Neoloy Geocells Stabilize Extremely Challenging Lakebed Soil. The New Mexico City Airport is planned to be one of the largest, futuristic and sustainable airports in the world. The $9.5 billion project involves an
international consortium, covering 4500 hectares. Phase I is designed to handle 57 million passengers a year from 2020; and double that in Phase II.
Yet, the airport roads, railways and runway pavements faced difficult soil conditions: The soil has a high-water content and has little capacity to support large loads. In addition, the area is seismic, and the effects of ground movement are magnified by the soil type in the area. Finally, the site is subject to substantial settlement over time, from groundwater extraction for the drinking water supply of the city.
The consolidated mud layer makes road building extremely difficult. The upper layer of the soft soil is a very thin clay crust (20-25 cm) with 1% CBR (California Bearing Ratio). Under this is a 30-60m deep layer of clay mud with a 0.6% CBR. The soil is extremely soft, saturated and highly plastic with wet dry cycles that cause extensive settlements and degradation of the surface.
Conventional solutions were not going to work – they were too expensive, time-consuming, insufficient performance and not sustainable.
“THE NEOLOY GEOCELL INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY ENABLED ONE OF THE MOST
AMBITIOUS PROJECTS IN THE WORLD TO BECOME A REALITY”,
GERARDO RUIZ ESPARZA, FORMER SECRETARY OF COMMUNICATIONS & TRANSPORTATION
Conventional construction and soil stabilization methods would simply not work in this terrain or are too expensive. The NAICM engineering authorities conducted a 4-month comparison test of several different soil stabilization solutions, Only Neoloy Tough Cells showed no surface deformation or potholes and no settlement. The NAICM authorities concluded that PRS Neoloy Tough Cells made of novel polymeric alloy (NPA) were the best solution for soil stabilization and ground improvement.
Neoloy proved to be Tough Cells by meeting the three crucial factors for geocell performance to guarantee long-term confinement:
Neoloy Tough Cells create a slab effect (semi-rigid platform) that distributes vertical loading over a wide area thereby reducing stress to soft subgrades. Neoloy also improved the soil bearing capacity and strengthened infill modulus, limiting settlement and road surface deterioration.
The performance of the newly constructed roads is outstanding – zero settlement, with no evidence of any rutting, hollows or bumps. The reinforced pavement structure with NPA Tough Cell enables the construction of the airport access roads, runway and parking pavements – and the terminal building to progress according to schedule.
Subgrade/Soil
30-60m deep layer of saturated clay mud
Region
Mexico, Latin America
Installation
2016 – 2017
Client
Grupo Aeropuertario de la Ciudad de México (GACM) is wholly owned by the Mexican Ministry is the government body project sponsor that holds the concession to build, develop, operate, and manage Mexico City’s new International Airport (NAICM)
Innovater – is a Mexican company specializing in technology and solutions for soil stabilization, and the official distributor of PRS and Neoloy Geocells. “THE SUBSIDENCE PROBLEM IN MEXICO CITY IS ON RECORD AS BEING THE MOST SEVERE IN THE WORLD” – Devin Galloway, Chair of UNESCO Working Group on Land Subsidence.
ABOUT PRS
PRS is the world’s leading supplier of cost effective 3D mechanical soil stabilization solutions. With a global network of subsidiaries and local distributors, PRS provides a full range of end-to-end support services. Since its establishment in 1996, PRS has implemented thousands of successful projects in over 80 countries.
