XXVIII GEOTECHNICAL NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
VENICE, SAN SERVOLO ISLAND, JUNE 11th THROUGH 13th

Our C.E.O. and Technical Director Vittorio Manassero will attend as speaker the XXVIII Geotechnical National Symposium in Venice (San Servolo Island), on June 11th through 13th.

On Friday 13th, (14h15 - 16h20) at the Auditorium room, within Session 3A - Hydraulic and Maritime Infrastructure,  Mr. Vittorio Manassero will give a lecture on "The refurbishment on the eastern quai of the Eritrea Wharf in the Genoa harbour" (co-autor Mr. Giuseppe Sichel, Technical Director of the contractor Dott. Carlo Agnese S.p.A., La Spezia, Italy).

The eastern quai of the Eritrea Wharf is made of superposed concrete blocks and across the years showed significant deformation phenomena (displacements, cracks, settlements on the working platform). The refurbishment intervention was based, among the others, on the underpinning of the structure by jet grouting, drilling through the wharf concrete blocks.

Jet grouting activities started on December 2022. During the construction of the first 25 columns, significant displacements of the structure were observed: horizontally, up to 15 cm at the top. Activities were stopped and a supplement of investigation carried out and monitoring activated. An exceptional presence of voids was found just below the foundation, incompatible with the execution of jet grouting, in particular if the double fluid method was adopted, due to the use of compressed air as jetting fluid. It was necessary to conceive a new construction method to minimize the adverse effects of jet grouting on the wharf structure: this was the single fluid with simultaneous water precutting. Field trials were carried out to validate this construction method and the jetting parameters. The as-built path of drillings was assessed by inclinometric chain and the achieved diameter measured within the fresh column by using the CheckGrout equipment.
Eventually, the foreseen design columns were installed, after the voids filling, using the tested construction method and the jetting parameters selected by the field trials, without significant further displacement on the wharf structure.

The full Symposium Program can be found at this LINK and the specific program for Session 3A at this second LINK.

 Venice - San Servolo Island