UK: Soil stabilisation aids use of brownfield land

The UK government’s Planning and Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis, has announced a £200 million fund to create 10 housing zones outside of London on brownfield land. Each zone must support the building of 750 – 2000 homes. A separate fund of £400 million for 20 zones within London is also available.

Lewis underlined the need to prioritise building on brownfield rather than green belt land, saying: “We need to build more homes in this country, but it’s also vital that we protect the countryside that people rightly treasure. The new dedicated housing zones will transform disused and derelict land”.

The emphasis on using brownfield land has been welcomed by Britpave, the infrastructure group, as it will boost the use of soil stabilisation over inefficient and environmentally questionable ‘dig and dump’, wherein ‘problem’ soil is simply excavated and dumped elsewhere. “A far better approach is to use soil stabilisation and solidification to deal with the problem on site,” explained Al McDermind, Chair of Britpave Soil Stabilisation Task Group.

Cementitious materials such as cement, lime, flyash or ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) can render potential contaminants immobile and unleachable. Stabilisation of the soil treats the contaminants to produce a soil that is less toxic. Solidification improves the physical properties of the stabilised soil to provide a strong engineered construction material.

“Insitu remediation and improvement of poor quality brownfield land using cementitious materials removes the cost of landfill taxes and the cost and environmental impact of lorry movements and importation of virgin aggregate,” said McDermid.

Adapted from press release by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/21082014/uk-soil-stabilisation-aids-use-of-brownfield-land-339/