Consolidation by Vertical Drains beneath a Circular Embankment under Surcharge and Vacuum Preloading
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 8
Abstract
A membrane-type vacuum consolidation system, including surcharge loading and prefabricated vertical drains, was applied to rapidly consolidate soft clay beneath a circular embankment located at the National Field Testing Facility (NFTF) at Ballina, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Most previous studies were devoted to multidrain systems corresponding to an embankment strip loading in two-dimensional (2D) plane strain. So far, no case study has been investigated using vacuum consolidation via prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) beneath a circular loaded area, where the system conforms to an axisymmetric problem. This paper outlines the site investigation, construction technique, and installation of a suite of instrumentation on this circular embankment. It also describes and discusses consolidation during and after the construction of this embankment in terms of settlement, excess pore water pressure, lateral deformation, and water flow relationships as they pertain to prediction embankment with vertical drains and surcharge only. 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.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded under the Australian Research Council Linkage scheme (LP140100065) as a collaboration among universities (University of Technology Sydney, University of Wollongong, University of Newcastle, Imperial College, London, and the University of London) and industry partners (Menard Oceania, Soilwicks, Douglas partners, Coffey Geotechnics, National Jute Board of India). The assistance obtained from Patrice Rivinc (Menard) and past research fellows Dr. Mojtaba E. Kan and Dr. Rui Zhong during the site investigation and the instrumentation phase of the embankment is very much appreciated. The authors are grateful for the assistance from Bruce Perrin during the monitoring period.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 8 • August 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 19, 2020
Accepted: Apr 2, 2021
Published online: May 28, 2021
Published in print: Aug 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Oct 28, 2021
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