GROUND IMPROVEMENT

Contents:
Need for Ground Improvement
Different types of problematic soils
Emerging trends in ground Improvement

Dr. Md. Abu Taiyab

Professor
Need for engineered ground improvement
Concerns
Mechanical properties are not adequate
Swelling and shrinkage
Collapsible soils
Soft soils
Organic soils and peaty soils
Sands and gravelly deposits, karst deposits with sinkhole formations
Foundations on dumps and sanitary landfills
Handling dredged materials
Handling hazardous materials in contact with soils
Use of old mine pits
Effect of Swelling
 Effect of shrinkage

Swelling and shrinking soils exist in many areas in Bangladesh

 Collapsible soils

Collapse occurs due to saturation, loss of cementation bonds

Failure of slope
Effects of liquefaction
 Foundation on Difficult Soil

Strategies
Avoid the particular site
Design the planned structure (flexible/rigid) accordingly
Remove and replace unsuitable soils
Attempt to modify existing ground
Enable cost effective foundation design
Reduce the effects of contaminated soils
Ensure sustainability in construction projects using ground
improvement techniques

Ground improvement mechanisms

Reinforcement
Admixtures or grouting
Compaction
Dewatering
Reinforcement
This method improves the soil response by interaction between soil and
inclusion.
The improving period depends on the life of inclusion.
In this technique there is no change in the state of soil.
It is a widely used technique as it can be done for many types of soils.

Admixtures or Grouting
Cementation plays a major role in improving the soil response.
Short term/long term improvement techniques are possible.
There is a change in soil state after adopting it.

Compaction
The state of soil is improved in this technique due to high densification.
This is a long term improvement technique.
There is a change in soil state after adopting it.
This technique can be adopted for silty , sandy and gravely soils.

Dewatering
This is a technique similar to compaction.
It is mostly adopted to clayey soils.
 Applicability of Ground Improvement Methods

Sl. Type of soil Reinforcem Admixtures Compactio Dewaterin

No. ent n g
1. Organic soil X
2. Volcanic clay X
soil
3. Highly plastic X
clay
4. Lowly plastic X
clay
5. Silty soil
6. Sandy soil X
7. Gravel soil X X
 Methods for Soil Improvement

Ground Ground Ground

Reinforcement Improvement Treatment

Stone Columns Surface Compaction Soil Cement

Soil Nails Drainage/Surcharge Lime Admixtures
Micropiles Electro-osmosis Flyash
Jet Grouting Compaction grouting Dewatering
Ground Anchors Blasting Heating/Freezing
Geosynthetics Dynamic compaction Vitrification
Fibers
Lime Columns
Vibro-Concrete
Column
Mechanically
stabilized Earth
Biotechnical
 Factors Affecting the Selection of
Ground Improvement Technique
Type and degree of improvement required
Bearing capacity improvement, settlement reduction, permeability
enhancement/decrease, long term/short term, liquefaction
resistance.

Type of soil, geological structure, seepage conditions

Type of clay/sand and foundation, role of pore pressure and seepage,
presence of difficult geological condition.

Costs, equipment, specifications

Size of the project, availability of equipment, transportation costs,
experienced contractors, Specification of work, guidance documents.

Construction time
Construction time available, use of accelerated construction
techniques
 Factors Affecting the Selection of
Ground Improvement Technique
Possible damage to adjacent structure or pollution of ground water resources
Tolerable levels of loading and deformation, pore water contamination
Durability of the materials involved
Short term and long term, corrosion, aggressive soil condition.
Toxicity and corrosivity of any chemical additives
Government regulations may restrict the choice of additives
Using Vitrification of soils to limit radio active or hazardous wastes,
Ex: Remediation of chromium-contaminated soil through ex situ
vitrification (ASCE journal paper)
Reversibility or irreversibility of the process
Ex: Lime added to expansive soil reacts in presence of sulphate
Reusability of components such as steel, plastics, concrete etc
Reliability of methods of testing, analysis and design
Good methods of testing, proven methods of design and analysis should be used
and empirical approaches need to be avoided
Feasibility of construction control and performance measurements
Documents of quality control and performance are required in major ground
improvement projects
 Objectives of Ground
Improvement Techniques
Increasing strength of soil
Reduction of distortion under stress (Increases stress-
strain modulus)
Reduction of compressibility (volume decreases due to
a reduction in air voids or water content under loads)
Prevention of detrimental physical or chemical changes
due to environmental conditions (freezing / thawing,
wetting /drying)
Reduction of susceptibility to liquefaction
Reduction of natural variability of borrow materials and
foundation soils
Mechanical Modification
Shallow Compaction
Deep Compaction

Shallow Surface Compaction:

a) Static rollers:
Smooth steel rollers and pneumatic rollers.
Sheeps foot rollers.
Grid rollers.

b) Impact and vibratory equipment:

Tampers, rammers and plate compactors
Vibrating rollers.
Impact rollers.
 Suitability of soils as fills

When high strength and low compressibility are required, but seepage and
erodability are not significant, coarse granular fills are most suitable.
As impermeable liners for canals or as core material for dams, clayey gravels
and poorly graded gravel-sand-clay mixtures can be used.
Silty soils and dispersive clays, even if compacted well, are vulnerable to
erosion by surface runoff or internal seepage.
Soils containing organic matter are not suitable for engineering fills, because of
their high compressibility under loads and large volume changes due to
environmental influences.
Deep Compaction and Objectives

Necessity:
Deep compaction techniques are required when insitu soil extending to large
depths does not meet the requirements of performance criteria specified for the
expected loading and environmental conditions.

Deep soil improvement techniques:

a) Heavy Tamping
b) Vibro-Compaction
c) Compaction Grouting
d) Pre-fabricated Vertical Drains
e) Blasting
 Heavy Tamping
Technique involves repeatedly dropping a large weight from a crane
Weight may range from 6 to 172 tons
Drop height typically varies from 10 m to 40 m
Degree of densification achieved is a function of the energy input (weight and drop
height) as well as the saturation level, fines content and permeability of the material
6 30 ton weight can densify the loose sands to a depth of 3 m to 12 m
 Done systematically in a rectangular or triangular pattern in phases
Each phase can have no of passes; primary, secondary, tertiary, etc.
Spacing between impact points depend upon:
Depth of compressible layer
Permeability of soil
Location of ground water level
Deeper layers are compacted at wider grid spacing, upper layers are compacted
with closer grid spacing
Deep craters are formed by tamping which may be filled with sand after each
pass
Heave around craters is generally small
Vibro-compaction methods
Compaction at selected locations using vibrations and vibratory equipment results
in compaction to large depths.
The zone of compaction around a single float is a function of type of float
The success of in situ densification depends on grain size distribution of the in situ
soils, and that of backfill Soil

Vibro floatation:
Vibro floatation refers to compaction of soil using a vibrofloat in horizontal motion
from the vibrator inserted into the ground. Utilization of a top pile driving vibrator
in a vertical mode is less efficient.
Utilization of the concept of frequency of vibrofloat matching that of natural
frequency of in-situ soil is also done in vibro-compaction (Eg: Miller Resonate
compaction technique).

Vibro-replacement
Vibro-replacement uses the same equipment as in vibro-compaction and uses
water/air as the jetting medium, and graded stone aggregate as backfill.
 Effects of Vibro-compaction

Steps of Vibro-compaction
Applicable soils
Coarse grained soils with silt/clay content less than 10-15%

Effects
Increased shear strength, Increased stiffness, Reduced liquefaction
potential

Common applications
Buildings, Chemical plants, Storage tanks & silos, Pipelines, Wharf
structures, embankments, Roads
Both land / offshore applications
Maximum depth 60 m
 GROUND TREATMENT WITH LIME
Lime treatment can be used to improve soft soils and expansive soils

Problems with expansive soils

Mechanism of stabilization
The addition of lime affects the shear strength, compressibility, and the
permeability of soft clays. These beneficial changes occur due to the diffusion
of lime.

Soil-lime reaction
Cation-exchange
Flocculation
Aggregation (time and temperature dependent.)

Factors controlling the characteristics of lime treated clay

Type of lime (Quick lime or Hydrated lime)
Lime content (Lime Fixation Point and Optimum lime content)
Curing time
Type of soil
Clay mineral
Soil pH
Curing temperature
Preparation of the soil: to remove large elements which might
hinder the mixing-in of lime, and it also helps to modify the humidity
of the soil. It may be carried out with a ripper, a harrow or a plough.
Spreading: the lime is dispersed using a spreader fitted with a
weighing device. The lime is supplied pneumatically to the
spreader, either directly from the silo vehicle or by using buffer
silos.
Mixing: the purpose of this operation is to spread out the soil while at the
same mixing the lime evenly into it. this work will be done with pulvimixers,
rotary paddle mixers, disk ploughs or plough shares
Compaction: when grading, the layer thickness that can be compacted by
rolling should be taken into account. After grading, the treated soil has to be
compacted using a compacting machine (pneumatic-tyre roller or tamping
roller). In warm weather, mixing should be done after two hours to allow for
reactions.
 GROUND TREATMENT WITH CEMENT

Stabilization using cement and cementitious materials

Stabilization using cement and other admixtures such as fly ash, blast furnace slag
has been adopted in many geotechnical and highway engineering projects. These
applications include
a)Shallow depth applications in the case of improvement of subgrade, sub-base
and base course of highways and embankment material
b) Stabilization of deep soil deposits such as soft soils and peaty soils.
Addition of small quantities of cement proved to be beneficial and the degree of
strength/ stiffness required is the basis for design and has been used in the
stabilization of highways and embankments.
In large scale applications, depending on the strength and stiffness required
based on the type of soil, the quantities required are huge and need large scale
machinery and special procedures are required in stabilization of deep soils
which are weak (Eg: peaty soils).
Benefits:
Increased strength and stiffness
Better volume stability
Increased durability
Factors influencing the strength and stiffness improvement
Cement content, water content combined into water/cement(w/c) ratio.
Method of compaction.
Time elapsed between mixing and compaction.
Length of curing.
Temperature and humidity.
Specimen size and boundary effects.
GROUND TREATMENT USING GROUTING

Categories of Grouting
a. Penetration grouting
b. Displacement grouting
c. Compaction grouting
d. Grouting of Voids
e. Jet grouting
Typical
applications
of Grouting
Classification of Grout Materials
 GROUND IMPROVEMENT USING GEOSYNTHETICS
1. geotextiles (GT) 3. geomembranes (GM) 6. geofoam (GF)
2. geogrids (GG) 4. geosynthetic clay liners (GCL) 7. geocomposites (G C)
3. geonets (GN) 5. geopipe (GP)
Function vs. Geosynthetic Type