Date
03 Jun 1988, 10:30 am - 5:30 pm
Abstract
The use of vertical drains to accelerate the consolidation of soft soils has become a cost effective alternative to the use of pile foundations at many sites. This paper presents a case history of the use of vertical drains to accelerate the consolidation of 20 to 25 feet of low shear strength, highly compressible soils, under embankments of 12 to 25 feet in height. Two separate vertical drain installations at the project site allowed the use of a shallow foundation system for approximately one-half of the foundations. This resulted in a significant savings in foundation costs and allowed an ambitious “fast track” construction schedule to be met. The purpose of this paper is to present the properties of the site soils and the construction and post-construction observations of the soil response at this site.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
2nd Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1988 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Charles, R. David, "Performance of Prefabricated Drains in Soft Soils" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 28.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/2icchge/icchge-session5/28
Performance of Prefabricated Drains in Soft Soils
The use of vertical drains to accelerate the consolidation of soft soils has become a cost effective alternative to the use of pile foundations at many sites. This paper presents a case history of the use of vertical drains to accelerate the consolidation of 20 to 25 feet of low shear strength, highly compressible soils, under embankments of 12 to 25 feet in height. Two separate vertical drain installations at the project site allowed the use of a shallow foundation system for approximately one-half of the foundations. This resulted in a significant savings in foundation costs and allowed an ambitious “fast track” construction schedule to be met. The purpose of this paper is to present the properties of the site soils and the construction and post-construction observations of the soil response at this site.
