SLURRY TRENCH WALL CONCRETE. SCALING CONCRETING DOWN

OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF EXPERIMENTAL SLURRY TRENCH WALLS IN MULHOUSE, SHOWED NUMEROUS DEFICIENCIES DUE TO THE LACK OF APPROVED PROCEDURE AND TO EXISTING REGULATIONS. THE MISHAPS WERE MAINLY DUE TO A DEEP LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE QUALITY OF THE CONCRETE TO BE USED, OF THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE MATERIAL DURING POURING AND OF THE TECHNIQUE OF EXECUTING THE WORK. THE AIM OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO INVESTIGATE THE KINETIC BEHAVIOUR OF FRESH CONCRETE IN SLURRY TRENCH WALLS. WITH THIS AIM IN VIEW, MORTAR WAS POURED IN A SMALL-SCALE WALL FORMED OF PARALLEL GLASS PANELS. THE PHENOMENA WHICH OCCURRED WERE FILMED AND THE FILM SHOWED THE POSSIBILITY OF THE MATERIAL BEING HIGHLY HETEROGENEOUS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THERE IS A NEED FOR A MORE RATIONAL STUDY OF THE PROBLEMS OF CONCRETE POURED IN DEEP FOUNDATIONS.