet grouting method is frequently used as a
mean for ground improvement, especially in shield
tunneling, and also in all sorts of foundation
treatment in recent years[7]. Jet grouting involves the
injection of grout at high pressures into the ground.
The high velocity jet erodes the soil and replaces
some or all of them with grout material. Jet grouting
starts with drilling a borehole, usually 100 to 150 mm
in diameter to the required lower end of the section
Nikbakhtan B et al Estimation of jet grouting parameters in Shahriar dam, Iran 473

that should be treated. After completion of drilling, rotating speed and lifting speed. In double-rod system,
the jetting pipes (or monitor) are inserted into this addition to parameters that have been mentioned
hole. The next step consists of applying a jet emitted above, air pressure and its flow rate should be
from a nozzle under very high pressure to erode the assigned too. But in triple-rod system, addition to
soil adjacent to the borehole wall. This process seven parameters that have been mentioned, for
enables the slurry to penetrate the soil adjacent to single & double rod system, number and dimension
borehole and be mixed with it (Fig. 1). Jet grouting of water and air nozzles should be assigned too[5].
systems are classified into three types depending on Table 1 shows the parameters of operation, Soilcrete
the delivery mechanism (Fig. 2). In a single-rod strength and column diameter for three systems.
system, the fluid injected is grout. This system is used
mainly for horizontal jet grouting, for example, in
tunnel support systems. In a double-rod system, grout
and compressed air are injected. The combined effect
of the high pressure grout and air results in a greater
percentage of soil being removed and replaced with
grout, and the remaining soil-grout mixture is called
Soilcrete. In a triple-rod system, grout, air and water
are jetted. This triple combination enables an even
higher percentage of soil to be removed, and the
system can be used for almost complete replacement
of the soil with grout. The triple-rod system offers Fig. 1 Sequence of jet grouting method[9-13]
better control over injection rates and results in better
quality of Soilcrete. Although the single and double- 6LQJOHIOXLG 'RXEOHIOXLG 7ULSOHIOXLG
rod systems can be used in loose sandy soils, the
triple-rod system can be used in most types of soil.
Table 1 shows the parameters of operation, Soilcrete
$LU $LU
strength and column diameter for three systems. *URXW *URXW :DWHU
Generally, the most important parameters which $LU $LU

affect the designing of jet grouting are soil type, *URXW

mixture influx between soil and grout, exiting jet
energy from nozzle, grout flow rate, rotating speed
and lifting speed[8]. The parameters that should be
assigned in single-rod system are: grout pressure, Fig. 2 Three basic systems of jet grouting[9-12,14]
number and dimensions of nozzles, water/cement rate,
Table 1 Operational parameters and the created cement soil resistance[1,3,5]
Triple Double Single Jet grouting parameters
30~55 PW* PW* Water jet (MPa)
Pressure 1~4 30~55 30~55 Grout jet (MPa)
0.7~1.7 0.7~1.7 Don't use Air jet (MPa)
70~100 PW PW Water jet (L/min)
Flow 150~250 100~150 60~150 Grout jet (L/min)
1~3 1~3 Don't use Air jet (m3/min)
1.8~2.6 PW PW Water jet (mm)
3.5~6 2.4~3.4 1.8~3 Grout jet (mm)
Nozzles
1~2 PW PW Number of water nozzles
1 1~2 2~6 Number of water nozzles
W/C
500~2000 300~1000 200~500 Cement use (kg/m)
In all methods 0.8~1 to 1~2 3~8 10~30 10~30 Rotating speed of monitor (r/min)
10~25 3~10 3~8 Lifting speed of monitor (min/m)
1.5~3 1~2 0.5~1 Coarse grain soils (m)
Diameter of soilcrete
1~2 1~1.5 0.4~0.8 Fine grain soils (m)
10~20 7.5~15 10~30 Sandy soils (MPa)
Resistance of soilcrete
1.5~7.5 1.5~5 1.5~10 Clay (MPa)
Note: PW* : use only for washing.
474 Mining Science and Technology
3 Shahriar dam
The construction of Shahriar dam and power-
house plant will be carried out with 700 million m3
capacities of reservoir and the ability to regulate 1100
million m3 of water by itself and 3218 million m3 of
water along with Sefidrood dam (34 km far from
town of Mianeh and across Qhzlozan River in eastern
Azerbaijan province). Shahriar dam is a doublecurva-
ture concrete arch dam with 135 meters height from
foundation, the other specifications of this dam is as
follows:
Crest length is 200 m, crest width is 5 m & volume
of concrete to be used 320000 m3.
The dam is capable to supply the needed water for
the regions of the downward lands and 120000
hectares of Mianeh lands.
The above mentioned dam also aids Sefidrood dam
to provide water needed for agriculture and industry
in Gilan province. In addition to control Qhzlozan
flood water and due to raise the efficiency of
removing the sediment in Sefidrood dam the tank
may provide artificial water-floods. Decreasing the
sediments entering Sefidrood dam and providing 27
MWH, electricity annually are among the conse-
quences of constructing this dam. Fig. 3 shows the
Shahriar dam position in Iran.
Fig. 3 Position of Shahriar dam in Iran
4 Reasons for using jet grouting method in
Shahriar dam
Foundation of the main dam requires excavation of
the alluvial deposits down to competent bedrock. The
average ground elevation of the alluvial plain is about
975.00. The elevation of the bedrock at its deepest
point is about 920.00. Hence, about 55 m of alluvium
have to be excavated at the deepest section of the
valley. Excavation of approximately 55 m deep
alluvium is not possible without some strengthening
and improvement measures. The reasons for these
measures are the presence of a basal clay layer with
relatively low shear strength and the limited space
between the upstream cofferdam and the main dam
requiring relatively steep excavation slopes.
There are two approaches to ensure the stability of
an excavation trench, namely:
Vol.20 No.3
1) Strengthening the soil either by mixing it with
some material (lime, cement) to increase its shear
strength (mainly its cohesion component) or reinforce
it with some mechanical device (e.g. net, grid, strips,
etc.), mainly to increase the friction angle.
2) Supporting the potentially unstable mass of
earth materials by engineered structures, such as re-
taining walls with or without anchoring.
Often a combination of these two approaches is
used to reach the most economic solution. A value
engineering approach was performed on the upstream
slope of the main dam excavation to compare various
alternatives. These were:
1) Constructing a multi-arch diaphragm wall;
2) Reinforcing the soil (both clay and coarse-
grained alluvium) by jet grout columns and construc-
tion of a low gravity retaining wall;
3) Construction of a buttress-type retaining wall.
Value engineering revealed that the soil which
reinforcement by jet grouting together with a
retaining wall at the toe of the excavation slope yields
the most economic solution and would also pose the
least uncertainties in execution.
4.1 Trial jet grouting
Specification of Soilcrete columns that are
achieved from the jet grouting procedures from view
of diameter and strength depend on jet grouting
parameters such as grout pressure, lifting speed,
rotating speed, number & diameter of nozzles, and
W/C rate and specification of local soil and by
considering the extensive range of effective
parameter and dependency of conclusion to local soil,
achieving the optimized jet grout parameter and W/C
rate, requires trial test.
For doing the trial jet grouting, 6 boreholes were
excavated. The boreholes T1, T4 and T6 are excavated
with 10.5 m depth and T2, T3 and T5 with 5 m depth.
The boreholes with 5 m depth were located mainly in
clay and the other ones reached the clay layer after a
coarse grained alluvium layer in depth of 4.5 m.
4.2 Soil specifications in jet grouting area and
dam site
The soil of jet grouting site project, has coarse
grained alluvium with silt and clay layers and a
continuously clay layer. Since the soil of trial jet
grouting location should resemble the original soil, so
chosen location was a one which has a superficial
clay layer in depth of about 4.5 m. Therefore after
doing the jet grouting, excavation around the
Soilcrete columns and observation of results were
possible. Generally superficial layer in trial test place
were divided in to 2 general groups, coarse grained
and fine grained soils. Fine grain soils are mainly
from clay with low plastic property or plastic
sediment. This soil in USCS (classification system) is
shown by CL/ML, CH/CL/MH/ML, ML symbols.
Nikbakhtan B et al Estimation of jet grouting parameters in Shahriar dam, Iran 475

Coarse grained soil is sand and gravel and in that these boreholes. Average diameter of Soilcrete in
classification system is shown as GM. Some physical coarse and fine grained soils is assigned in Table 3.
and mechanical characteristics of these soils are: av- The average diameter of Soilcrete in fine grained and
erage liquid limit: 45, plasticity index: 20, water con- coarse grained soils was obtained 1.22 and 1.2 m
tent: 38% and cohesion 40 kPa. respectively. By drawing graphs, the influence of jet
grouting parameters on diameter of columns and
5 Quantifications of trial jet grouting pa- uniaxial compressive strength are shown in Figs. 6
rameters and 7. For considering the influence of jet grouting
parameters on region geotechnical specification,
Jet grouting parameters such as grout pressure, numerous tests have been done after trial jet grouting.
lifting speed, rotation speed, water pressure, water Averages of UCS for all boreholes based on done
flow rate, grout flow rate and W/C rate in trial jet tests are presented in Table 4.
grouting boreholes are changed to considering the
influence of those on created Soilcrete columns
specification. In Table 2 each boreholes jet grouts
parameter such as inlet and outlet grout density,
time-period of grouting and cement quantity are
shown.

6 Discussion
After 32 days of grouting, sides of T2, T3 and T5
boreholes which had been grouted to depth 5 meter in
clay were excavated. Columns diameter in various Fig. 4 Created Soilcrete columns and block samples
depths with 1 m spacing with respect to each other
were measured and in these distances block samples
of about 30 cm dimensions were taken. Distance of
samples from axial of the column was 10 or 15 cm. In
Fig. 4 created Soilcrete columns and also block
samples are shown. In T1, T4 and T6 boreholes which
had been grouted in clay and alluvium, core samples
were taken using continued coring method. In Fig. 5
taken core samples from these boreholes are
illustrated. Samples quality due to existence of sand
particles in grouted texture wasnt appropriate, so 40 Fig. 5 Core box samples
days since grouted, cubic samples were taken from

Table 2 Trial Jet grouting parameter quantities

Amount Grout density Grout Grout Water Water Air Rotation Lifting
(g/cm3) Air flow Length Borehole
of cement W/C flow pressure flow pressure pressure speed speed
(m3/min) (m) number
(t) Outlet Inlet (L/min) (bar) (L/min) (bar) (bar) (r/min) (cm/min)
11.90 1.48 1.55 1 80 3~5 60~70 350 1~2 6~7 7~8 7~8 6.5 T1
10.34 1.34 1.55 1 125 4~5 70~80 400 1~2 6~7 4~6 4~6 5.0 T2
10.50 1.45 1.72 0.7 105 15~20 70~80 400 1~2 6~7 4~6 4~6 5.0 T3
16.80 1.42 1.55 1 130 8~15 70~80 400 1~2 6~7 6~8 5~9 10.5 T4
11.60 1.40 1.55 1 150 15~16 60~70 350 1~2 6~7 4~6 4~6 5.0 T5
11.55 1.39 1.55 1 90 3~6 70~80 400 1~2 6~7 7~8 7~8 10.5 T6

Table 3 Average values of column diameters

Average T6 T5 T4 T3 T2 T1 Borehole
1.22 1.09 1.23 1.47 1.03 1.35 1.15 Average diameter in fine grained soil (m)
1.20 1.13 1.31 1.17 Average diameter in coarse grained soil (m)

Table 4 Averages values of UCS for all boreholes

Average T6 T5 T4 T3 T2 T1 Borehole
1.96 0.9 3.4 1.3 3.1 1.1 Averages of UCS (MPa)
476 Mining Science and Technology Vol.20 No.3

'LDPHWHUDYHUDJHP

'LDPHWHUDYHUDJHP
'LDPHWHUDYHUDJHP

'LDPHWHUDYHUDJHP
Fig. 6
$YHUDJH8&6NJFP Influence of jet grouting parameters on diameter of columns
$YHUDJH8&6NJFP

$YHUDJH8&6NJFP

$YHUDJH8&6NJFP
Fig. 7 Influence of jet grouting parameters on UCS

These values can be compared with values found in 6~8 bar, 7~8 cm/min and 7~8 cm/min respectively.
the literature obtained with triple system grouting Also its understood that by increasing Soilcrete
under similar conditions. The typical reported values diameter, UCS of Soilcrete will be increased. Based
are given in Table 5[15]. on researches and results of trial jet grouting,
Table 5 Typical values for columns diameter
suggested executive parameters for original jet
and compressive strength grouting operations for Shahriar dam is given in
Table 6.
Quantity Granular soil Cohesive soil
Diameter (m) 0.8~1.8 0.5~1.5 Table 6 Suggested executive parameters for the original jet
UCS (MPa) 5~11 1~5
grouting operations for Shahriar dam
Amount Parameter
From Table 5, it can be seen that while the column 70 Flow (L/min)
Water
diameter falls within the upper half of the range, 370~390 Pressure (bar)
some values of the compressive strength are close to 120~130 Flow (L/min)
lower limit of the range. Grout
10~15 Pressure (bar)
For the main design the following values were 1~2 Flow (m3/min)
assumed: column diameter in clay: 1.60 m; compres- Air
6~8 Pressure (bar)
sive strength of soilcrete in clay: 6 MPa; shear
7~8 Lifting speed (cm/min)
strength of soilcrete in clay (15% UCS): 0.75 MPa
7~8 Rotating speed (r/min)
and borehole spacing: 2.5 m.
0.7 W/C
1.7 Water nozzle diameter (mm)
7 Conclusions
2 Water nozzle number
7 Grout nozzle diameter (mm)
Based on economic, technical and engineering
consideration jet grouting method in order to 7~8 Lifting speed (cm/min)
stabilizing in Shahriar dam was used. In order to
carry out more researches and accurate design
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