Yalibims: feather light but stable foundation material

It is feather light yet very stable, does not shatter under load and is highly permeable to water. Over 3 million tons of Yalibims have already found their way into the Dutch GWW sector.  

Yalibims has been used for 25 years in the Netherlands in earthworks, road construction and hydraulic engineering in settlement-sensitive areas for the construction of road foundations, the backfilling of sewer trenches, as an addition behind sheet pile constructions, as water storage under water passing paving, as roof garden substrate or as sports technical layer NOCNSF-M 24.a. The material has also been used for decades in utility construction as an aggregate for making lightweight concrete blocks and filling crawl spaces, because of its favorable weight and excellent insulation value. 

Peatlands

The chemical composition of Yalibims, the result of its eruptive form, has a silicon content of 70%. This makes Yalibims particularly resistant to weathering and exceptionally suitable for processing in acidic conditions, such as peatlands. The volcanic material, from the Greek island of Yali, is very easy to process and requires hardly any compaction. When the material is driven into the cunet with a shovel and compacted, sufficient compaction is created to drive over it again with a truck. The compaction to be achieved is usually achieved with one rolling pass. Yalibims consist largely of crushed material and are sieved and delivered in accordance with CE certification. The most common dimensions for the Dutch market are 0/16 mm and 0/31.5 mm.

Low LA Coefficient

Yalibims has a dry loose poured volume weight of about 600 kg/m3, a compacted dry volume weight of about 700 kg/m3 and will weigh about 850-900 kg/m3 when compacted on the job including natural moisture content. The crushing factor (LA Coefficient 34) is extremely low, especially for a lightweight building material, and is comparable to masonry rubble. In the Netherlands, a maximum LA Coefficient of 60 is used for stone mix foundation materials. Partly because of this, it is possible to asphalt directly on Yalibims. Due to the large hook resistance of the grains, Yalibims has a high bearing capacity with CBR value of approximately 30-50%. 

With a water absorption between 20% and 30%, Yalibims has a very low underwater weight with a load on the substrate of about 100 kg/m3. By comparison, the underwater weight of sand is 950 kg/m3. Along with its high load-bearing capacity, Yalibims is often used as an addition behind water retaining structures.

Because in road construction not only lightweight is sufficient, but one must also take into account crushing, bearing capacity and water absorption, Yalibims is the solution to build sustainable road foundations and sewer trenches. New Way Trading BV can supply unlimited (still 110 million tons) Yalibims from stock including environmental certificates in accordance with the Soil Quality Decree by barge or by truck throughout the Netherlands.