Preloading system with partially penetrating vertical drains in marine soft clays in Egypt: 2D and 3D comparative FE study

A large-scale trial embankment provided with partially penetrating prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) was installed in consolidating marine clay deposits at East-Port said industrial zone project in Egypt. The trial embankment was constructed with a bottom area of 150x150m and a height of 5.5m to evaluate the efficiency of the improvement system and verify the design parameters. An intensive instrumentation system was built-up including shallow settlement indicators, vibrating wire piezometers, extensometer, and inclinometers. Two and three-dimensional finite element analyses (FE) were performed to study the effect of the preloading system provided with partially PVD in consolidating marine clay deposits. FE models were validated and showed good agreement with the field observations in terms of vertical displacement of embankment center, and lateral soil deformation beneath the embankment toe.

Consolidation in Soft Soil – Case Study on Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVDs)

Background: Constructing on soft ground is one of the challenges of geotechnical engineering. The unpredictable behaviour and characteristics of soft soil can cause much damage resulting in high maintenance costs in the post-construction phase. Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyse the consolidation process and ground improvement method using surcharge and a prefabricated vertical drain by measuring the accuracy of the prediction settlement value with the actual site settlement results. Methods: An effective ground improvement method is the application of a surcharge and prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs). Various methods can be used to predict the settlement effectively, one such method being PLAXIS 3D simulation. A case study on ground improvement works was selected for this research, where PVDs were constructed and implemented at the site. A few undisturbed samples were collected from the site to generate the parameters based on the lab test conducted in the simulation process. This parameter was carefully studied and representing the principal input for the 3D model, which is generated and represents the actual ground improvement method for the selected case study. The analysis was performed using a borehole and soft soil model to generate the diagram. The prediction settlement value was generated from the PLAXIS 3D analysis as the baseline comparing to the actual results. The factors that influence the settlement value, such as the length and spacing of the prefabricated vertical drain, construction method, and soil characteristics, are also discussed. Results: A predicted settlement of 2553 mm was generated by the simulation, while the actual settlement outcome at the site was 2096 mm, a difference of 457 mm, and a prediction accuracy of 82.1%. Conclusion: The study found that the combination of surcharge and prefabricated vertical drain in the ground improvement worked well. Also, discussed were the factors that influenced the accuracy of the prediction and the site results.

Large scaled field tests on soft Bangkok clay

In this lecture the interpretations of fully instrumented tests embankments and their role in the development of appropriate ground improvement techniques for highways, motorways and airfields on soft clay deposits is illustrated through well documented case studies in Bangkok, Thailand and Muar Flat Site in Kuala Lumpur. For the Bangkok Plain and with sand backfills the performance of embankments with different schemes of vertical drains was evaluated over a period of 25 years. Aspects such as recharging effects due to the drains, inadequate measures in maintaining vacuum during vacuum applications and possible hydraulic connections with large diameter drains are discussed. For the Muar test embankments, the role of fill strength in residual soil embankment and the field deformation analysis in separating consolidation settlement from immediate settlement and creep settlements is presented. Novel interpretations of settlement from pore pressure dissipations, secondary settlement from field measurements and decay of lateral deformation rate with time were also made.

Effect of Well Resistance on Time Factor Ratio Due to PVD Deformation

One of the most common soft soil enhancement techniques used to expedite the consolidation time significantly is Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVD). This technique needs a sufficient discharge capacity value because it primarily functions as a drainage channel. The deformation of PVD is considered as one of the primary factors which affect discharge capacity. Therefore, this research determined the influence of upper-side deformation on PVD's discharge capacity (qw) using a specific design apparatus known as ASTM D4716, which manages the determination of transmissivity and flow rate at the longitudinal direction of geosynthetics. Furthermore, two PVD samples with dimensions of 3 and 4 mm thickness, 100 mm width, and 1000 mm length were examined under straight and buckled conditions. Stepwise confining pressures from 50 to 200 kPa were subjected to the samples under hydraulic gradients with values of 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0. The results showed that samples with greater thickness had higher discharge capacity, which significantly reduced in the lower hydraulic gradient. The deformation on the upper side of PVD induced a decrease of discharge capacity by approximately 13-16%, which led to a delay in the consolidation time. The discharge capacity values obtained from the experiments were employed as parameters in a time factor ratio of Th,w/Th. The analysis results show that the buckled PVD has a more considerable consolidation time due to the increase in the Th,w/Th ratio, with a discharge capacity value below 10-4 m3/s. It can be concluded that the deformation in the form of buckled conditions on the upper side of PVD had a considerable impact on PVD effectiveness.