A Short State-of-the-Art Review on Construction and Settlement of Soft Clay Soil Reinforced with Stone Column

Abstract

The primary application of various geotechnical construction techniques is for ground improvement. Many soil improvement methods have been developed due to the ongoing increase in urban and industrial growth and the need for greater access to lands. Stone columns are one of the best available techniques for soft clay soil improvement. In this method, subsurface soils which are weak and unstable are replaced with compacted dense aggregate columns that often entirely penetrate into the weak layers. This paper aims to present a short state-of-the art on the stone column ground improvement technique based on existing literature and standards. Due to high permeability of the material component used in the stone columns, not only the load carrying capacity of the soil is raised, but also the soil settlement is reduced considerably and the post construction settlement is minimized. To achieve this goal, several significant characteristics of stone column in terms of design parameters are considered. One example of the behavior assessment of reinforced soil using stone column is included. A new one-dimensional analysis has been studied in addition to a simplified nonlinear finite element method. The results indicate that the new method is reliable. It is also indicated that the settlement of the soil without stone columns is significantly higher than the similar soil reinforced with stone column.