A Case Study of Vacuum Consolidation of Soft Clay Deposit
- Original Paper
- Published: 15 February 2014
- Volume 45 , pages 51–61, ( 2015 )
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- S. Ganesh Kumar 1 ,
- G. Sridhar 1 ,
- R. Radhakrishnan 2 ,
- R. G. Robinson 1 &
- K. Rajagopal 1
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Preloading coupled with vertical drains is a successful ground improvement technique for soft clay deposits. Though surcharge in the form of sand pile is conventionally used, vacuum consolidation is also an option. This paper presents a case study on ground improvement using vacuum consolidation technique carried out near the shoreline in the city of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. Detailed methodology, method of installation of PVD, settlements observed during the consolidation process and results from light cone penetration test performed to quantify the ground improvement and the insights gained from the study are described.
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Acknowledgments
This investigation was performed as part of a sponsored research project supported by the Department of Science and Technology of Government of India under sanction number SR/S3/MERC/065/2007, dt. 19-03-2009. Thanks are due to M/s Bharat Geosystems for readily agreeing to implement this technology of ground improvement and all the arrangements for field tests. Thanks are also due to the authorities of Kakinada Sea Ports Pvt. Ltd. for permission to use their site for the field work.
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Geotechnical Division, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT-M, Chennai, 36, India
S. Ganesh Kumar, G. Sridhar, R. G. Robinson & K. Rajagopal
Bharat Geosystems Pvt. Ltd, Chennai, 41, India
R. Radhakrishnan
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Ganesh Kumar, S., Sridhar, G., Radhakrishnan, R. et al. A Case Study of Vacuum Consolidation of Soft Clay Deposit. Indian Geotech J 45 , 51–61 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-014-0107-5
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Received : 11 November 2013
Accepted : 02 February 2014
Published : 15 February 2014
Issue Date : March 2015
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-014-0107-5
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Vacuum consolidation technology - principles and field experience
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Vacuum consolidation is an effective means for improvement of saturated soft soils. The soil site is covered with an airtight membrane and a vacuum is created underneath it by using a dual venturi and vacuum pump. Experience gained from several site experiments and full scale field implementation indicate that this technology can provide an equivalent preloading of about 4.5 m high conventional surcharge fill. The effectiveness can be increased when applied with combination of a surcharge fill. Field experience indicate a substantial cost and time savings by this technology compared to conventional surcharging. This paper presents the principle behind vacuum consolidation, the technological know-how and several case histories from France where this technology has been successfully implemented. The performance of the vacuum consolidation system is evaluated based on settlement as well as pore pressure measurements at these sites.
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- Consolidation Engineering & Materials Science 100%
- consolidation Earth & Environmental Sciences 87%
- Vacuum Engineering & Materials Science 84%
- fill Earth & Environmental Sciences 57%
- preloading Earth & Environmental Sciences 43%
- Soils Engineering & Materials Science 37%
- Vacuum pumps Engineering & Materials Science 34%
- savings Earth & Environmental Sciences 31%
T1 - Vacuum consolidation technology - principles and field experience
AU - Cognon, J. M.
AU - Juran, I.
AU - Thevanayagam, S.
N2 - Vacuum consolidation is an effective means for improvement of saturated soft soils. The soil site is covered with an airtight membrane and a vacuum is created underneath it by using a dual venturi and vacuum pump. Experience gained from several site experiments and full scale field implementation indicate that this technology can provide an equivalent preloading of about 4.5 m high conventional surcharge fill. The effectiveness can be increased when applied with combination of a surcharge fill. Field experience indicate a substantial cost and time savings by this technology compared to conventional surcharging. This paper presents the principle behind vacuum consolidation, the technological know-how and several case histories from France where this technology has been successfully implemented. The performance of the vacuum consolidation system is evaluated based on settlement as well as pore pressure measurements at these sites.
AB - Vacuum consolidation is an effective means for improvement of saturated soft soils. The soil site is covered with an airtight membrane and a vacuum is created underneath it by using a dual venturi and vacuum pump. Experience gained from several site experiments and full scale field implementation indicate that this technology can provide an equivalent preloading of about 4.5 m high conventional surcharge fill. The effectiveness can be increased when applied with combination of a surcharge fill. Field experience indicate a substantial cost and time savings by this technology compared to conventional surcharging. This paper presents the principle behind vacuum consolidation, the technological know-how and several case histories from France where this technology has been successfully implemented. The performance of the vacuum consolidation system is evaluated based on settlement as well as pore pressure measurements at these sites.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028014765&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:0028014765
SN - 078440027X
T3 - Geotechnical Special Publication
BT - Geotechnical Special Publication
A2 - Yeung, Albert T.
A2 - Felio, Guy Y.
PB - Publ by ASCE
T2 - Proceedings of the Conference on Vertical and Horizontal Deformations of Foundations and Embankments. Part 2 (of 2)
Y2 - 16 June 1994 through 18 June 1994
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- Flexible wall permeameter to measure the hydraulic conductivity of soils in horizontal direction
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Vacuum preloading consolidation of reclaimed land: a case study
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Cites background from "Vacuum preloading consolidation of ..."
... The use of prefabricated vertical drains with vacuum application is cost-effective, and also the height of the surcharge embankment can be reduced to achieve the same consolidation settlement (Holtz et al. 1991; Shang et al. 1998). ...
144 citations
125 citations
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Cites background or methods from "Vacuum preloading consolidation of ..."
... The installation of PVD, followed by the application of vacuum pressure (suction) as a preload at the soil surface (i.e. prior to construction of the main structure) facilitates rapid dissipation of pore water pressure in the soil (Shang et al., 1998; Bergado et al. 2002; Bo et al. 2003). ...
... prior to construction of the main structure) facilitates rapid dissipation of pore water pressure in the soil (Shang et al., 1998; Bergado et al. 2002; Bo et al. 2003). ...
122 citations
114 citations
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Cites background or methods or result from "Vacuum preloading consolidation of ..."
... Discussion The vacuum preloading has been applied extensively in land reclamation projects with or without concurrent application of surcharge preloading (Shang et al. 1998). ...
... This has long been recognized in field applications (Shang et al. 1998). ...
... The vacuum preloading has been applied extensively in land reclamation projects with or without concurrent application of surcharge preloading (Shang et al. 1998). ...
... However, it should be cautioned that the lateral displacement of soil is completely different between the surcharge and vacuum preloading, as reported in case studies (Shang et al. 1998; Shang and Zhang 1999). ...
... In recent years, many successful field applications have been reported in the literature, including the use of vacuum preloading in a land reclamation project in China (Shang et al. 1998). ...
88 citations
56 citations
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Preloading coupled with vertical drains is a successful ground improvement technique for soft clay deposits. Though surcharge in the form of sand pile is conventionally used, vacuum consolidation is also an option. This paper presents a case study on ground improvement using vacuum consolidation technique carried out near the shoreline in the city of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. Detailed ...
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This case study presents the design, operation, and results of a soil improvement project using the vacuum preloading method on 480 000 m2 of reclaimed land in Xingang Port, Tianjing, China. The areas treated with vacuum ranged from 5000 to 30 000 m2. The effects of soil improvement are demonstrated through the average consolidation settlement of 2.0 m and increases in undrained shear ...
A case of using the vacuum preloading method to improve the foundation soil for a road in Tianjin, China, is presented. A vacuum load of 80 kPa was applied for 90 days to consolidate a 20 m thick … Expand
Vacuum consolidation method is employed to improve dredging slurry and original soft silty clay layer, which is started about one month after dredging construction. The biggest challenge part of ground improvement construction is overcome by establishing a working platform consisted of woven geotextile, bamboo raft and hydraulic backfilled sand ...
Consolidation of compressible soils by vacuum is not a new idea, but only until recently has it been successfully applied in a predictable manner to extremely soft soils and on large-scale projects. Since its first introduction by Dr. W. Kjellman in 1952, later in China, and after scattered efforts aiming at practically carrying out the method - including in the US -, it has now evolved into a ...
Though surcharge in the form of sand pile is conventionally used, vacuum consolidation is also an option. This paper presents a case study on ground improvement using vacuum consolidation ...
Some case studies have shown that vacuum preloading resulted in more consolida-tion degree and less consolidation se 4lement than surcharge pr eloading [18 21]. The con-solidation se4lement is composed of immediate, primary, and secondary consolidation se4lements [5,22]. The immediate and primary consolidation se4lements of the ground
Vacuum consolidation has been widely applied for soft soil ground improvement, but for only a few cases involving peat and other highly organic soil deposits, as described in the papers by Griffin ...
This paper presents a review of combined vacuum consolidation and surcharge preloading, which is arguably a more sustainable approach to soft-soil ground improvement than other strategies in ...
Some case studies have shown that vacuum preloading resulted in more consolidation degree and less consolidation settlement than surcharge preloading [18,19,20,21]. The consolidation settlement is composed of immediate, primary, and secondary consolidation settlements [ 5 , 22 ].
The results of this case study demonstrate that the AVP method has substantial advantages compared to the conventional vacuum preloading method. The AVP method can increase foundation settlement, shorten the time for foundation treatment construction, and improve the foundation reinforcement effect.
Vacuum consolidation is an effective means for improvement of saturated soft soils. The soil site is covered with an airtight membrane and a vacuum is created underneath it by using a dual venturi and vacuum pump. Experience gained from several site experiments and full scale field implementation indicate that this technology can provide an ...
A review and interpretation of case histories of vacuum loading together with vertical drains indicates that (1) with a novel definition of excess pore-water pressure, existing theories of consolidation, solutions, and associated computer programs that have been developed for fill loading can be applied without any modification to vacuum ...
PDF | On Jan 1, 2012, Jinchun Chai and others published Vacuum Consolidation and Deformation Analyses - Case Studies in Japan | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
This case study used a plane strain model and fifteen-node triangular elements to analyze the stresses and deformations induced in the soft clay layers during vacuum-PVD consolidation. The PVD was simulated using a linear drain element (Indraratna and Rujikiatkamjorn, 2021). Line drains are used to prescribe lines inside the geometry model ...
AbstractIn a full-scale case study, the performance of two methods—the vacuum-surcharge preloading method (S-VP) and the air-booster vacuum preloading method (A-VP)—were compared in terms of the dredged soft soil ground of the Xiang'an International ...Practical ApplicationsLand reclamation projects will produce a large area of ground composed of ultrasoft soil, which has very low ...
Preloading coupled with vertical drains is a successful ground improvement technique for soft clay deposits. Though surcharge in the form of sand pile is conventionally used, vacuum consolidation is also an option. This paper presents a case study on ground improvement using vacuum consolidation tec
This case study presents the design, operation, and results of a soil improvement project using the vacuum preloading method on 480 000 m(2) of reclaimed land in Xingang Port, Tianjing, China.
The case study demonstrates that a loss of vacuum pressure can be prevented using the proposed approach in a membrane system. Treatment of water extracted using the vacuum consolidation technique, especially in acid-sulfate terrain, is also presented.
Abstract: During the past decade, the application of vacuum pressure for stabilising soft coastal clay and other low-lying estuarine soils has become increasingly popular in Australia, mainly due to the proven costeffectiveness in view of the significantly reduced time for achieving a high degree of consolidation and enhanced shear strength. Due to an increase in trade activities at the Port ...