Campbell Factory, Cheong Chan | Malaysia

Voids under the factory

Aside from being a worldwide supermarket brand, the Campbell Company became an American icon when Andy Warhol designed the classic red-and-white print his series of Campbell’s canned soups.

Canned soup is produced in the Cheong Chan (Hup Kee) Sdn. Bhd. factory in Malaysia, the first production site in Southeast Asia. As a multinational food company, this factory operates around the clock at it’s peak.

Built in 1995, after 25 years of operation the foundation and drainage design are now known to be vulnerable. Inadequate drainage design and localized leakages became the biggest factor in creating voids below the factory base slab.

Supposing the ground is backfilled with leachable granular materials, leakages of the drainage system are critical in further developing voids and contributing to ground settlement. Therefore identifying and assessing the voids below the Campbell Cheong Chan factory is vital to enable an effective remediation.

Non-destructive solution

In accordance with the aim of the study, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was implemented to model the ground beneath the slabs within the routine production line buildings and warehouses.

GPR results revealed possible disbonding at several locations below the slab, which must be investigated further.

The GPR tool assisted our client to define an optimized destructive drilling campaign, at the exact location of the GPR anomalies.

The GPR surveys were carried out in parallel to the production lines, with minimal disruption for the routine activtity of the factory.