OVERVIEW OF GROUND

IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES
 Shallow Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for firm soils or light loads

firm
ground

bed rock
 Leaning Tower of Pisa
Our blunders become monuments!
 Problems
• Less Bearing Capacity
• More Settlement
• Swelling , Shrinking
• Liquefaction
• What can be done?
– Avoid the site
– Distribute Load- Raft Foundation
– Bye-pass poor soil- piles
– Improve the soil (Ground Improvement/ Modification
– Modify Engg. Properties of soil
– Increase shear strength of soil
– Reduce compressibility of fine element
– Increase/Decrease “k”
– Modify Swelling/Shrinking behaviour
 Soil: Shrink-Swell
Clay expands with water input
causing differential soil movement
and structural damage
 Methods of Soil Improvement
• Excavation/ Replacement
• Compaction
• Consolidation
• Inclusion of reinforcement
 In-situ Ground Improvement
• Reducing void space by impact, vibrations or
shock,
• Reducing saturated void space by rapid drainage of
water from it,
• filling void spaces with grouts,
• Removing existing soil by making bore holes and
replacing them with stronger material,
• Deep mixing of cementations materials with soil
using special tools,
• Inserting reinforcing elements into the soil
 Methods for Soil Improvement
Ground Ground Ground
Reinforcement Improvement Treatment
• Stone Columns • Deep Dynamic • Soil Cement
• Soil Nails Compaction • Lime Admixtures
• Deep Soil Mixing • Drainage/Surcharge • Flyash
• Micropiles (Mini-piles) • Compaction grouting • Dewatering
• Jet Grouting • Blasting • Heating/Freezing
• Ground Anchors • Surface Compaction
• Geosynthetics
• Fiber Reinforcement
• Lime Columns
• Mechanically Stabilized Compaction
Earth

Shaefer, 1997
 FOUNDATION IMPROVEMENT
WITH MICROPILES
• To Increase Foundation Capacity or Stiffness
• To Resist Overturning Where Existing Cap to Pile
Connections Are Inadequate
• To Extend Piles Below Liquefiable Layer While
Maintaining Vertical Load Capacity During EQ.
In-situ Soil Mixing
COMPACTION
 Compaction and Objectives
•Compaction
•Many types of earth construction, such as dams, retaining
walls, highways, and airport, require man-placed soil, or
fill. To compact a soil, that is, to place it in a dense state.
•The dense state is achieved through the reduction of the
air voids in the soil, with little or no reduction in the water
content. This process must not be confused with
consolidation, in which water is squeezed out under the
action of a continuous static load.
•Objectives:
(1) Decrease future settlements
(From Lambe, 1991; Head, 1992)
(2) Increase shear strength
 What is compaction?
A simple ground improvement technique,
where the soil is densified through external
compactive effort.

Compactive
effort

+ water =
 Compaction Curve
Dry density (d)

Soil grains densely packed

- good strength and stiffness

d, max - low permeability

optimum
water content Water content
 Compaction Curve
What happens to the relative quantities of the three phases
with addition of water? air
water
Dry density (d)

soil

difficult to expel all air

lowest void ratio and

highest dry density at
optimum w

Water content
 Zero Air Void Curve
Dry density (d)

- corresponds to 100% saturation

Zero air void curve (S=100%)

Gs  w
Eq :  d =
1 + wG s
S<100%
S>100% (impossible)

All compaction points should lie

to the left of ZAV curve

Water content
 Effect of Compactive Effort
Dry density (d)

Increasing compactive
effort results in:
• Lower optimum
water content
E2 (>E1)
• Higher maximum dry
density

E1

Water content
 Line of Optimum
Dry density (d)

Compaction curves
for different efforts

Line of optimum

Water content
 Field Compaction
Different types of rollers (clockwise
from right):
➢ Smooth-wheel roller
➢ Vibratory roller
• Pneumatic rubber tired roller
➢ Sheepsfoot roller
 Field Compaction
Smooth Wheeled Roller

Compacts effectively only to 200-300 mm; therefore,

place the soil in shallow layers (lifts)
 Field Compaction
Sheepsfoot Roller

➢ Provides kneading action; “walks out” after compaction

➢ Very effective on clays

 Field Compaction
Impact Roller

➢ Provides deeper (2-3m) compaction

Earthmoving Equipment
Ground Improvement

Sheepsfoot Roller to Compact Clay Soils

Water Truck
 Compaction Control
-a systematic exercise where you check
at regular intervals whether the
compaction was done to specifications.

e.g., 1 test per

• Minimum dry density
1000 m3 of
• Range of water content
compacted soil

Field measurements (of d) obtained using

field tests
 Laboratory Compaction Test
- to obtain the compaction curve and define the
optimum water content and maximum dry density for a
specific compactive effort.

Standard Proctor: hammer Modified Proctor:

• 3 layers • 5 layers

• 25 blows per layer • 25 blows per layer

• 2.7 kg hammer • 450 mm drop

• 300 mm drop • 4.9 kg hammer

1000 ml compaction mould

 Compaction Control Test
d Compaction
specifications
Compare!
d,field = ?
w
wfield = ?

compacted ground
 Dynamic Compaction
- pounding the ground by a heavy weight
Suitable for granular soils, land fills

Pounder (Tamper)

Crater created by the impact

(to be backfilled)
Dynamic Compaction

Pounder (Tamper)
Mass = 5-30 tonne
Drop = 10-30 m
Dynamic Compaction
Dynamic compaction
Dynamic Compaction
Dynamic compaction was first used in
Germany in the mid-1930’s.
The depth of influence D, in meters, of soil
undergoing compaction is conservatively
given by
D  ½ (Wh)1/2
W = mass of falling weight in metric tons.
h = drop height in meters
Dynamic Replacement Process
 Blasting
For densifying granular soils

Fireworks? Aftermath of blasting

Compaction Piles
Vibro Compaction
Vibroflotation
Suitable for granular soils
Practiced in several forms:
➢ vibro–compaction
➢ stone columns
➢ vibro-replacement

Vibroflot (vibrating unit)

Length = 2 – 3 m
Diameter = 0.3 – 0.5 m
Mass = 2 tonnes
(lowered into the ground
and vibrated)
Vibroflotation
 Vibroflotation
Vibroflotation is a technique for
in situ densification of thick
layers of loose granular soil
deposits. It was developed in
Germany in the 1930s.

From Das, 1998

 Vibroflotation-Procedures

Stage1: The jet at the bottom of the Vibroflot is turned on and lowered into the ground
Stage2: The water jet creates a quick condition in the soil. It allows the vibrating unit to
sink into the ground
Stage 3: Granular material is poured from the top of the hole. The water from the lower jet
is transferred to he jet at the top of the vibrating unit. This water carries the granular
material down the hole
Stage 4: The vibrating unit is gradually raised in about 0.3-m lifts and held vibrating for
about 30 seconds at each lift. This process compacts the soil to the desired unit weight.
Vibroflotation
Vibroflotation
Vibroflotation
Vibroflotation
Vibroflotation
Stone Columns
 Stone Columns

vibrator makes a
hole backfilled ..and compacted Densely compacted
hole in the weak stone column
ground
CONSOLIDATION
 Soil Strength
Water content influences soil strength
• Sand Drains
• Wick Drains
• Band Drains
GROUTING
Methods for Soil Improvement-
Jet Grouting
SOIL NAILING
Methods for Soil Improvement-
Soil Nailing

Courtesy of Atlas Copco Rock

Drilling Equipment
 Soil Nailing
~ steel rods placed into holes drilled into the walls
and grouted
 Lateral Support
.

Gravity Retaining Soil nailing

Reinforced earth wall
wall
 Geofabrics
~ used for reinforcement, separation, filtration and
drainage in roads, retaining walls, embankments…

Geofabrics used on Pacific Highway

 Reinforced Earth Walls
~ using geofabrics to strengthen the soil
Reinforced Earth Wall, Valdez, Alaska
INVESTIGATIONS
 QUALITY CONTROL
• SPT
• CPT
• LOAD TESTS
• PULL OUT TESTS
• NDT TESTS
 INSTRUMENTATION
• PIEZOMETERS
• SETTLEMENT DEVICES
• INCLINOMETERS
Types of Piezometers
 Typical Piezometer Applications

• Monitoring dewatering schemes for excavations

and underground openings.
• Monitoring ground improvement techniques
such as vertical drains, sand drains, and
dynamic compaction.
• Monitoring pore pressures to determine safe
rates of fill or excavation.
 Typical Piezometer Applications…

• Investigating the stability of natural and cut

slopes.
• Monitoring the performance of earthfill dams
and embankments.
• Monitoring seepage and ground water
movement in embankments.
• Monitoring pore pressures to check
containment systems at landfills and tailings
dams.
 Liquefaction
• Increase in-situ density of soil
• Provide stone column
• Replace loose soil
• Lower ground water table
• By pass the soil-piles
• Inject cement or chemical grout