Williamsburg, VA - (NewMediaWire) - June 23, 2014 - Concrete Jack, a Williamsburg, VA based polyurethane concrete raising (foam jacking) company serving the Mid-Atlantic recently completed a foam jacking repair on a light rail grade crossing which saved the client 68 hours of track time and nearly $50,000.00.

"A contractor had been performing mud jacking to correct settled and deflecting precast grade crossing panels for prime contractors working for the transit authority," says Kevin Roberts, superintendent for Concrete Jack.  "One of the primes thought there had to be a faster, less expensive way to make the repairs, and found out about Concrete Jack and our foam jacking process online."  

The customer was able to see some of our previous rail projects, including similar grade crossing repairs, and even lifting a 2.3 million pound train inspection pit, and proposed foam jacking to the agency.  The agency decided to give foam jacking a shot, and was very happy to learn about the significant cost and time savings.

"'Where is your backhoe?' was the first question the track foreman asked when we showed up on site for the repair," says Roberts.  "Apparently the mud jacking company had been using a backhoe to hold the grout packers into place."  Because heavy equipment was required for mud jacking, the overhead catenary wires had to be de-energized, which is expensive and time consuming for the customer.  All that's required for foam jacking is a box truck with specialized polyurethane concrete raising equipment inside, and a few of Concrete Jack's skilled, experienced infrastructure rehabilitation crew members.  

The grade crossing repair was completed in fewer than four hours on track, during off hours (midnight to 4am).  33 precast grade crossing panels were stabilized and lifted, some as much as three inches, to take multiple bellies out of the crossing.The crossing had been under a speed restriction prior to the work, and this was lifted immediately after the foam jacking repair was made.  "Whereas mud jacking required 72 total hours of track closures to allow for pumping and then waiting for the grout to cure," says Concrete Jack crew member Corey Maines, "our NCFI Terrathane foam cures within minutes of injection, so trains and cars can use the crossing as soon as we're done." 

Roberts says that based on the amount of material placed, there were an average of 1.5 inches of combined void filling and lifting over the work area.  The foam selected for the repair was picked specifically to give a high degree of lateral control to help realign differential settlement between the panels without affecting the adjacent asphalt pavement.  

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For more information, or to arrange an interview on this subject, contact: Kirk Roberts, (855) 603-6321

About Concrete Jack Concrete Jack is located in Williamsburg, Virginia and has been performing infrastructure construction and repairs since 2002.  Licensed in and serving Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Washington DC, Pennsylvania & New Jersey, Concrete Jack specializes in high density polyurethane concrete raising (foam jacking) for geotechnical and structural repairs for all markets, including rail, industrial, transportation, commercial and residential.  

In addition to foam jacking, Concrete Jack installs helical piles and resistance piers for underpinning, performs chemical grouting and mud jacking, and installs lightweight cellular concrete.  To learn more about Concrete Jack and its services, please visit www.concretejack.com