The Rapid Impact Compaction (RIC) system uses an excavator-mounted, 7.5-9 ton hydraulic weight that is repeatedly dropped on a 1.5 m tamper foot to densify sand soils up to 6-7 m deep. This process is an equivalent alternative to bulk excavation and engineered fill.Improve up to 6-7m depth for the treatment of sand, silty sand, and fills for low-to-moderate bearing capacities.

RIC is a high-frequency, controlled energy, soil compaction technique used to densify surface layers of soils (to a depth of 5 to 7 meters in most cases) with minimum impact on the immediate worksite environment. Rapid Impact Compaction is widely used to densify loose granular soils (sand or gravel) as well as loam fill and industrial brownfield sites for surface compaction, foundations and floor slab support, liquefaction mitigation and waste stabilisation.

The RIC technology is the modern approach for compacting existing soils that would otherwise be excavated and compacted using a conventional roller compactor in layers of 15 to 30cm.

Energy is transferred to the underlying loose granular soils rearranging the particles into a denser formation. RIC can effectively densify up to 4-5m of soils without excavation, adding water or dewatering. It can also be used for fill compaction, which can place in bulk fill materials and compact it accordingly without adding any water.

For large infrastructure developments, RIC takes the lead due to its speed of execution that makes it much more cost effective than other alternatives.

Control: the machine is accurately controlled from the excavator cab and the degree of compaction is electronically monitored,

Safety: the impact foot is in contact with the ground at all times and eliminates the risk of flying debris. Unlike conventional dynamic compaction, other activities can take place in close proximity,

Quality assurance: the impact energy and soil deflection are recorded by an on-board computer for presentation of compaction data to site managers. Results can verify work done to the client. The data can also highlight weak zones where extra fill is required, or zones where underground obstructions were present (eg. previously hidden old foundations),

Mobilisation: the RIC units are mounted on CAT 45 ton and CAT 85 ton excavators and can be mobilised within minutes of arrival on site,

Speed & cost: due to the fast ground coverage and the compaction efficiency, RIC generates a significant cost and time saving over conventional dynamic compaction methods with up to 75% cost and 100% time savings.

The Rapid Impact Compaction for the soil improvement uses a hydraulic hammer mounted on an excavator. The hammer with a weight ranging from 5 up to 12 tons is dropped freely from a height of 1.2 m on a large circular foot. Impacts repeated at a rate ranging from 40 up to 60 blows per minute plunge the steel foot creating a crater.

The control system installed in the operator’s cab allows for controlling the compaction process and recording the parameters such as impact energy or foot penetration. It can also be used to change the height from which the hammer is dropped.

The compaction in the RIC technology is usually preceded by creating a test plot where the compaction is performed for various spacing and rates of blows. Then, the local compaction of the improved soil is tested and the optimal grid spacing and the number of blows per one point is determined. Depending on the soils, the number of blows varies between 10 and 40 per one point.