In this interview segment from Groundworks' Stability Matters podcast, Alchatek VP of Sales Andy Powell recounts a dramatic incident during a Florida water treatment plant expansion. A deep excavation for a large clear well structure suddenly flooded when a test pile fractured the underlying limestone bedrock about 30 feet below the excavation floor (50 feet below ground level). Water from an aquifer surged in at 300–500 gallons per minute, filling the site and stopping work entirely.
The bold fix: the "polyurethane bomb" technique. A two-inch pipe was drilled beside the leaking pile, and AP Fill 700 polyurethane resin with a fast catalyst was rapidly pumped in using high-flow diaphragm pumps.