The new look of soil stabilization

Beaver Excavating selected the stabilizer attachment for its project versatility, integrated spreader and equipment utilization, notes Dusty Sterling, field operations director.

The SBF 24-6 is set up for approximately 250 hp, which allows for soil stabilization on a variety of projects, including haul roads, building pads, structural fill areas, etc. It includes a 9-cubic-yard spreader attachment that minimizes dust, eliminates a separate spreader truck and places the lime/cement in the desired location in the soil. The attachment also allows the tractor unit to be utilized for other functions while the stabilizer is not in use, which can be an advantage over a dedicated stabilizer machine.

Beaver Excavating is currently using the SBF 24-6 to aid in the installation of recompacted soil liner at Republic Waste's Countywide RDF (Recycling & Disposal Facility) in Bolivar, OH. During construction of the last three cells, Beaver has excavated more than 5 million cubic yards of earth and installed 53 acres of re-compacted soil liner, totaling more than 250,000 cubic yards.

The Stehr stabilizer is being used on this site for soil particle sizing of the recompacted soil liner. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency regulations require that no particle sizes be greater than 2 inches and no clod sizes be larger than 3 inches for this material. One pass with the stabilizer through the loose lift of material prior to compaction ensures these requirements are met.

Quicker setup
Steve Casano, Stabl-Eze, Grand Junction, CO, just took delivery of two Stehr attachments: an SBF 24L stabilizer that mounts to the rear of a John Deere 7810 tractor, and an SBS 3000 spreader for the front of the tractor. The attachments enable the contractor to enter the soil stabilization arena at a lower cost than purchasing a dedicated machine. Because they provide stabilization down to 15 inches deep, Casano doesn't need a larger, heavier, dedicated unit that is more costly to operate and transport.

In addition to soil stabilization work, Stabl-Eze is the North American distributor for InfraCrete, a binding material that allows for the stabilization of soil for road and motorway construction, runway construction, oil field roads and pads, parking lots, footpaths and cycle paths, among other uses. Adding the binding agent to cement allows the hydration to occur even in high-sulfate soils. This is an alternative to aggregates in the native soils of Colorado, where the composition is mostly clay and rocky.

"The product is also waterproof and frost resistant, and it produces high-tensile strength and is strong in compression and elasticity to withstand the vibrations from heavy truck traffic," Casano says. "In conjunction with the Stehr attachments, with this setup, I can move the equipment myself, with a much quicker set-up time. I simply unload it and go to work. It can cut off one-half to two-thirds of the amount of time it takes to build a road."

Because of the success Casano has experienced with the stabilization attachments, he will be seeking a second larger unit.