Scribd
Upload
26 views3 pages

Tutorial Questions - Ground Improvement

The document presents a series of tutorial questions related to ground improvement techniques, focusing on scenarios involving soft clay consolidation, sand drains, and embankment construction. It includes calculations for site leveling, settlement estimation, and spacing of drains to meet specific timeframes and settlement tolerances. The questions require understanding of soil properties, consolidation coefficients, and the application of engineering principles for effective ground improvement solutions.

Uploaded by

zablon samwel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
26 views3 pages

Tutorial Questions - Ground Improvement

The document presents a series of tutorial questions related to ground improvement techniques, focusing on scenarios involving soft clay consolidation, sand drains, and embankment construction. It includes calculations for site leveling, settlement estimation, and spacing of drains to meet specific timeframes and settlement tolerances. The questions require understanding of soil properties, consolidation coefficients, and the application of engineering principles for effective ground improvement solutions.

Uploaded by

zablon samwel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS (Ground Improvement)

1. A retail park formed of lightweight single-story structures is to be in an alluvial plain


which is known to be underlain by up to 10m of soft clay. The site level is to be
raised using granular fill (unit weight 16kN/m3) by 2m to ensure that the retail park
will not flood in the future. The ground investigation provided the details in Table 1.
1.1. Determine the level of the site after the clay has consolidated due to the
granular fill and estimate the total amount of granular fill necessary to bring
the site to the required level assuming the size of the retail park is 100m by
100m.
1.2. Estimate the time for the settlement to occur. It is anticipated that this would
be too long. Therefore, sand drains will be installed. Determine the spacing of
the sand drains if the time for the settlement has to be reduced to six months.

Table 1: Soil profile and properties

Depth Soil type Unit Coefficient of Coefficient of


below weight Volume Consolidation
ground [kN/m3] Compressibility [m2/yr]
surface [m2/MN]
[m]
0 – 0.3 Topsoil 18 -
0.3 - 10.0 Soft clay 16 1.1 1.7
10.0 - 30.0 Dense sand 21 -
Ground water profile: hydrostatic with phreatic surface at 1 m.

2. It is proposed to use a vacuum to consolidate a 3m layer of alluvial clay underlain


by dense sand. The coefficient of volume change, mv, varies with depth, z, such
that [mv = 0.1 – 0.01z] m2/MN. Calculate the settlement of the alluvial clay.
3. Estimate the density for a sand deposit dynamically compacted using an 18T weight
dropped 20m. The compaction footprints were spaced at 3m centers on a square
grid covering an area of 100m by 50m and 2000kg of gravel added to each footprint.
The original density was 1600kg/m3.
4. Calculate the total load necessary to cause failure of a 1m diameter stone column in
clay. The undrained shear strength of the clay is 15kPa. The column is 10 m long and

Page 1 of 3
is formed of gravel with an angle of friction of 35o. The unit weight of the normally
consolidated clay is 16kN/m3. The phreatic surface is at ground level and the ground
water profile is hydrostatic.
5. A new extension for a port infrastructure is proposed to be built in Lake Nyasa,
Tanzania. To reclaim the land for the new extension, a 2.5 m thick layer of hydraulic
fill (γsat = 15 kN/m3) is placed over a 6 m thick deposit of normally consolidated clay,
resting on impermeable shale (Figure. 1). To accelerate drainage and consolidation of
the clay layer, it is proposed to install a series of radial sand drains in sufficient number
so that the time needed for 90% overall consolidation to occur is reduced to just 2
years. The sand drains to be installed are 200 mm in diameter and will be inserted
throughout the clay layer using the triangular pattern. Laboratory tests revealed that
the clay has a coefficient for vertical and horizontal consolidation of Cv = 2.2 m2/year
and Ch = 3 m2/year, respectively. Calculate the spacing between two consecutive
drains needed to achieve the stated objective.

Figure 1. Soil Profile on the land reclamation project for Port extension

Page 2 of 3
6. An embankment is to be constructed up to 6 m above a layer of clay, 13 m thick,
over a period of 1 month. The properties of the clay are :
mv = 0.30 m2/MN ,
Cv = 2.5 m2/year and
Ch = 7.0 m2/year.
The bulk unit weight of the embankment fill is 20.5 kN/m3. It is required to
construct the road pavement on top of the embankment two months after the end
of construction but the pavement can only tolerate a settlement of 50 mm. Using
vertical band drains with a rectangular cross-section of 8 mm thick and 70 mm
wide installed in a triangular grid pattern determine the spacing of these drains to
meet the settlement requirement.
Assume the settlement within the embankment itself is minimal

You can use the following procedures to attempt the questions


01. Read carefully and understand the requirement of the question
02. Produce a simplified sketch that enables you to attempt the question
03. List the relevant assumptions required to attempt the question
04. List the information given
05. Write the relevant formula and input the given and assumed data
06. Produce an accurate and correct answer to the question.

Page 3 of 3

You might also like