Problem

It was identified that there was a failure in the floor drainage of a food production facility. This slow drainage resulted in a major void and multiple pipe breaks. Because this facility was held to strict sanitation requirements, the equipment and floor were washed down regularly, resulting in water draining into the compromised piping, washing away valuable fill material. What started with only drips of water and small particles washing away developed into a major problem. The primary void was 60ft long and was a void size of 4’x4’feet at the worst area. The void ran perpendicular to the main forklift aisle. The worst part of the void was directly under the aisle. As soon as these voids were identified, the entire factory was shut down. This factory shutdown cost the plant millions of dollars in downtime and loss of production.

FillFoam Solution

Prior to any repairs, the void needed to be filled to support the slab and the construction equipment needed to install the new drainage system. Voids were identified with GPR scan. Through two injection locations, 4,947 lbs of FillFoam material was installed, equaling a volume of 20 cubic yards. The complete void was pumped in 1 ½ hours. Within 24 hours a trench was dug through the cured foam to install new drainage pipes (picture below). Reinforced concrete was poured over the repair site and the plant was re-opened for operation.

Summary

The speed of mobilization from the FillFoam Canada team helped the plant save significant money and avoid longer downtime.