Where significant grout losses occur (e.g.

in heavily fractured or voided ground

and where the surrounding ground has a high permeability) it might not be
feasible to satisfactorily fill the annulus between the access casing and the
ground with grout. In these circumstances the annulus may be filled with a
granular material (e.g. pea gravel). Care should be taken to ensure satisfactory
backfilling and restraint are provided. Consideration should be given to drilling
larger diameter boreholes so that there is sufficient annular space to prevent
bridging of the gravel.
Table 35 Typical cement-bentonite grout mixes for inclinometers and extensometers

Applications Medium to high strength Soft soils and extensometers

soils
Materials Volume/mass Ratio by Volume/mass Ratio by
weight weight
Water 60 L -2.5 50 L 6.6
Ordinary 25 kg -1.0 8 kg 1.0
Portland
cement
Bentonite 7 kg ~0.3 3 kg 0.4
Notes The 28 day compressive The 28 day compressive
strength of this mix is strength of this mix is
about 350 kPa and the about 28 kPa.
Young's modulus is
about 69 MPa.
NOTE Adapted from Mikkelsen, 2002 [127].

The weight of the inclinometer access casing is much less than the equivalent
upward force exerted on the bottom of the casing by the grout, which means
that the casing quickly becomes buoyant and starts to float in the grout. This
should be countered by filling the inclinometer access casing with water as it is
installed or placing a heavy rod (e.g. an SPT rod) inside the casing. If, however,
the annulus between the casing and the ground is filled to the top (i.e. the
surface) with grout, the weight of a water-filled tube is unlikely to be sufficient
to counter the uplift force and in such circumstances either an anchorage system
should be used at the bottom of the casing or the annulus should be filled in
two or more stages. Once grout has set around the bottom of the inclinometer
access casing and it is effectively isolated from the effect of the pressure
generated by the grout that is added to the annulus, it ought to be possible to
fill the annulus to the top without the casing rising due to buoyancy. Weight
should never be applied to the top of the inclinometer access casing to counter
the effect of the buoyancy, as this causes the casing to buckle and leads to a
reduction in the quality of the resulting measurements.
Each inclinometer access casing should be installed with one pair of grooves
orientated in the direction of the expected movement (e.g. up/down a slope and
towards the excavation for a diaphragm wall). Orientation of the casing should
be done before any grout is placed inside the borehole or void former. The
casing should never be rotated inside the borehole or void former after the
grout has been added to the annulus as this might cause the casing to become
spiralled or misaligned. If none of the grooves are aligned with the direction of
likely movement, the casing should be left in the same orientation and the
measurements should be resolved to determine the displacements.