ABOUT US
Our experience and core values of work ethic, education, and innovation create a strong foundation for every project.
Our origins date back to the late 1980s when a group of contractors, business leaders, and academics created a method to contain nuclear hazardous waste using freezing techniques. Since then, we have developed this technology and expanded its uses to foundation shoring, shaft shoring, underpinning, cofferdams, groundwater cut-off, slope stabilization, and the containment of contaminated soil and groundwater.
SoilFreeze has advanced and refined freeze technology, allowing our systems to be mobile, reusable, and expandable. Taking the time to ensure the needs of all our clients, including small or urban locations, has continued to develop SoilFreeze’s extensive list of successful projects and satisfied clients.
We serve both private and public sectors designing, fabricating, installing, and maintaining customized freeze systems for each client’s needs. The system can be maintained for a few weeks, several years, or even decades.
The current company, SoilFreeze, Inc., was formed in 2010, bringing one of the nation’s top design engineering teams “in-house”. Continually improving their design and construction capabilities, SoilFreeze, Inc. is now known for their expertise, versatility, and mobility.
The most recent and widely used SoilFreeze, Inc. patented technology gives them the ability to save their client’s and tax payer’s money by concentrating their freeze process on target areas deep below the ground surface while avoiding freezing the soil layers above them:
# US 2013/0277017 A1 - ZoneFreeze (issued 10/24/2013, 12 claims) C.I.P.
SoilFreeze also developed and obtained the following U.S. Patents:
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#4,860,544-CRYOCELL (issued Aug. 29, 1989, 84 claims),
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#4,974,425-CRYOCELL (issued Dec. 4, 1990, 24 claims) C,
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#5,050,386-ISOCELL (issued Sept. 24, 1991, 24 claims) C.I.P.,
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#5,324,137-CRYOSWEEP (issued June 28, 1994, 35 claims),
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#5,507,149-CRYOCELL (issued Apr. 16, 1996, 19 claims),
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#5,551,799-CRYOSWEEP (issued Sept. 3, 1996, 32 claims) C.I.P
COMPANY HISTORY AND PATENTS
In 1986, Ron Krieg, our company founder, developed and patented soil freezing applications for the containment of dangerous contaminates such as radioactive waste. Krieg’s extensive construction experience for Bechtel Corporation and the loyalty of people whom he had come to know in the industry laid the foundation for our company today.
James Quitslund, a Harvard Graduate and Oxford Rhoads Scholar, joined Krieg in developing and marketing his patented technology to “Super Fund” sites such as Hanford, Savanna River, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos National Laboratories, and others. Krieg and Quitslund paved the way to eight U.S. patents, seven of which relate to the use of frozen soil for containment, isolation, mobilization, removal and/or remediation of hazardous or radioactive materials in the earth. RKK, Ltd. was also granted patents in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, India, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, and Taiwan in partnership with the University of Washington, RKK, Ltd.
In 1998, RKK-SoilFreeze Technologies was formed introducing ground freezing into the civil construction market. RKK-SoilFreeze Technologies merged with Cascadia Civil, Inc (a Seattle based civil construction company) in 2002. Their combined strength, expertise, and equipment allowed the company to expand its service.
GROUND FREEZING HISTORY
Artificial ground freezing dates back to the mid-19th century. Major deposits of coal, ash, salt, nickel, lead, and gold would still be inaccessible if it weren't for freezing technology. First being used in the minning industry for access shafts, it still remains the best method for sinking deep shafts into watering bearing soils.
The first ground freezing techniques, while effective, were costly and time consuming. Only projects that could bear the cost of major refrigeration plant construction and expensive drilling were able to benefit from this technology.
As freezing and drilling technology advanced, more applications in civil construction emerged. In the 1950s, still expensive and not easily transportable, ground freezing became known as the “problem solver” for the most difficult construction projects. Construction issues with extremely difficult soil conditions could be, and were, remedied with great success.
Nowadays, ground freezing is used worldwide for both civil and mining applications. Shafts from several feet to over 2,000 feet deep have been constructed using freezing as the only method of shoring and water cut-off. Foundation shoring, cofferdams, underpinning, and temporary access roads using ground freezing have become increasingly more common.
In the 1990s, responding to industry needs, SoilFreeze took the lead in developing environmental and hazardous waste containment applications for soil freezing. Today, a large percentage of our projects have an environmental aspect that is effectively solved by our freeze system.
SAFETY
At SoilFreeze, we are dedicated to creating safe working environments, whether our employees are at our storage yard, the office, or on a project site. Having no time-loss claims with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries is something we are extremely proud of. Prior to each project, we review our health and safety plan in order to keep up-to-date on changing safety standards. We always verify the our health and safety plan will meet or exceed all requirements of the general contractor or owner before we begin the project. All of our SoilFreeze technicians either are or can be trained and certified in the following courses:
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OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPER
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OSHA 8-hour Annual HAZWOPER Refresher
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Confined Space Entry
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Fall Protections
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Electrical Safety
Our method of freezing soil is both reliable and safe. We use expert soil freezing engineers from bid until demobilization. The SoilFreeze Engineers use data from computerized thermal analysis, plaxis structural analysis, actual soil data, site conditions, and their years of experience to create a professionally stamped design report. Special regard is given to project specific requirements, such as excavation dimensions and schedules. The design report then becomes our plan for installation of the freeze system and monitoring instruments. Our technicians monitor wall temperatures and closely examine all components of our system throughout the project. Excavation will not begin until one of our engineers has reviewed all data and declared in writing that the wall is sufficiently formed. Throughout this entire process, our team is in constant communication with the engineer.