When you think about it, urban infrastructure is crucial to our economy. Urban infrastructures help people commute to and from work and home, offer public facilities, assist with waste management, and traffic monitoring, among many other things. The heartbeat of our communities, urban infrastructure, enables us to live our day-to-day lives while having an organized system in place. Therefore, keeping these structures safe and ensuring they’re structurally sound is crucial to ensuring our communities thrive and keep people safe.
Unfortunately, urban infrastructures, like any other building or structure, can settle and show wear and tear over time. Whether a transportation network, government facility, or university, urban frameworks require ongoing maintenance to remain structurally sound for the public. One of the best ways to keep these buildings and systems safe is polyjacking. Continue reading to learn about some innovative applications of polyjacking urban infrastructure and how this concrete leveling technique keeps public buildings and systems safer.
What is Polyjacking?
Polyjacking is a smart way to fix uneven or cracked concrete—like concrete steps, driveways, or patios—by gently lifting it back into place. It works by injecting a special foam underneath the surface, which expands to raise the concrete and make it level again.
This method is long-lasting because it also strengthens the ground underneath, helping prevent future sinking or shifting. Unlike tearing out and replacing concrete (which creates a lot of mess and waste in public places), polyjacking is cleaner, faster, and eco-friendly.
The polyurethane foam used is safe for the environment—it doesn’t release any harmful chemicals into the soil or air after it hardens. Plus, it’s maintenance-free, unlike older methods like mudjacking, which often need repairs or need to be repeated later on. We may be biased, but there’s a fascinating science behind polyjacking that makes it a clear winner when it comes to concrete leveling techniques.
Innovative Applications of Polyjacking Urban Infrastructures
Polyjacking is used in many urban infrastructures thanks to its long-lasting results and stabilization benefits. Below are just a few of the many innovative applications of polyjacking urban infrastructure:
Parking Deck Leveling
For buildings and businesses in downtown areas, like Kansas City, parking decks are used daily by consumers, clients, and business owners. They must be structurally sound to support the weight of the vehicles parked inside the structure and the constant flow of traffic through the parking deck.
Polyjacking can realign and support a heavy concrete parking deck and never requires a shutdown for long periods. Because the foam expands and settles quickly and the soil is fortified, polyjacking for parking deck leveling is an excellent way to fix slab settlement issues in public places.
Railway Repairs
Did you know that Kansas City ranks as one of the country’s top five busiest railways by freight volume and serves as a major hub for both cargo and passenger transportation? Because there’s so much railway traffic here in Kansas City, the railway crossings can settle and pose serious safety risks. Polyjacking railway crossings levels the concrete, allowing train stations to keep all tracks in place for this innovative concrete leveling solution.
Historical Building Foundation Stabilization
From historic theaters and train stations, there’s a plethora of historical buildings in the Kansas City Metro. These buildings adhere to strict guidelines set by historic preservation commissions or boards, ensuring that updates and construction are regulated.
Polyjacking historical buildings stabilizes the foundation without compromising the beautiful historic structure and offering long-lasting results. The result? A historical building is preserved while becoming more structurally sound for visitors, without compromising the building’s design or structure.
Rapid Response Stabilization of Roadways & Bridges
When you think of how many people commute to and from the city and surrounding areas, it’s easy to understand why our public roadways and bridges need frequent repairs. Roadways and bridges are structurally sound, but after years of heavy vehicles driving on and over them, the concrete will wear down, causing spalling and unlevel concrete.
Polyjacking provides a rapid response stabilization of roadways and bridges, making them level after damage or wear and tear. In addition to fortifying the soil underneath the roadway or bridge, polyjacking is innovative because of its ability to resist erosion.
Pro Polyjacking’s Urban Infrastructure Case Study: Preschool Transformation
With experience from thousands of polyjacking urban infrastructure projects, we’re excited to highlight one particular success story- showing the full process from beginning to end. In this case study, we’ll walk you through a preschool renovation we completed in 2022.
Our transformation began with an initial assessment to understand the issues, our client’s goals, and how we can fix them and make the preschool steps level and safe for children. The slope of the walkways leading to the playground was a trip hazard and needed immediate repair.
Next, we created the injection sites, tiny holes that allow us to inject our polyurethane foam directly underneath the unlevel concrete. We were as quiet and discreet as possible, understanding that the sidewalk needed leveling quickly so the children could access the playground. We then injected our polyurethane foam, which leveled the walkway, ensuring there were no gaps or cracks.
We finished by cleaning up and patching the injection sites, making it look as good as new. The children had a safe walkway to access the playground, making it a successful polyjacking urban infrastructure project!
Trust Pro Polyjacking, Kansas City’s Premier Polyjacking Company for Over 30 Years, for Your Urban Infrastructure Project
Trust the pros at Pro Polyjacking for your urban infrastructure project. Our process for polyjacking commercial and industrial spaces stabilizes the soil, lifts concrete, eliminates cracks, and levels your concrete structures, keeping employees and the general public safer.
Cracks, unlevel spots, spalling, and other damages are unsightly, especially if they go unrepaired. Trust the team at Pro Polyjacking in Kansas City for your concrete repair now, regardless of the season. Contact our team for more information about polyjacking urban infrastructure!