Year: 1990

Location: Caporciano

Country: Italy

Volume: 3.000 m³ expanded clay 8-20 mm

Owner Builder: City of Caporciano

Contractor: Fondedile S.p.A.

Designer: Rodolfo Giacco

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Problem / Solution

The composition of the underground soft rock gave place to a lot of artificial cavities excavated during the time by the population to obtain material and cattle storage. Over time some settlement problems begun to occur particularly in those zones in which the underground holes were more superficial and near to the buildings’ foundations.

Experience

Some cavities were very hardly to reach by the normal machines and trucks. For this reason lot of quantities of expanded clay were pumped directly into holes.

Why expanded clay?

It was decided to fill the superficial stratum of cavities to prevent possible dangerous collapses and save the integrity of buildings. Expanded clay was the only material with low density and sufficient grain resistance to support the final load. In some cases it has been installed with a mixture of expanded clay and cement to increase the stiffness.