PROMO / December
Publicity photos
RESTORING
building foundations
‘I’m convinced that with our
technology, we could even
straighten the Leaning Tower of
Pisa,’ says Roman Reiner-Latõsev,
the CEO of the ground engineering
company Uretek Baltic.
In reviewing the work done so far
by Uretek, one must admit that
Reiner-Latõsev’s self-assured claim is
not without basis – Uretek successfully
restored 500 m 2 of sunken flooring at
a Prisma department store in Tartu
in only a few evenings, without having
to close down the store during regular
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/ airBaltic.com
Working on Riga Cathedral foundations in 2018
business hours for even a minute.
Consider the fact that closing a store for
just two weeks means that it will take
approximately six months for its customer
flow to return to previous levels. ‘Using
traditional floor correction techniques,
the store would have to close down for
about two months, which would be
unthinkable,’ remembers Reiner-Latõsev.
Re-levelling and stabilising the 500 m 2
of flooring took only four evenings and
nights, and the shopping centre could
operate during regular business hours
without disruption.
In another case, Uretek remediated the
floors of the Haapsalu Uksetehase office
building in just a few hours. At fault was
a problem that commonly occurs during
construction booms, such as the one that
took place around ten years ago: proper
study and stabilisation was not done on
the soil underlying the foundations of new
construction sites, and now the conse-
quences – subsiding foundations, floors
and infrastructure – have to be dealt with.
In a recent job on an apartment building,
Urtek raised the floors of six apartments
and two corridors, as well as an external
staircase with a total area of 560 m 2 ,
which had in places sunk by as much as
four centimetres. Cracks had appeared
in some of the first-floor apartment walls,
one of which was so large that it was
possible to see through to the adjoining
room. Stabilisation work on the apart-
ment building took three days to com-
plete, and residents did not have to leave
their apartments during this time. The
technology and work processes used by
Urtek are undeniably very convenient –
they allow the lower layers of a building
to be strengthened without damaging
floor surfaces, and furniture and interior
items do not need to be moved. In fact,
having the floors loaded down leads to
better results.
Uretek branches operating around the
world have also stabilised railways with-
out the need for stopping the movement
of trains, just limiting their speeds during
the active period of treatment. Uretek has
even repaired road damage in one night,
with only one lane having to be closed
during the period of active repair work.
‘Clients should not wait until the last
minute, postponing addressing of the
problem to a later date, because even
the slightest changes in floor level quality
can, unfortunately, negatively influence a
business’s daily operations,’ says Reiner-
Latõsev. ‘Uneven warehouse floors lead
to business losses and unnecessary risks.
Any cracks whatsoever indicate struc-
tural displacement. In such a case, you
should immediately contact a special-
ist; the longer you wait, the greater the
potential damage.’
Before remediation work commenced
at Haapsalu Uksetehase, a video survey
had revealed that the soil under the
reinforced concrete slabs had signifi-
cantly sunk. The original builders had
not properly compacted it, and the dry
weather conditions had not allowed the
soil to sufficiently settle. Over the course
of remediation, the voids below the
reinforced concrete slabs were filled with
a two-component geopolymer that was
injected at 150 bar pressure through holes
that had been drilled into the slabs and
plinth. As the voids were filled, the entire
floor construction began to gradually rise.
The process was continuously monitored
by a laser level, which recorded the larg-
est rise (meaning the deepest point of
sinking) to have been 44 mm. The whole
process, including preparatory work, took
less than five hours, and practically no
dust was generated.
Uretek Baltic has been developing this
technology for the last 40 years.
uretek.ee | uretek.lv | uretek.lt
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