5
Chapter 2
A history of vibratory
deep compaction
An overview of the development of ground improvement by deep vibratory compaction started in Germany between the two world wars. The
worldwide economic crisis from 1929 to 1931 had a severe impact on the
German construction industry. The absence of profits prevented badly
needed investment. Mass unemployment reached to more than 30% and
paralyzed economic activity. Farsighted personalities, however, looked
into new working and construction methods at a time when the government under Chancellor Heinrich Brüning (1885–1970) tried to mitigate the
worst misery by job-generating measures such as the first program to build
highways, which was then intensified under the Hitler regime after 1933.
In this context, the need to compact large quantities of concrete, sand, and
gravel was the motive for numerous engineers to look for better and more
efficient methods.
2.1 THE VIBRO FLOTATION METHOD AND FIRST
APPLICATIONS BEFORE 1945
The Keller Company was particularly interested in making a dense and
strong concrete by employing a completely new method, as proposed by
Wilhelm Degen and Sergey Steuermann. Their idea was simple, but the
effect was novel and startling (Johann Keller GmbH, 1935).
The basic principle of the new method is shown by two simple model
tests (Figure 2.1):
1. A steel box is filled with concrete aggregate that is compacted by a
vibrator situated at the surface while simultaneously a cement suspension is pumped with a moderate pressure through a pipe ending in the
lower layer; the cement suspension rises slowly and steadily through
the aggregate to the surface—an ideal concrete pulp and, after setting, a particularly strong and dense concrete is created this way, at a
very economical cement consumption.
DOI: 10.1201/9781315372341-2
Chapter 2
A history of vibratory
deep compaction
An overview of the development of ground improvement by deep vibratory compaction started in Germany between the two world wars. The
worldwide economic crisis from 1929 to 1931 had a severe impact on the
German construction industry. The absence of profits prevented badly
needed investment. Mass unemployment reached to more than 30% and
paralyzed economic activity. Farsighted personalities, however, looked
into new working and construction methods at a time when the government under Chancellor Heinrich Brüning (1885–1970) tried to mitigate the
worst misery by job-generating measures such as the first program to build
highways, which was then intensified under the Hitler regime after 1933.
In this context, the need to compact large quantities of concrete, sand, and
gravel was the motive for numerous engineers to look for better and more
efficient methods.
2.1 THE VIBRO FLOTATION METHOD AND FIRST
APPLICATIONS BEFORE 1945
The Keller Company was particularly interested in making a dense and
strong concrete by employing a completely new method, as proposed by
Wilhelm Degen and Sergey Steuermann. Their idea was simple, but the
effect was novel and startling (Johann Keller GmbH, 1935).
The basic principle of the new method is shown by two simple model
tests (Figure 2.1):
1. A steel box is filled with concrete aggregate that is compacted by a
vibrator situated at the surface while simultaneously a cement suspension is pumped with a moderate pressure through a pipe ending in the
lower layer; the cement suspension rises slowly and steadily through
the aggregate to the surface—an ideal concrete pulp and, after setting, a particularly strong and dense concrete is created this way, at a
very economical cement consumption.
DOI: 10.1201/9781315372341-2