Ground Improvement Case Histories: Embankments with Special Reference to Consolidation and Other Physical Methods

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Preface

It has been almost ten years since the first book on Ground Improvement - Case Histories (Indraratna and Chu) was published by Elsevier. Since then there has been a substantial number of major projects and case studies reported in various parts of the world in all areas of Ground Improvement.

Ground improvement has been both a science and art, with significant developments observed through ancient history. From the use of straw as blended infill with soils for additional strength during the ancient Roman civilizations, and the use of elephants for compaction of earth dams during the early Asian civilizations, the modern concepts such as vacuum preloading for soft soil consolidation have come a long way. Ground improvement works have become increasingly challenging when problems of soft and weak estuarine clays, highly compressible peats, offshore marine muds and sensitive clays have to be addressed for infrastructure development. The use of large and stiff stone columns and sand drains in the past has now been replaced by quicker to install and more effective prefabricated vertical drains, which have eliminated the need for more expensive soil improvement methods and have also reduced the intensity of piling in clay foundations and associated costs. The selection and application of effective consolidation and other physical techniques would also reduce the long-term settlement including creep of deep soft soil deposits.

The first Book of this Ground Improvement Series, Embankments with Special Reference to Consolidation and Other Physical Methods, is divided into 2 major themes:

1. Preloading, Vertical Drains and Vacuum Application (15 Chapters)

2. Sand and Gravel Piles, Stone Columns and Other Rigid Inclusions (11 Chapters)

This Book contains a collection of specialised chapters written by invited experts from both academia and practice in various areas of ground improvement, illustrating the basic concepts and the applications of different ground improvement techniques via real-life projects. Case histories from many countries ranging from Asia, America, Australia and Europe are addressed insightfully and in detail. As a whole, different soils or ground materials are discussed by about 50 authors and co-authors including slurry, soft clays, sands, tailings and waste materials. Various ground improvement techniques that seek to enhance the engineering properties of soil to achieve the desired project goals are also presented. Most chapters provide an overview of the specific technology followed by applications, and in some cases, comprehensive back analysis through numerical modelling is also presented. Environmental and economic advantages are also addressed as warranted. An extensive list of references is provided at the end of each chapter.

We are most grateful for all authors and co-authors whose efforts when put together have produced this comprehensive volume of well-described case histories, which reflect a balanced international expert view on ground improvement. The support and inspiration received from the members of ISSMGE-TC211 over many years is gratefully acknowledged. In particular, the Editors wish to thank Serge Varaksin, Prof Sven Hansbo, Vasantha Wijeyakulasuriya, Prof Dennes Bergado, Prof A. S. Balasubramaniam, Dr Myint Win Bo, Prof John Carter, Prof Robert Lo, Geoff McIntosh, Prof Shuwang Yan, Prof Hanlong Liu, Prof Serge Leroueil, Prof Harry Poulos, Dr Richard Kelly, Dr Jay Amaratunga, Babak Hamidi, Prof Norbert Morgenstern, Prof Sarah Springman, Prof Jean-Louis Briaud, Prof Anand Puppala, Prof Pedro Pinto, Prof Marcio Almeida, Prof Colin Leung, Prof Maosong Huang, Prof Roger Frank, Prof Noël Huybrechts, Prof Kerry Rowe and Dr Venu Raju among others for their support, technical suggestions and encouragement on various occasions.

The dedicated help of Mr. Ken McCombs (Elsevier) for his enthusiastic assistance during publishing of this Ground Improvement Case Histories Series is appreciated. The assistance of Bill Clayton and Manori Indraratna during the final copy editing and proof reading of various Chapters is also appreciated.

Buddhima Indraratna

Jian Chu

Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Part One

Preloading, Vertical Drains, and Vacuum Application

Chapter 1

Recent Advances in Soft Soil Consolidation

Buddhima Indraratna    Professor and Research Director, Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia

Abstract

Many metropolitan cities are situated along coastal belts, which are composed of very soft alluvial and marine clays. Because of low shear strength and high compressibility, the soft soils in these areas are not suitable for construction without appropriate ground improvement. To ensure stability during construction and reduce long-term settlements, it is necessary to implement a preconstruction technique in the soft soil site on which infrastructures are to be built. A common technique is to use prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs), which, combined with surcharge loading and vacuum, occurs before the construction of many essential coastal line infrastructures such as airports, railway tracks, and commercial buildings worldwide. This technique has been proved to be an effective way to expedite soft soil consolidation. Firstly, the radial drainage paths allowed by PVDs accelerate the dissipation of excess pore pressure under the surcharge loading. Secondly, negative pore pressure created by the vacuum accelerates the consolidation process as well as controlling lateral displacement. This chapter introduces the basic principles of PVDs combined with surcharge loading and vacuum, along with the illustration of two types of PVD systems: the membrane system and the membraneless system. The numerical conversion method from 3D to 2D and a constitutive model for soft soils under cyclic loading is presented, along with case histories of the Port of Brisbane, the Pacific Highway in Ballina, the Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Project in Australia, and the Tianjin Port in China. PVDs with vacuum-assisted preloading was utilized in each of these projects and has made significant contributions to preconstruction consolidation. Design charts are introduced for design of PVDs combined with surcharge loading and vacuum in industry.

Keywords

PVD

Surcharge

Vacuum

3D-to-2D Conversion

Constitutive Model

Cyclic Loading

Design Chart

Acknowledgments

This chapter is based on my 2009 E.H. Davis Memorial Lecture, and the relevant content has been reproduced here with kind permission from the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS). Much of the contents of this chapter are also elaborated in numerous issues of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Géotechnique, ASCE International Journal of Geomechanics, Ground Improvement—Case Histories (Elsevier, Indraratna and Chu (Eds.), 2005), and several keynote papers at various international conferences. Selected contents from some of these articles have been reproduced with kind permission.

I gratefully appreciate the help of Dr. Rui Zhong, Associate Prof. Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn, and Dr. Xueyu Geng during compiling and editing the vast amount of data from 15 years of research in vertical drains and vacuum preloading conducted at University of Wollongong (UOW). At least a dozen Ph.D. students, who I have had the pleasure of supervising, have contributed to the contents, as reflected by the cited references. A number of research projects on the application of vertical drains and vacuum preloading have been supported in the past and at present by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through Discovery and industry Linkage projects. My special thanks are conveyed to Vasantha Wijeyakulasuriya, Prof. Harry Poulos, Prof. (Bala) Balasubramaniam, Geoff McIntosh, Prof. Chu Jian, Dr. Jayantha Ameratunga, Prof. Dennes Bergado, Prof. Serge Leroueil, Prof. Jian-hua Yin, Dr. Richard Kelly, Prof. Chandra Desai, Dr. Ana Heitor, Dr. Jayan Vinod, Peter Boyle, Associate Prof. (Siva) Sivakugan, Dr. Brook Ewers, Henk Buys, Prof. Dave Potts, Prof. Gholamreza Mesri, Mark Adams, Prof. Scott Sloan, Prof. John Carter, Prof. Dave Chan, Prof. Sarah Springman, Daniel Berthier, Prof. Maosong Huang, Prof. R. Robinson, and Dr. Sanjay Nimbalkar, who have all helped during some stage of these projects over the years. Collaborations with industry through numerous projects have facilitated the application of theory to practice, and, in particular, the following organizations warrant sincere acknowledgment: Port of Brisbane Corporation, RTA (now RMS), Coffey Geotechnics, Douglas Partners, Arup, ARTC, Austress Menard, and Soilwicks. The support of the University of Wollongong under the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering, and the dedication of its technical staff, has been an influential factor. Alan Grant, in particular, has been involved with me in the design and building of in-house equipment that are unique for physical modeling of PVD and vacuum preloading simulation.

1.1 Introduction

Due to the rapid development of urbanization and the population increase along coastal lines, exploitation of undeveloped low-lying areas has became a necessary strategy for many countries (Indraratna et al., 1992; Indraratna, 2010). Many coastal cities, such as Brisbane and Ballina in Australia, and Tianjin in China, have to confront the common problems with very soft alluvial deposits. In the long-term, the postconstruction settlement, especially the differential settlement, may cause malfunctions or even damage to the infrastructures. In the short-term, ground failure is a very real hazard to the construction. These problems arise because of the low bearing capacity and high compressibility of soft clays. Thus, it is vital to apply proper ground improvement in these areas before the commencement of any construction to increase the shear strength of the soil as well as to avoid excessive postconstruction settlement.

Surcharge loading with multistaged embankment is a traditional and very successful soil treatment technique in soft soil consolidation. With enough consolidation time excess pore pressure can dissipate to a required extent and thus the surcharge load will be undertaken by the effective stress of the soils. This process both enhances the bearing capacity of the ground and completes a large part of settlement before the construction. It could be dangerous to apply the surcharge loading instantaneously, as failure of the ground may occur if the soil strength cannot bear the weight of the embankment. As a result, in most cases, the embankment is raised in a multistage effort, with designed intervals between stages (Jamiolkowski et al., 1983). However, because most soft clays have very low permeability, it may take a very long time to reach the desired degree of dissipation of excess pore pressure through the only permeable boundaries at the soft clay surface (and bottom if underlain by a high permeable granular layer). This could result in a sizable economic loss due to the delay of the construction schedule.

To allow radial drainage paths to be formed for a faster consolidation process, a number of optional techniques have been adopted in past industrial practices. These include sand drains, sand compaction piles, prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs), gravel piles, and stone columns. Compared to the addition of granular materials, the disadvantage of PVDs is that they do not have the necessary stiffness to provide reinforcement to soft soils. However, their advantages are more obvious and significant, including the avoidance of large lateral ground movements and a relatively low price. Moreover, PVDs are more environmentally friendly than granular materials without a consumption of quarries, which has a negative impact on the environment. Using well-designed mandrels, PVDs can be readily installed into moderate to highly compressible soils.

A meaningful assistant technique that can be combined with PVDs and surcharge preloading is the vacuum. Vacuum pressure is propagated into the PVD from a pump within a membrane system or membraneless system. The suction along the PVD accelerates the dissipation of the excess pore pressure induced by the surcharge loading, and thus reduces the time required to reach the designed degree of consolidation. Different from surcharge loading, the effect of the vacuum is isotropic which allows the soil particles to move inwardly in a lateral direction. This effect can partially neutralize the outward lateral movement of soils induced by the surcharge loading. Consequently, PVDs combined with surcharge loading and vacuum have become more and more popular in soft soil consolidation.

This chapter describes the fundamentals of vacuum-assisted consolidation, the concepts of 3D-to-2D conversion in numerical modeling, the constitutive model for soils under cyclic loading, the application of PVDs in past case histories, and design charts of PVDs for industrial convenience.

1.2 Principles of vacuum consolidation via prefabricated vertical drains

1.2.1 Fundamentals of vacuum preloading

The radial drainage paths formed by the existence of PVDs accelerate the consolidation and thus reduce the duration of the ground improvement process. Due to tight construction schedules, a higher embankment that is heavier than the weight of the planned infrastructure is always required to expedite the consolidation to an acceptable degree (usually more than 95%). This method is costly and can even be risky as instability can occur if the soil’s effective stress has not been increased enough at the time of a further surcharge increase. The use of vacuum can solve this problem, because it can increase effective stress by directly decreasing the excess pore pressure with no further increase of embankment surcharge. With PVDs, the vacuum can propagate into deep layers to consolidate the thick soft deposits in reclaimed land (Chu et al., 2000; Indraratna et al., 2005a). Vacuum preloading has been used extensively worldwide to accelerate soft soil consolidation, for example, the Philadelphia International Airport in the United States, Tianjin Port in China, the North–South Expressway in Malaysia, reclamation sites in Singapore and Hong Kong, and the Ballina Bypass and Port of Brisbane in Australia, among many other projects (Holtan, 1965; Choa, 1990; Jacob et al., 1994; Chu et al., 2000; Bergado et al., 2002; Yan and Chu, 2003).

As illustrated by Chu and Yan (2005) with the spring analogy shown in Fig. 1.1, the mechanism of the vacuum preloading is decreasing the pore pressure, rather than increasing the total stress. A comparison of the principles of conventional surcharge loading and vacuum preloading is depicted in Fig. 1.2. Another way that vacuum preloading differs from surcharge loading is that it increases the effective stress of the soils in an isotropic way (Qian et al., 1992). The soil particles tend to move inwardly under the suction. Hence, in ground treated by PVDs combined with surcharge and vacuum, the outward lateral movement caused by the surcharge can be offset by the effect of vacuum so that the risk of instability can be reduced. However, it is also important to avoid too great a tensile stress and unsaturated conditions caused by high vacuum loading.

Figure 1.1 Spring analogy of the vacuum consolidation process: (a) under fill surcharge; (b) under vacuum load. (Source: Adapted from Chu and Yan (2005)).

Figure 1.2 Consolidation process: (a) conventional loading, (b) idealized vacuum preloading. (Source: Inspired by Indraratna et al. (2005b)).

Currently, there are two types of PVD systems combined with surcharge loading and vacuum: the membrane system and membraneless system (Fig. 1.3). In the membrane system, the ground surface is covered by a sand blanket which contains a horizontal drainage network to distribute the suction uniformly. The drains are connected to pumps at the edge of a peripheral trench. To avoid the leak of vacuum pressure, a membrane is used to cover the sand blanket and it is sealed in the trench with a fill of bentonite slurry and water. A large area to be improved must be divided into several small areas because the membrane system does not work well in an excessively large areas. In this situation, cut-off walls are always needed.

Figure 1.3 Vacuum-assisted preloading system: (a) membrane system, (b) membraneless system. (Source: Geng et al. (2012), with permission from ASCE).

In the membraneless system, vertical drains are directly connected to vacuum pumps through drain collectors and horizontal tubes. As there is no concern of air leaks near the ground surface, only the loss of vacuum through the vertical drains needs to be considered for the assessment of the effectiveness of vacuum preloading. Disadvantages of the membraneless system are the higher installation time and cost compared to the membrane system. Analytical models for these two systems are shown in Fig. 1.4.

Figure 1.4 Analysis schemes of unit cell with vertical drain: (a) membrane system, and (b) membraneless system. (Source: Geng et al. (2012), with permission from ASCE).

1.2.2 Plane strain conversion in numerical modeling

Analytical models are generally useful for unit cell models, but are less so for overall cases. Full three-dimensional numerical modeling is possible for this problem, but its heavy computational burden may affect the efficiency of the simulation. Vertical drains are usually distributed regularly, such as in a triangle or square pattern. Hence, it is possible to convert a full three-dimensional finite element model into a plane strain model by a rule of conversion.

Based on the original theory of Indraratna and Redana (1997), Indraratna et al. (2005a) proposed an equivalent plane strain approach to simulate vacuum pressure for vertical drains, as shown in Fig. 1.5. In this theory, a three-dimensional model can be converted to equivalent plane strain conditions in any of the following three ways:

Figure 1.5 Conversion of an axisymmetric unit cell into plane strain condition. (Source: Indraratna et al. (2005a), with permission from ASCE).

1. Geometric approach, where the spacing of the vertical drains changes but the permeability of the soft clay remains constant

2. Permeability approach, where the permeability is changed to an equivalent value, but the drain spacing stays unchanged

3. Combined permeability and geometric approach, where the equivalent permeability is determined according to convenient drain spacing

Two types of vacuum distributions along a single drain for the equivalent plane strain model and axisymmetric model were compared by Indraratna et al. (2005a). It was found that for long drains it is more appropriate to consider the variation of the vacuum pressure with the depth. For relatively short drains, it is feasible to adopt a constant vacuum.

1.2.3 Cyclic behavior of soft soils

Conventional railway structures include the rail, sleeper, ballast, subballast, and subgrade. The dynamic stresses induced by the train propagate through the granular layers to the subgrade, which may consist of very soft clays. The behavior of the soft clays under the cyclic train loading is much different from that under monotonic loading. The most significant characteristic is that the development of the shear strain and excess pore pressure accumulate with the increase of the number of cycles.

Carter et al. (1980, 1982) extended the Modified Cam-Clay theory (Roscoe and Burland, 1968) by supplementing one additional parameter to capture the cyclic behavior of soft soils. According to this model, the yield surface contracts after the unloading procedure of each cycle. However, with this constant parameter, the contraction of the yield surface is independent of the number of cycles. For this reason, Ni et al. (2014) further developed this model by adding another parameter, through which the impact of the number of cycles is considered.

In the updated model, it is assumed that after each elastic unloading process, the yield surface retains its shape but reduces its size isotropically. As illustrated in Fig. 1.6, in the first loading procedure, the soil behaves elastically when the stress path moves from point A′ to point A. After the first unloading period, in which the stress path moves from point A to A*, the yield surface contracts and its size could be determined by the model of Ni et al. (2014). The loading period of the subsequent cycles can be divided into an elastic part and a plastic part. In the elastic part, the stress path travels from point A* to point B′ and the soil behaves elastically. In the plastic part, the stress path moves from point B′ to B and the yield surface expands.

Figure 1.6 The stress path for cyclic loading. (Source: Ni et al. (2014), with permission from ASCE).

1.3 Case histories

1.3.1 Port of Brisbane

The Port of Brisbane is situated at the mouth of the Brisbane River at Fisherman Islands. Due to the rapid development of trading activities, an expansion of the port, including an area of 235 ha, is to be progressively reclaimed over the next two decades. The soils for the reclamation are dredged from the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay shipping channels. The site of the port primarily contains a thick layer (over 30 m) of high compressibility and a layer of dredged soft soils (at least 7 m) capped with a sand layer. Under surcharge loading, it is estimated that it will take at least half a century for the reclaimed land to consolidate to an acceptable degree through only vertical drainage paths. Consequently, the technique of PVDs combined with surcharge or surcharge plus vacuum was selected to be trialed (Indraratna et al., 2011). The trial works were conducted by three contractors, Austress Menard, Van Oord, and Boskalis Cofra. The final layout of a typical trial area and the instrumentation plan is shown in Fig. 1.7. The typical soil properties are listed in Table 1.1.

Figure 1.7 S3A Trial Area: layout and detailed design specifications. (Source: Indraratna et al. (2011), with permission from ASCE).

Table 1.1

Typical soil properties at the Port of Brisbane

Source: Indraratna (2010).

Figure 1.8 gives the comparison of the lateral displacement histories normalized with the applied effective stress at two inclinometer positions (MS24 and MS34). From the comparison, it is observed that the lateral displacements were largest at a depth of around 13 m in the upper Holocene shallow clay depths, and decrease dramatically with depth below. The advantage of vacuum preloading in controlling lateral displacements can be easily observed via a comparison of the magnitude of lateral displacement in the membraneless BeauDrain system with vacuum (MS34) and the surcharge only section (MS24). The settlement and excess pore pressure histories of a typical settlement plate (TSP3) are shown in Fig. 1.9. The predictions are plotted along with the field data, and an agreement between them is found in terms of the settlement histories. Figure 1.9(b) shows a significantly faster dissipation of excess pore pressure in sand layers (sand platform and Holocene sand) than in soft soils (dredged mud and Holocene clay).

Figure 1.8 Comparison of lateral displacements in vacuum and nonvacuum areas. (Source: Indraratna (2010)).

Figure 1.9 (a) Settlement, and (b) excess pore water pressure predictions and field data for a typical settlement plate location. (Source: Indraratna (2010)).

To justify the stability in terms of lateral movement, a lateral displacement/settlement ratio (μ) is proposed. The rate of change of μ could be calculated in a small time increment and used to justify the stability of the ground. If this rate goes down, the soils are stable in terms of lateral movement; if the rate increases continuously, it implies that instability might occur because the development of lateral displacement is out of control. The rates of change μ are shown in Fig. 1.10 for two areas (WD3 with surcharge only and VC1 with vacuum). For WD3 with no vacuum, the rate of change of the lateral displacement/settlement ratio (μ) increases in the beginning period due to the application of surcharge loading. It decreases after the peak at about 70 days, showing the effect of dissipation of the excess pore pressure. In contrast, for the area of VC1 with a vacuum pressure of − 70 kPa, the rate is much smaller and remains almost unchanged. This shows that vacuum preloading has good control over the lateral movement.

Figure 1.10 Rate of change of lateral displacement/settlement ratio with time. (Source: Indraratna (2010)).

The residual settlement (RS) can be calculated with the theory of secondary consolidation and the secondary compression index Cα, given in Table 1.1. Details of the theory and computational methods are available in Mesri and Castro (1987) and Yin and Clark (1994). The relation between the RS and the thickness of the clay is shown in Fig. 1.11. An approximately linear relationship was observed and the overconsolidation ratio (OCR) varied between 1.1 and 1.4. Generally, the value of RS increased with an increase of the thickness of clay and the decrease of OCR. In the areas with vacuum (VC1-2, VC2-2, and VC2-3), the magnitude of RS was quite small for a large value of OCR (1.4). At an OCR of 1.3, the residual settlements of TA8 (membraneless BeauDrain consolidation) and VC1-5 (membrane type) were also under control.

Figure 1.11 Effect of OCR and clay thickness on residual settlement. (Source: Indraratna (2010)).

1.3.2 Ballina Bypass

The Ballina Bypass route was built to reduce local traffic jams in Ballina, New South Wales, Australia. The location of the route consists of very thick soft clays (more than 40 m) with considerably high compressibility. To reduce the time of ground improvement and ensure stability, PVDs combined with surcharge and vacuum preloading are being utilized to consolidate the soft soils before the construction. A trial embankment was built to the north of Ballina to evaluate the effectiveness of the technique in this area. The soil profile and corresponding parameters at this trial site are shown in Fig. 1.12. From the ground surface, the three layers in this field are a soft silty clay layer (about 10 m thick), a medium silty clay layer (about 20 m thick), and a firm clay layer. The groundwater level is approximately at the ground surface. The water contents of the soft and medium silty clays are from about 80–120%, reaching or exceeding the liquid limit. This water content indicates that the soils are fully saturated. From the in situ vane shear tests, the shear strength was found to be between 5 and 40 kPa. The compression index (Cc/(1 + e0)) was between 0.30 and 0.50 from the results of standard oedometer testing.

Figure 1.12 General soil profile and properties at Ballina Bypass. (Source: Indraratna et al. (2012)).

The membrane system of PVDs was adopted in this trial field and circular vertical drains with a diameter of 34 mm were installed in a square pattern with spacing of 1.0 m. The planar locations of the instruments—settlement plates (SP), inclinometers (I), and piezometers (P) are given in Fig. 1.13. In the vertical direction, the piezometers were placed at depths of 1 m, 4.5 m, and 8 m below the ground surface. Standard oedometer tests were carried out for the specimens of three subsoil layers sampled under SP12 (i.e. SP of No. 12); the results of the soil properties at this location are given in Table 1.2.

Figure 1.13 Instrumentation layout for the test embankments at Ballina Bypass. (Source: Indraratna et al. (2012)).

Table 1.2

Soil parameters at SP12 near Ballina, NSW

Source: Indraratna et al. (2012).

As shown in Fig. 1.13, the area was divided into two sections. In section A, only surcharge loading from the embankment was applied, while in section B, vacuum was implemented with the combination of surcharge loading. The height of the embankment changes from 4.3–8.7 m at the location, as the thickness of the soft clay layers varies remarkably at different positions, as given in Table 1.3. The vacuum preloading of − 70 kPa in section B was applied for 400 days and removed afterwards.

Table 1.3

Bottom level of soft clay layer at each settlement plate

Source: Indraratna et al. (2012).

The embankment heights, the measured settlements, and excess pore pressure histories are shown in Fig. 1.14. A vacuum gauge was placed inside the vertical drain to monitor the value of suction. It is observed that during the period of vacuum application, the pore pressure remains steady at about − 70 kPa, indicating a good prevention of air leak.

Figure 1.14 Embankment stage construction with associated settlements and excess pore pressures. (Source: Indraratna et al. (2012)).

Monitoring the lateral movement at the border of the embankment was very important in terms of instability. Figure 1.15(a) shows the change of the soil properties after vacuum application. As expected, within the thickness of the soft soils, the water content and compression index, as well as the void ratio, decrease after the application of vacuum. Figure 1.15(b) shows the lateral displacement along the depth measured by the inclinometers. Inclinometer I1 was placed at the edge of section A, where only surcharge was applied. Inclinometers I2, I3, and I4 were placed at the edge of section B, where vacuum was applied with surcharge loading. From Fig. 1.15(b), the maximum lateral displacement of I1 was remarkably larger than that of I2, I3, and I4. This indicates the significant advantage of vacuum in controlling the lateral movement and thus maintaining the stability.

Figure 1.15 (a) Soil properties before and after vacuum application, and (b) measured lateral displacement and lateral displacement normalized with embankment height. (Source: Indraratna et al. (2012)).

Numerical simulations were conducted to compute the settlement at the location of SP12. Both an axisymmetric (3D) model and an equivalent plane strain (2D) model were created. Figures 1.16(a) and (b) show the preloading schedule and ground surface settlement history, respectively. A good agreement was reached between the finite element results and the field data, showing the feasibility of the numerical methods. The agreement between the results of the 3D model and those of the 2D model validated the conversion from 3D model to plane strain model.

Figure 1.16 (a) loading history, and (b) consolidation settlements for settlement plate SP12. (Source: Indraratna et al. (2012)).

1.3.3 Tianjin Port

Tianjin Port above Bohai Bay is about 100 km from China’s capital, Beijing. Due to the development of the port, a new pier on reclamation land was required. At this site, the soil within 15 m from the ground surface was soft to very soft clays. As demonstrated by Rujikiatkamjorn et al. (2008), it needed to be improved before construction with a total surcharge preloading of more than 140 kPa. To ensure the stability and reduce the duration, the preloading was designed to be a combination of a fill of 50 kPa and a vacuum of 80 kPa. PVDs were installed with a length of 20 m and spacing of 1.2 m in a square pattern. A full 3D finite element model (FEM) was developed by the software Abaqus, as shown in Fig. 1.17. The figure shows that in the region improved by PVDs, the mesh was refined against the outside region. With the conversion method proposed by Indraratna et al. (2005a), a plane strain model was created to simulate the 3D problem, as shown in Fig. 1.18.

Figure 1.17 3D finite-element mesh: (a) Isometric view, (b) top view. (Source: Rujikiatkamjorn et al. (2008), with permission from ASCE).

Figure 1.18 2D finite-element mesh: (a) x  = 0 plane; (b) y  = 0 plane. (Source: Rujikiatkamjorn et al. (2008), with permission from ASCE).

Figure 1.19(a) shows the history of the surcharge preloading and the vacuum at Section II of this ground improvement site. The results of the surface settlement and excess pore pressure are given in Fig. 1.19(b), (c), and (d), and the lateral displacement history is shown in Fig. 1.20. The numerical results were found to agree with the field data, proving the feasibility of the finite element modeling. The consistence of the 2D and 3D results indicate that the conversion method is reliable in the numerical simulations.

Figure 1.19 (a) Loading history, (b) consolidation settlements, (c) pore pressure variation at 0.25 m away from embankment centerline (Section II): 5.5 m depth, (d) pore pressure variation at 0.25 m away from embankment centerline (Section II): 11.0 m depth (arrows indicate items when surcharge loads were applied). (Source: Rujikiatkamjorn et al. (2008), with permission from ASCE).

Figure 1.20 Lateral displacements at embankment toe (Section II at 180th day). (Source: Rujikiatkamjorn et al. (2008), with permission from ASCE).

1.3.4 Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Project

Kooragang Island in New South Wales, Australia, has become a major export terminal. To accommodate this, the Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Project was undertaken between Maitland and Newcastle to allow coal trains to enter Kooragang Island. PVDs were selected as an soil improvement technique to accelerate the dissipation of excess pore pressure under the dynamic train loading. Because the general influential depth of the train loading is 6–8 m, the length of the PVDs was selected to be 6 m. In accordance with Australian standard gauge operations, the frequency of the cyclic loading was chosen to be 5 Hz, and the amplitude of the load was determined to be 25 tons. The soil profile consists of three layers: ballast and fill, soil 1, and soil 2. Each layer was further divided into a number of sublayers, as shown in Fig. 1.21. Oedometer tests, as well as in situ tests (the vane shear test and the CPTU test (Cone Penetration Test with Piezometer Data)), were carried out to determine the soil properties of each sublayer.

Figure 1.21 Unit cell with combined vertical and radial consolidation: (a) three layers of the formation, (b) sublayers. (Source: Ni (2012)).

With the constitutive model for cyclic behaviors of the soil and the consolidation theory for PVDs, the settlement and the lateral movement were calculated. These are shown in Figs. 1.22 through 1.25.

Figure 1.22 Comparison of settlements at the centerline of rail tracks between the predictions and field data. (Source: Ni (2012)).

Figure 1.23 Surface settlements at the centerline of the rail load. (Source: Ni (2012)).

Figure 1.24 Comparison of lateral displacement near the rail embankment toe at 180 days. (Source: Ni (2012)).

Figure 1.25 Lateral displacement profiles near the toe of the embankment at 180 days. (Source: Ni (2012)).

Figure 1.22 shows the settlement at the centerline of the rail tracks. A good agreement is observed between the prediction and the field data, indicating the accuracy of the constitutive model. From Fig. 1.23 it is found that with the installation of PVDs, the consolidation process was accelerated dramatically. The consolidation process was more rapid if shorter spacing was selected. The lateral displacement at the embankment toe was monitored to prevent instability in terms of lateral movement. The good agreement between the prediction and the field data in Fig. 1.24 indicates the reliability of the analytical model. Figure 1.25 demonstrates that with PVDs, the lateral displacement at the embankment toe was reduced significantly, and thus the risk of instability was minimized.

1.4 Design charts for prefabricated vertical drains

For convenience in the industrial design of PVDs, Rujikiatkamjorn and Indraratna (2007) proposed design charts to determine the drain spacing. The steps for this design method are:

1. Determine the installation depth (l) of the PVDs and the required consolidation time (t), with the data of soil profiles and soil properties.

2. Calculate the required degree of consolidation (Ut) for the condition that only the surcharge fill is applied, and then calculate the required degree of consolidation (Ut,vac, where p0 is the mean suction, Δσ is the required total design stress, and Δp is the surcharge fill pressure.

3. Determine u* by Fig. 1.26 or

   (1.1)

Figure 1.26 Relationship between T v and u *. (Source: Rujikiatkamjorn and Indraratna (2007)).

4. Determine the diameter of the circular PVD (dw) or the equivalent diameter of the wick PVD by dw = 2(a + b)/π.

5. Determine Th′ through

   (1.2)

6. Calculate the parameter

   (1.3a)

for surcharge only, or

   (1.3b)

for surcharge fill plus vacuum pressure.

7. Determine the diameter and permeability of the smear zone and then calculate the parameter ξ from Fig. 1.27 or Eq. (1.4):

   (1.4)

Figure 1.27 Contours of ξ. (Source: Rujikiatkamjorn and Indraratna (2007)).

8. Calculate n by:

   (1.5)

where,

and

.

9. Calculate the influential zone from de = ndw.

10. Determine the spacing of drain (d) from d = de/1.05 for the triangular pattern or d = de/1.128 for the square pattern.

1.5 Conclusion

The system of PVDs combined with surcharge loading and vacuum is deemed one of the most effective techniques for soft ground improvement. The principle of vacuum preloading is to increase the soil’s effective stress by decreasing the excess pore pressure, rather than to increase the total stress as in surcharge loading. Therefore, the total surcharge fill could be reduced with the assistance of a vacuum. The consolidation process can be accelerated with the negative pressure induced by the vacuum. In addition, the risk of instability in terms of lateral movement is minimized by the application of a vacuum. Because the effectiveness of the vacuum preloading depends highly on the airtightness of the system, it is important to maintain the seal and avoid any air leak throughout the entire consolidation period. The soil conditions and groundwater level also have impacts on the effectiveness of the vacuum consolidation.

Although 3D finite element simulations are available to study soft soil consolidation, the huge computational burden is a barrier for practical utilization. A 2D plane strain conversion method was proposed based on the variation of either the geometric properties of the vertical drains or permeability coefficients of the soil (Indraratna et al., 2005a). This method can reduce the computational time significantly and, in the mean time, ensure a same settlement result as the original 3D model. The 2D plane strain conversion method has been adopted in the predictions of the consolidation process in the Port of Brisbane and Ballina Bypass in Australia, and at Tianjin Port in China.

The behavior of the soils under cyclic loading is remarkably different from that of static behavior. The excess pore pressure and the shear strain develop with the number of cycles, even though the stress amplitude remains constant. A constitutive model was proposed to capture the cyclic characteristics (Ni et al., 2014) of the soft soils. This model was applied in the analysis of the Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Project in which PVDs were used to improve the ground. The prediction of the settlement and lateral displacement agreed well with the field data, indicating the accuracy of the constitutive model for cyclic loading.

For convenience of practice, design charts were proposed by Rujikiatkamjorn and Indraratna (2007). The PVDs, combined with surcharge loading and vacuum, can be readily designed with these charts.

References

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Chapter 2

Experience of Consolidation Process from Test Areas with and without Vertical Drains

Sven Hansbo    Professor Emeritus, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg and Consulting Engineer, Stockholm

Abstract

Two different methods of how to analyse the consolidation process arising due to loading of soft clay deposits are presented, one of which is the classical approach based on validity and the other on non-validity of Darcy’s law at small hydraulic gradients. The two methods of analysis are compared with results of full-scale loading tests on areas without vertical drains and areas provided with vertical drains. Two test areas in Sweden without vertical drains are presented, which have been followed-up by pore pressure and settlement observations for half a century. The results obtained in these test areas is of particular interest since the observed delay in excess pore pressure dissipation in relation to what would be expected according to Terzaghi’s one-dimensional consolidation theory depends on non-Darcian flow and not on secondary consolidation yields better agreement with the pore pressure observations than the theory based on the generally assumed effect of creep. Well-instrumented test areas provided with vertical sand drains or pre-fabricated band-shaped drains, established in Sweden, Thailand and Italy, are also presented. In one of the cases described, surface loading was replaced by the vacuum method. Although the consolidation characteristics of the soil in the test areas and the contract project are quite different, a better correspondence between practice and theory based on non-Darcian flow is obtained in all the studied cases than with theory based on Darcian flow. Finally, a study made in connection with the extension of the Stockholm-Arlanda project with band drain installation the heavy loading condition, causing high hydraulic gradients, results in an acceptable correlation between theory and practice also by assuming Darcian