Soil Nail Launcher, Inc. is a specialty contracting firm operating throughout the United States. Our expertise, proprietary tools and technologies, worldwide reach, and design/build/warranty service allow us to repair virtually any slope stability problem in any kind of geologic setting. With our innovative approaches to slope stabilization, it is possible to cut costs in half and completion time by 90%, compared to traditional landslide repairs!
The Soil Nail Launcher Team
The Soil Nail Laucher, Inc. team includes some of the most experienced and well trained experts in civil engineering, geology, construction managment, and marketing in the industry. Together with our market leading partners, Soil Nail Launcher, Inc. continues to solve the most challenging slope stability problems across the globe. You can find more information about our staff and partners at the following links. - Our Team | Our Partners
The Soil Nail Launcher
The Soil Nail Launcher is a declassified British military cannon that can accelerate a 1.5 inch diameter, 20 foot long steel bar to 220 miles per hour. As these high speed projectiles enter the earth, a shock wave is generated at the tip that causes the soil particles to “jump away”. The bar enters the earth without significant abrasion. The soil particles then collapse onto the bar, providing surprisingly high pullout resistance -- many times greater than for driven bars and rods.
The Soil Nail Launcher is typically mounted on a tracked excavator. It can be mounted on about any vehicle or crane basket frame. It weighs about 2 tons, making it portable and able to reach remote locations.
About any type of bar can be shot into the ground. We can use solid steel, threaded bar or hollow bars that can act as drains and also provide tensile capacity. We can galvanize the bars. We can shoot fiberglass nails. We can pump grout into hollow bars to add capacity and strength. We can add mesh and plates to a Launched Nail array or spray on a shotcrete facade.
Applications for Launched Soil Nails include shallow landslide mitigation, slope repair, failed piling / retaining wall repair, headscarp repair, historic rock wall repair, temporary shoring / excavation support, horizontal drains, scour remediation, ground anchors and tiebacks, cut slope stabilization, road widening, vertical drains, landslip repair, slump repair and vertical gas venting.
History of The Soil Nail Launcher
The Soil Nail Launcher was first used to repair road and railroad-related landslides in the United Kingdom and Western Europe in 1989. In 1992, the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Highway Administration, in conjunction with four state highway departartments brought the Launcher to the United States and repaired eight demonstration sites in Washington, California, Oregon, and Colorado. The USFS and the FHWA joint published a two-volume design manual at the conclusion of the project. In 2001, Bob Barrett and Al Ruckman purchased both Launcher units and founded Soil Nail Launcher, Inc. In conjunction with SNL's internatonal partners, the Soil Nail Launcher has repaired hundreds of landslides in 22 states, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, Canada, and New Zealand.