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K-Krete® Flowable Fill

From its revolutionary invention in the 1960s, Gerken’s K-Krete has become a worldwide-used and specified product.

Engineered and perfected by Kuhlman Corporation, K-Krete Controlled-Density Fill (CDF) is a unique concrete-based product offered throughout Gerken’s ready-mix division.

K-Krete is a flowable fill that does not require compaction, does not shrink or settle, and is competitive with compacted, granular fill.

K-Krete is an alternative to compacted aggregates and other materials for backfilling around pipes, conduits, sewers/culverts, pilings, and foundation walls. It can also be a subbase for floor slabs and similar structural components.

K-Krete combines the cost advantages of granular fill with the structural strength of backfilling by fluid, hydraulic materials. Utilizing a unique blend of cement, water, and pozzolanic materials, K-Krete is perfect for individual job requirements, with the primary design considerations being strength, durability, and density.

Decades of bridges, sewer systems, underground utility lines, floor slabs, and basement walls throughout Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan owe the strength and stability of their foundations to K-Krete Controlled-Density Fill.

Nothing else performs as well as K-Krete.

Here’s what K-Krete offers:

  • Versatility. Use K-Krete everywhere you now use compacted soil-testing or aggregates: backfilling trenches, building foundations, paving subbase, floor fills, pipe bedding, culverts, shoring, pilings, underpinning, pavement restoration, and special uses such as filling abandoned tanks and sewers or as a structural stabilizer to reduce settlement.
  • Uniformity. K-Krete has a density range of 100-150 pounds per cubic foot, and you can select strengths from 50–1400 psi. Test K-Krete using most ASTM standard soil testing procedures.
  • Workability. K-Krete flows in any weather, distributing quickly and evenly around pipes and footings. Yet it can be easily removed or excavated without shoring for utility repairs or building alterations. K-Krete is poured directly from the ready-mix truck in a highly fluid, even, and smooth state and is pumpable using conventional concrete pumping equipment. No finishing is required.
  • Durability. K-Krete is not corrosive. It exerts similar hydraulic pressures as gravel, yet it has better bearing capacity. It prevents cracks and other surface failures by reducing settlement and provides uniform density without segregation. K-Krete offers full support in critical areas and offers high lateral resistance when there are changes in pipe dimensions.
  • Economy. Since no granular fill is required when you backfill with K-Krete, there’s no need for a labor crew to move aggregate into place or to compact material. No stockpiling of fill or conventional spreading is needed. No contractor equipment needs to be tied up. No leveling. No shoring. No pipe damage. No long wait for materials to settle because K-Krete supports normal loads in as little as four hours after pouring, depending on weather and site conditions.
  • Environmentally Friendly. K-Krete is environmentally sound. It preserves the earth’s resources of valuable and increasingly scarce aggregates for more essential applications. With K-Krete, you save the environment while saving construction time and labor.

When you add up all these features, you’ll find that K-Krete is the best value for your backfill needs.

K-Krete is the “missing link” between standard granular fill and concrete. Any other approach will take longer and cost more.

We are one of the largest ready-mixed concrete producers for residential, commercial, or industrial projects.

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