Location
Arlington, Virginia
Date
14 Aug 2008, 2:15pm - 4:00pm
Abstract
Saudi Arabian is a vast peninsula with varying surface and sub-surface geology. There are many regions, especially near the eastern and western coasts, where the sub-surface soil is very poor. In these regions ground improvement is inevitable. The case in point is a Beach Structure Complex built along the famous Half Moon Bay Beach of Al-Khobar in the eastern coast of the Kingdom. The geotechnical investigations revealed poor soil condition and suggested use of Stone Columns for improving the ground condition. A total of 3119 Stone Columns were installed under five important buildings by means of Vibro-Replacement Techniques. The performance evaluation of the improved ground was carried out by conducting a number of Pre and Post-Penetration Tests and full-scale Plate Load Tests. The facilities upon these improved grounds are now up since past two years and performing satisfactorily. The focus of this paper is the Case Study of the problem. The paper also highlights the phenomenal recent construction boom in the Kingdom that has now swelled to more than US$ 200 billion. There is a wide scope of consultancy and contracting in the field of ground improvement, which at present is limited to a few local companies only.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
6th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2008 Missouri University of Science and Technology, 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
Ahmad, Syed Faiz, "Ground Improvement of a Beach Structure Complex by Means of Stone Columns – A Saudi Arabian Case History" (2008). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 25.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/6icchge/session07/25
Ground Improvement of a Beach Structure Complex by Means of Stone Columns – A Saudi Arabian Case History
Arlington, Virginia
Saudi Arabian is a vast peninsula with varying surface and sub-surface geology. There are many regions, especially near the eastern and western coasts, where the sub-surface soil is very poor. In these regions ground improvement is inevitable. The case in point is a Beach Structure Complex built along the famous Half Moon Bay Beach of Al-Khobar in the eastern coast of the Kingdom. The geotechnical investigations revealed poor soil condition and suggested use of Stone Columns for improving the ground condition. A total of 3119 Stone Columns were installed under five important buildings by means of Vibro-Replacement Techniques. The performance evaluation of the improved ground was carried out by conducting a number of Pre and Post-Penetration Tests and full-scale Plate Load Tests. The facilities upon these improved grounds are now up since past two years and performing satisfactorily. The focus of this paper is the Case Study of the problem. The paper also highlights the phenomenal recent construction boom in the Kingdom that has now swelled to more than US$ 200 billion. There is a wide scope of consultancy and contracting in the field of ground improvement, which at present is limited to a few local companies only.
