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6030749 
Journal Article 
Laboratory and Field Performance of High Alumina Cement- Based Grout for Piling in Permafrost 
Biggar, KW; Noel, MM; Sego, DC 
1993 
For piling installation in permafrost, a grout based on high-alumina cement (Ciment Fondu) was developed. The grout cures by rapidly evolving heat which maintains it above 0 C until it hydrates and hardens. The researc h program involved testing grout mixes prepared with differing amounts of admixtures while maintaining the same cement:sand:water ratio. The admixtures were varying proportions of Ciment Fondu, accelerator (lithium carbonate), and super-plasticizer (sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde condensate). Cylinders of grout were cured in frozen soil at -10 C. The objective was to produce a mix that would cure at temperatures down to -10 C, yet be workable enough for placement around piles in the field. Based upon the laboratory results, a grout was produced which was used for the pile foundations of several short-range radar facilities along the Canadian Arctic coastline. Placement was done by pouring the grout down the center of the steel-pipe pile and allowing it to flow up into the space between the pile and the permafrost. Because air temperatures varied between approximately +20 and -30 C during the course of the project, the temperatures of the water, dry grout, and mixing equipment vari ed considerably. During cold weather, the mix water, the dry premixed grout, and the pile had to be heated. The quality-control program consisted of compressive tests carried out on 50-mm grout cubes, and monitoring the grout temperature by installing thermistors at 1-m intervals along the outside of selected piles. The measured temperatures corresponded closely to the results obtained in the laboratory except for a higher peak temperatures. This may be attributed to the larger grout mass in the field, hence 3-dimensional heat loss did not affect the grout as much as in the laboratory. The Ciment Fondu grout hardened without freezing in permafrost as cold as -14 C during the installation of about 2,000 piles for the radar project. (Shidler-PTT) 
Water Resources Abstracts; Descriptors: Alumina; Cements; Cold weather construction; Performance evaluation; Permafrost; Air temperature; Compressive strength; Field tests; Hydration; Laboratory studies; Quality control; Soil temperature; Temperature control