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To cite this article: Carlos Lam & Stephan A. Jefferis (2014) The use of polymer solutions for
deep excavations: lessons from Far Eastern experience, HKIE Transactions, 21:4, 262-271, DOI:
10.1080/1023697X.2014.970749
The use of polymer solutions for deep excavations: lessons from Far Eastern experience
Carlos Lama∗,† and Stephan A. Jefferisb,c
a Schoolof Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; b Environmental
Geotechnics Ltd, St Mary’s Grove, 4 Adderbury Park, Adderbury, Banbury OX17 3EN, UK; c Department of Engineering Science,
University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PJ, UK
(Received 24 March 2014; accepted 12 August 2014 )
Solutions of water-soluble polymers have been used to stabilise deep excavations such as pile bores and diaphragm wall
trenches since the 1970s. When compared with conventional bentonite slurries, these engineered fluids are recognised as
bringing a number of benefits including smaller site footprint, lower environmental impact and lower construction costs.
However, despite the years of use, too little has been published about their material properties and optimal methods
of use, so problems still occur. To promote the best practice with these engineered fluids, this paper summarises the
lessons that may be drawn from a number of published case histories of polymer use in the Far East. It is concluded
from the review that the use of biodegradable polymers in deep excavations can be problematic unless a biocide is used.
In contrast, synthetic polymers tend not to suffer from microbial degradation but do require the use of special pumping
equipment to minimise shear degradation. In coarse soils, both types of polymer fluid can show excessive fluid loss. This
can be remedied by adding bentonite, superabsorbent gel particles or proprietary fines that are dispersible in polymer
fluids. Finally, soft pile bases have been reported which can be linked to the use of low fluid viscosity coupled with long
waiting times between the end of excavation and concreting. This can be minimised by rigorous fluid and base cleaning.
Overall, the case histories show that polymer fluids cannot be managed as if they were simply bentonite slurries. Their
usage require different procedures, which, in turn, require different skills and experience from a contractor. This paper
concludes with an analysis of future challenges and opportunities with these innovative construction fluids.
Keywords: bored piles; barrettes; deep excavations; polymer solutions; support fluids
Case histories from Japan application led Japanese companies to extend its usage to
Japan was probably one of the first countries to adopt overseas projects. However, it was found that for deep
the polymer fluid technology for deep excavation works. excavations which took longer to complete, the fluid
According to Ikuta [10] and Xanthakos,[11] a polymer degraded in use with a loss of fluid properties. As a result,
product known as Telmarch was used for diaphragm the use of Telmarch gradually declined and sales of this
walling in Japan in the 1970s. About 30 tons of Tel- product ceased later. Based on this description of the
march were produced every month in 1974 and about the problems, it is believed that Telmarch was a biodegrad-
same amount were used. Although little has been reported able natural polymer. Probably as a result of the problems
about the chemistry of this polymer, there is a certain encountered with Telmarch, in the early 1980s, Hori and
amount of information about its physical properties in Mori [13] from Japan undertook a laboratory study of
the literature.[10,11] Figure 1 shows the funnel viscosity biodegradation and its prevention by increasing pH and
curve for polymer concentrations ranging from 0.8% to the use of biocides. They concluded that a high pH alone
1.6% w/w, which correspond to 8–16 kg of polymer per was not sufficient to prevent biodegradation as indicated
m3 of mix water (note that a funnel with a capacity of 500 by the loss of fluid viscosity and they identified an organic
ml was used and the time recorded for the full discharge nitrogen-based biocide that was effective in maintaining
of 500 ml. The more commonly used Marsh funnel has the fluid properties over a 60-day test period. Despite
a capacity of 1500 ml and the time is recorded for the these findings, the use of polymer fluids does not appear
discharge of 946 ml or 1000 ml [12]). Concentrations of to have revived in Japan as inferred from the lack of
8–16 kg/m3 are much higher than those used for currently further publications. A recent literature search including
available natural water-soluble polymers such as xanthan that in the Japanese language did not reveal any papers
and guar gums (typically about 0.3% w/w), but are still on polymer fluids, though it did identify a 2013 patent
considerably lower than those used for bentonite (30–60 application discussing the use of superabsorbent polymer
kg/m3 ). It can be seen from Figure 1 that a consider- for the control of fluid loss in coarse, highly permeable
able increase in fluid viscosity, over that of water, was soils such as gravels.[14] This specific application will be
achieved at these concentrations. This viscosity enabled discussed with the case histories from Thailand.
the fluid to be used to stabilise deep excavations as it
reduced the seepage losses to the ground. It may also
Case histories from Hong Kong
be noted that the Telmarch fluid was much less sensi-
tive to cement contamination from fresh concrete than Tuen Mun Station
conventional bentonite slurry.[10] In Hong Kong, the first approved use of polymer flu-
Despite the desirable physical properties of the Tel- ids was for the construction of part of the West Rail’s
march fluid, its usage appears to have been short-lived as Tuen Mun Station (Contract CC213) between 2001 and
no further information can be found in the literature. A 2002. Information on this project has not been published,
recent enquiry to the supplier Telnite Co. Ltd has, how- but the first author was involved during the construc-
ever, revealed the reason for the decline in use. According tion period. The work involved the construction of nine
to Telnite (email correspondence with K. Kodama; unref- rock-socketed bored piles ranging from 1.5 m to 1.8 m
erenced), Telmarch was produced for use in the Japanese in diameter and up to 51 m in length to support a new
construction market in the 1970s. Its ease of mixing and railway viaduct crossing the Tuen Mun River. Part of the
264 C. Lam and S.A. Jefferis
Table 1. Test methods and polymer fluid specifications for the Tuen Mun Station project in
Hong Kong.
soil or contamination by groundwater.[4,16] Finally, it and gravel. A weaker-than-expected unit base resistance
is worth noting that although the completed piles were (end bearing) was also found from the back analyses, and
not load tested, their structural integrity was checked by this prompted a revision of the design equations (based on
cross-hole ultrasonic logging and no problems were iden- SPT results) and more careful base cleaning for the work-
tified. The piles have now been supporting the viaduct for ing piles. The calibrated design equations were given in
more than 10 years and no problems have been reported. Corbet et al. [19] and were not repeated here. During the
The first use of polymer support fluids in Hong Kong, works, the piling contractor reported that 8200 working
therefore, can be considered a success. piles, 2 m in diameter and up to 60 m deep, were con-
structed using polymer fluids and RCD.[20] These piles
remain some of the largest constructed using polymer flu-
Case histories from Taiwan
ids. This would appear to be because contractors around
Taiwan high-speed rail – contracts 260 and 270 the world are still cautious about using polymer fluids to
In Taiwan, Bustamante and Boato [18] and Corbet et al. support large excavations, especially in coarse soils.
[19] reported the use of polymer fluids for Contracts 260
and 270 of the Taiwan High-Speed Rail (THSR) project.
Large-diameter bored piles were required to support the THSR – contract 291
railway viaducts which run along much of the route for Duann et al. [21] and Chin and Chen [22] reported the
the two Contracts. The ground conditions consisted of pile loading test programme for another section of the
alluvial sand, gravel and clay with the depth exceeding THSR project delivered under Contact 291. The ground
100 m at some locations. Standard penetration test (SPT) conditions at the test site consisted of alluvial deposits of
blow counts (N ) ranged from less than 10 for the first interbedded sand and silty clay followed by mudstone at
several metres to over 100 at depth. greater depth. A total of six test piles were constructed:
Trials of different pile construction methods were TP-1, TP-1B, TP-2, TP-3, TP-3B and TP-4. As on Con-
undertaken at the beginning of the project. A 2 m diam- tracts 260 and 270, the test piles were drilled by the RCD
eter test pile was first constructed using a grab for the method but only two of them, TP-1B and TP-3B, were
excavation and water to counterbalance the groundwater under polymer fluids. All test piles were toe-grouted, but
which lay at about 3 m below the ground level. The result- the two piles drilled under polymers also received multi-
ing 30 m long pile was tested using a single Osterberg stage grout injections. All piles were tested from the top
cell (O-cell) set at about 20 m below the pile head. The down using a steel loading frame. From the load test
test results showed that the mobilised skin friction (unit results, it was found that the two piles constructed using
shaft resistance) was lower than the values used in the ten- polymer fluids coupled with multi-stage toe-grouting
der design. Polymer fluid was therefore used for a second showed very stiff, near-linear load-settlement response –
test pile which was excavated using a rotary auger (Bus- a behaviour which was not seen in the other test piles.
tamante and Boato [18] stated that granular SlurryPro Although the stiff response must have been due, in part,
CDP® polymer was used at a concentration between 0.4 to the multistage toe-grouting operation, it was concluded
kg/m3 and 0.6 kg/m3 to obtain a Marsh funnel viscosity by the original authors that higher shaft resistance could
between 52 seconds and 65 seconds). However, side- be achieved when using polymers to stabilise the pile
wall profile measurements using an ultrasonic technique bores.
showed very large amounts of over-break which were
considered unacceptable. A third trial pile was therefore
Case histories from Thailand
constructed using the reverse circulation drilling (RCD)
rig with polymer fluid. Another 22 test piles with lengths Bangkok elevated road and train system
ranging between 25 m and 72 m were later constructed by Littlechild and Plumbridge [23] reported what is proba-
the same technique. Bustamante and Boato [18] did not bly the first use of polymer fluids for deep excavation
explain why drilling with the RCD technique produced works in Thailand. The project was the Bangkok Ele-
better results than that with the rotary auger. However, vated Road and Train System (BERTS) which required
given the ground conditions consisting mainly of sand 16,000 bored piles with a diameter of 1.5 m. Due to the
and gravels, the soil on the side wall was probably dis- large number of piles to be constructed, a number of
turbed by the auger during its repeated entry into and exit instrumented trial piles were first constructed using dif-
from the pile bore. ferent techniques including bentonite and polymer fluids
All the 22 test piles were load tested for either axial and base grouting. Bangkok is located at the southern
or lateral capacities at not less than 28 days after con- end of the Chao Phraya alluvial plain and the ground
creting. The results showed that the unit shaft resistance conditions in Bangkok comprise interbedded layers of
in clay was higher than the original design value, but no medium dense to very dense sand (SPT N = 50 to > 100
improvement in shaft resistance was found for the sand blows/300 mm) and firm to very stiff clay (S u = 50 to
266 C. Lam and S.A. Jefferis
Table 2. Construction details and load test results for four trial piles constructed using polymer–bentonite mixes and bentonite
fluids in Bangkok, Thailand.[23]
Pile Pile Marsh funnel Construction Actual shaft Calculated shaft Ratio of actual to
Pile diameter length viscosity time resistance resistance calculated
Support fluid type designation (m) (m) (s) (h) (MN) (MN) resistances
fluids may be due to the thinner filter cake formed on encountered in Bangkok, these gel particles can block
the excavation side wall, thus leading to better interfa- the pores of the side walls and so reduce bulk fluid loss.
cial resistance between the soil and the pile concrete. Guidance on the use of swollen gel particles to reduce
As regards fluid viscosity, Figure 5 shows that increas- fluid loss typically can be found in polymer suppliers’
ing fluid viscosity had a slight positive effect on the load literature and in Akagi et al.[14]
capacity of piles constructed under polymer–bentonite
fluids, but a strong negative effect on the capacity of
those constructed under bentonite alone. The slight bene- Bangkok city case histories
ficial effect with polymers was probably due to the better Thasnanipan et al. [28,29] reported two other case his-
excavation stability when fluids of higher viscosity were tories of polymer used in Bangkok. Probably because of
used and possibly further reduced filter cake thickness. the experience on the BERTS project, a dilute bentonite
The reduction in pile performance observed when using fluid was used as the mix fluid for polymers in these
bentonite may be due to a thicker filter cake formed on two projects, again to reduce the volume of fluid loss
the side-wall surface. However, Thasnanipan et al. [25] into the sand layers. Thasnanipan et al. [28] presented
examined the effect of bentonite fluid viscosity, but did the results for 11 test piles (TP-1 to TP-11) with diam-
not find any noticeable trend. eters ranging from 0.6 m to 1.8 m and lengths ranging
Despite the apparent advantages found in Bangkok from 24 m to 62 m. For the construction of these test
of using mixed polymer–bentonite fluids over bentonite piles, the support fluids were prepared using 5–12 kg of
alone, the authors have reservations about this practice. bentonite and 0.5 kg of polymer per m3 of water. The
This is because even though the bentonite dosage is small piles were load tested axially and were found to show
(5 kg/m3 ), soft filter cakes can still form on the excavation less settlement than predicted. For the three piles (TP-1
side walls to reduce pile shaft resistance. In fact, this is to TP-3) that were instrumented with strain gauges, the
confirmed by the results of some interface shear box tests measured shaft resistance was found to be significantly
presented in Thasnanipan et al.[27] Their results showed higher than the predicted values, giving a measured to
that the interfacial shear resistance between cement mor- predicted shaft resistance ratio between 1.41 and 1.58.
tar (simulating the pile concrete) and sand was reduced These values are slightly higher than those given by Lit-
by both pure bentonite and polymer–bentonite fluids, tlechild and Plumbridge (Table 2; Figures 4 and 5), but
although the degree of reduction was lower for the lat- this may be because the predictions made by Thasnani-
ter. In the authors’ opinion, to overcome the high losses pan et al. [28] were more conservative. Based on back
of polymer fluids to coarse soil zones, it may be prefer- analysis of the test results, Thasnanipan et al. [28,29]
able to use non-cake forming fluid-loss additives that proposed design β ( = Ks tan δ) values for bored piles in
are specially designed for polymer fluids, such as super- Bangkok constructed using polymer and bentonite fluids.
absorbent gel particles and non-reactive fines. Figure 6 Their suggested β values for polymer fluids are 0.1–0.15
shows the superabsorbent gel particles which are cross- higher than those for bentonite fluids; the exact value
linked polyacrylamides. When added to water, this mate- is depending on the internal friction angle of the sand.
rial can absorb many hundred times its own weight to As discussed, it is believed that even better performance
form a crystalline gel. In coarse formations such as those could have been achieved if pure polymer fluids and
superabsorbent polymer additives (Figure 6) had been
used to manage the fluid-loss problem. However, further
research is required to confirm this.
barrette. The type of the polymer used for the excava- a housing project at Choa Chu Kang, Singapore. The
tion is not stated in the paper, but some properties of the ground conditions were 25 m of residual soil overlying
used fluids from the trench are given. In particular, the 5 m of weathered granite followed by bedrock. The SPT
Marsh funnel viscosity of the fluids is reported to have N value was less than 10 blows/300 mm in the resid-
been in the range from 28 seconds to 32 seconds. These ual soil and 50–100 blows/300 mm in the weathered
are very low viscosity values for any excavation fluid as granite. A 5 m long temporary casing was used and
the time for water is 26 seconds. Despite the low fluid vis- excavation below the casing was carried out under a
cosity, no excavation support problems were reported for polymer fluid, for which no information is given. The
the barrette. pile was instrumented with strain gauges and rod exten-
The completed barrette was load tested by the main- someters at different levels and was tested by the main-
tained load method 26 days after casting. For each stra- tained load method. The load test results showed that the
tum, the measured unit skin friction (fs ) was normalised end resistance suddenly dropped when the toe displace-
by the corresponding SPT N value. The ratios were then ment reached 49 mm. A check on the installation records
compared with those previously obtained from bored revealed that the measured depth of the pile bore reduced
piles constructed using full-length casings at other com- by 200 mm during the period between the end of boring
parable sites, and little difference was found. However, and just before lowering the reinforcing steel cage. This
the load test result showed that the base resistance of the was taken to indicate the accumulation of soft sediment
test barrette did not pick up until a toe displacement of at the bottom of the bore during the waiting period. The
4.8 mm had been reached. Thereafter, the observed base soft sediment was suspected by the original authors to
response was found to represent more closely the consol- have mixed with the fresh concrete during casting, and the
idation of weak debris under the test load rather than the sudden drop was believed to be the result of overstress-
in situ soil. The reason given by Ho and Tan for the poor ing and crushing of the weak concrete. As for the first
base response is that the long waiting period (4.5 hours) Singaporean case history discussed earlier, the peak unit
between completion of the desanding process and con- shaft resistance was expressed as the ratio fs /N and com-
crete placement allowed soil particles to settle and collect pared with data obtained from piles constructed under
as a soft sediment at the base of the barrette. Signifi- bentonite. No significant difference was found between
cant deposition of sediment from a desanded slurry is the two fluids, although the data appear quite scattered.
unexpected, especially as the reported sand content of
the used fluid was relatively low ranging from 0.2% and
Conclusions
1.0% (which may be compared with the upper limit of
3% previously reported for the Tuen Mun Station project Lessons learned
in Hong Kong; see Table 1). However, given that the vis- • The early 1970s’ work with polymer fluids in Japan
cosity of the polymer fluid was very low and the waiting was successful but take-up of the polymer concept
period was long, it is perhaps less surprising that a “soft was limited. This was because the polymers then
toe” was able to form. available (natural polymers) suffered biodegrada-
Because of the issue with the quality of the base, the tion in deep excavations that required longer times
working barrettes, which were constructed in the same for completion. Furthermore, it was found that high
way as the test barrette, were designed without reliance pH alone was not sufficient to prevent biodegrada-
on end resistance, that is, they were designed for fric- tion. Laboratory trials demonstrated that the work-
tion alone. In the authors’ opinion, cost savings might ing life of natural polymers could be extended
have been achieved if the barrettes had been constructed with biocides, but it has not been possible to iden-
using higher viscosity fluids and/or if it had been possi- tify whether they were actually employed on site.
ble to manage the desanding and base-cleaning processes These early experiences showed that understand-
to avoid a build-up of spoil at the toe. Alternatively, the ing the fundamental properties of polymer fluids is
fluid could be exchanged after the excavation and the important.
base mechanically cleaned before concreting. This would • Experience from Hong Kong showed that polymer
allow the end resistance to be considered in the final fluids can be used to reduce the excavation fluid
design. A UK case history illustrating the importance of plant footprint and that with appropriate selection
fluid and base cleaning in polymer-supported pile bores of polymer, they can be used near environmen-
is given in Lam et al.[31] tally sensitive receptors such as rivers. The correct
selection of pumps (screw as opposed to centrifu-
gal where possible) and the adoption of appropriate
Bored piles in residual soil fluid-testing and base-cleaning procedures can be
Ho et al. [32] presented load test results for an instru- seen to have contributed to the success of the
mented bored pile constructed using polymer fluid for projects such as the Tuen Mun Station project.
HKIE Transactions 269
• The experience from Taiwan demonstrated that for engineers as they do not require bulky ancillary
polymer fluids are compatible with RCD drilling equipment (hydrocyclones, filter presses, shaker screens,
and indeed on that project pile performance was decanting centrifuges, etc.) for the removal of suspended
apparently improved by its usage. It also showed soils. Due to their ease of mixing, polymer fluids are
that polymer fluids can stabilise coarse soils con- also expected to gain wider acceptance in water-well and
taining sand and gravels in pile bores up to site-investigation drilling. In addition, although it was not
2 m in diameter. Very stiff load-settlement response mentioned previously, polymer fluids also possess good
has been demonstrated for piles which were con- lubricating characteristics and hence may be useful for
structed using polymer fluids and toe-grouted. pipe and pile jacking works.
• Although they had been used in coarse soils in
Taiwan, the experience from Bangkok highlighted Funding
the possible fluid-loss problem when pure polymer The case histories discussed in this paper were studied as
fluids are used in highly permeable grounds. The part of three research projects funded by the UK Engineer-
use of mixed polymer–bentonite fluids was found ing and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [Grants
to give satisfactory results as shown by the high EP/C537815/1 (Industrial CASE Award), EP/H50026X/1
(Knowledge Transfer Secondment) and EP/K503782/1 (Impact
measured shaft resistance over a range of construc- Acceleration Account)].
tion times and fluid viscosities. These benefits have
been translated by some into higher β values to be
Notes on contributors
used for routine pile design. The authors would not
normally recommend the use of mixed bentonite–
Ir Dr Carlos Lam graduated from
polymers slurries without conducting site-specific The Hong Kong Polytechnic Univer-
load tests and believe that the use of specially for- sity, Imperial College London and the
mulated fluid-loss additives can produce further University of Oxford in 2001, 2003
benefits, but further research is required to confirm and 2011, respectively. He is a Char-
tered Civil Engineer and a Regis-
this.
tered Ground Engineering Specialist
• The two cases from Singapore highlighted the in the UK. He has been conducting
potential “soft toe” problem due to the accumula- research on the use of polymer flu-
tion of sediment at the base of the excavation. The ids for geotechnical construction since
use of polymer fluids with low viscosity and long 2007 and has published extensively on this topic. Prof Stephan
A. Jefferis and Ir Dr Lam are the authors of a technical book
waiting periods between the end of excavation and
entitled “Polymer Support Fluids in Civil Engineering”, which
concreting can both contribute to the problem even will be published by ICE Publishing in 2015.
when the sand content of the fluid is low ( < 1%).
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