Regional Report: European Practice of Soil Mixing Technology

Europe has a diverse topographic, social and economic structure. The geological and geotechnical setting is complex, with difficult geotechnical conditions in many urbanized areas. The geological and geotechnical conditions in European countries are described. The evolution and recent developments of deep and shallow soil mixing methods are presented, covering dry and wet mixing methods. The practical application of deep and shallow mixing is discussed. Based on the European standard on deep mixing, prEN 14679, design and execution aspects are addressed and illustrated by examples. The activities of European organizations and regulatory agencies, which are of relevance for the execution of deep mixing, are listed. An overview of the geo-hazards in the European region, for the mitigation of which deep mixing could be applied, is given. Recent conferences and the RTD activities of organizations, institutions and authorities are summarized. An overview is given of typical deep mixing applications in Europe. Finally, market shares of soil mixing methods and future RTD needs are addressed.