Renovation and the Home

LECA® LWA can be used in all elements of construction from foundations to chimney fill.

Civils & Infrastructure

Leca® LWA is used extensively as a lightweight aggregate for civil engineering and structural applications, such as Rail, Highways and Bridges.

Water Management and Reducing Gas Emissions

Leca LWA can be used to manage the rainwater from a catchment. Water interacts with Leca LWA in a way that allows the material to provide water detention.

Drainage

Efficient drainage of the structural layers of a road, artificial turf, soil or highway development can prevent loss of load bearing properties caused by water and will provide effective drainage throughout the civil engineering project’s lifetime.

Leca® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate WILL INTERCEPT PERCOLATING WATER AND WATER RISING BY CAPILLARY ACTION AND THE WATER AWAY FROM THE UPPER CONSTRUCTION LAYERS TO IMPROVE LOAD BEARING CAPACITY.

Using free draining LECA® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate as a structural material within a civil engineering development will intercept the percolating water and water rising by capillary action from the sub-formations and direct the rising water away from the upper construction layers to improve load bearing capacity.

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Protect Piping Systems

Water drainage system can be difficult when the drain runs across a soft soil site. Leca® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate can be used as a light weight pipe surround to reduce the pressure to the underlying soils and minimize the likelihood of irregular settlement.

The most cost-effective solution is to use the LECA® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate structure to achieve several goals at the same time. For example,LECA® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate is applied as a fill material to reduce the load of the fill structure, but an adequately thick layer of Leca® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate also provides thermal insulation, capillary water break, and drainage of overlaying structural layers, while also improving bearing capacity properties.

Avoiding Subgrade Reinforcement

The benefits of LECA® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate in areas that usually require deep trenches is especially significant for soft soil conditions, where shallower excavation can reduce or eliminate retaining structures altogether that would otherwise be needed to support a deep trench. In addition, other subgrade reinforcement measures can be reduced or avoided altogether.

Freezing Conditions

In Finland where our Finnish colleagues experience severe freezing conditions, water retention and frost penetration are of prime concern during highway design in an attempt to avoid frost heave and long term maintenance costs. Along with frost insulation, LECA® Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate is used for drainage purposes in the same structure.

Materials used in road construction layers, and the total thickness of these layers can be dimensioned based on their frost and load resistance.