Column-Supported Embankments: Settlement and Load Transfer

Column-supported embankments (CSEs) can reduce settlements, improve stability, and prevent damage to adjacent facilities when embankments are constructed on ground that would otherwise be too weak or compressible to support the new load. Geosynthetic reinforcement is often used to help transfer the embankment loads to the columns in CSEs. This paper addresses three important design issues for CSEs: (1) the critical height above which differential settlements at the base of the embankment do not produce measurable differential settlements at the embankment surface, (2) the net vertical load on the geosynthetic reinforcement in the load transfer platform at the base of the embankment, and (3) the tension that develops in the geosynthetic reinforcement. Based on bench-scale tests, field-scale tests, and case history data, the critical height was found to be a linear function of the column spacing and the column diameter. The net vertical load that acts down on the geosynthetic reinforcement can be determined using the load-displacement compatibility method, including determination of the limiting stress distribution at the base of the embankment by a generalized form of the Adapted Terzaghi Method, which accommodates any column or pile cap shape, any repetitive column arrangement, and different soil types in the load transfer platform and the overlying embankment fill. The tension in the geosynthetic can be calculated using a generalized form of the parabolic method, which incorporates stress-strain compatibility and which accommodates rectangular and triangular column arrangements and biaxial and radially isotropic geogrids.