Soil Nailing
What is a Soil Nail?
Soil nails are a ground stabilisation technique used to strengthen weak or unstable slopes, cuttings and embankments typically made from soils, clays, sand or gravels. They help prevent landslips and support long-term slope stability.
A soil nail is typically a steel bar drilled into the ground, secured with cementitious grout. They don’t work in isolation, soil nails are designed to be installed in a grid pattern. This creates a reinforced zone within the slope, increasing its overall strength and reducing movement.
Soil nailing is commonly used for slope stabilisation, retaining wall construction, cliff stabilisation and infrastructure works where safe, cost-effective ground support is required.
How does the process work?
At CAN Geotechnical we have designed and built hundreds of soil nail solutions for slope stabilisation, all of which are designed to suit the particular site requirements. Typically the process includes:
- Slope preparation, which in some cases is minimal, but others may require de-vegetation and re-grading of the slope.
- Location preparation, our engineers set out the soil nail locations using rope access techniques to access the site.
- Plant and equipment, we have a large and varied fleet of drilling equipment, allowing us to select the most appropriate tool for the site. We can mount our drill rigs on excavators, telehandlers, RRVs or on our own cable suspended A-frame or slope rigs.
- Drill holes, there are a variety of different methods, but the most common methods is using self- drilling hollow bars. These steel bars allow cementitious grout to be pumped through them and they use a sacrificial drill but on the end which stays in the ground after drilling.
- Testing, once installed, a sample is tested, and suitable facing systems are put in place. Facing systems usually comprised of a flexible steel wire mesh but can also incorporate erosion control matting if required. Steel plates are installed over the mesh facing, onto each soil nail before perimeter wire ropes are installed and connected to the mesh.
Variations may include:
- Drilled inclined drains to remove water from the slope
- Counterfort drains on the slope,
- Crestline cut off drainage ditches
- French drains
Facing systems are usually flexible but at times, a rigid facing system may be required such as sprayed concrete or a stone filled basket system. Each site is considered different and the solutions tailored to fit.
Whatever solution is needed – we can deliver.
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