Soil improvement methods are used to minimize the consequences of liquefaction by changing the characteristics and/or response of a liquefiable soil deposit. When considering sites with previous development, the options for soil improvement are limited. Traditional methods, such as compaction and vibratory techniques, are difficult to employ because of adverse effects on adjacent structures. One potential method for soil improvement against soil liquefaction in developed sites is accelerated drainage through in situ vertical drains. Vertical drains expedite the dissipation of excess pore water pressures by reducing the length of the pore water drainage path. For more than thirty years, vertical gravel drains or stone columns have been employed to ensure the excess pore water pressure ratio remains below a prescribed maximum value. In recent years, the use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) has increased because the drains can be installed with less site disruption than with traditional soil improvement methods. To date, little-to-no field or experimental verification is available regarding the seismic performance of sites treated with PVDs. The effectiveness of PVDs for liquefaction remediation was evaluated via small-scale centrifuge testing and full-scale field testing. A small-scale centrifuge test was performed on an untreated soil deposit and on a soil deposit treated with small-scale vertical drains. Compared to the untreated condition, the presence of the small-scale vertical drains provided numerous benefits including smaller magnitudes of excess pore water pressure generation and buildup, smaller induced cyclic shear strains, reduced times for pore pressure dissipation, and smaller permanent horizontal and vertical displacements. In addition, full-scale in situ field experiments were performed in an untreated soil deposit and in a soil deposit treated with full-scale PVDs using a vibrating mandrel as the dynamic source. In the untreated test area, the maximum induced excess pore pressure ratio reached about 0.95. In the treated test area, the vibratory installation of the first few drains generated significant excess pore pressures; however, significant excess pore pressures were not generated during the vibratory installation of additional drains because of the presence of the adjacent drains. Additionally, the vibratory installation of the drains caused significant settlement and significantly altered the shear wave velocity of the sand. Dynamic shaking after installation of all of the drains induced small accelerations, small cyclic shear strains, and negligible excess pore water pressures in the soil. The results of the field experiment indicate that the prefabricated vertical drains were effective at dissipating excess pore water pressures during shaking and densifying the site. / text

Ground Improvement using vibro stone columns is gaining increasing acceptance on marginal soft clay sites as a sustainable foundation solution, particularly for lightly loaded low-rise structures supported by shallow, narrow footings. Most experience in this context however has been with widespread loads and use of the wet top-feed stone column technique, which has now been largely superseded, on environmental grounds, by the dry bottom-feed technique, and for which no significant published field trial data currently exists in deep soft clay deposits in the context of shallow, narrow footings. This research is therefore principally concerned with evaluating both the ground response to installation of partial depth vibro stone columns using the dry bottom-feed method in a deep moderately sensitive soft clay soil, together with the influence of parameters such as stone column spacing and length, founding depth within a thin surface 'crust', and also foundation shape on the performance of narrow footings subsequently constructed and subjected to incremental loading, over the installed stone columns, at the Bothkennar soft clay research site in Scotland. Comparisons are made with footings constructed within the surface 'crust' at Bothkennar without stone columns. Whilst stone columns were satisfactorily constructed with the dry bottom-feed technique at Bothkennar, it was evident that the vibroflot should not remain in the ground for longer than is necessary, in order to avoid excessive soil disturbance. For this reason construction of partial depth stone columns to a more uniform diameter, without construction of an 'end bulb', is advocated. Stress ratio was found to increase significantly with increasing length of stone column and also applied load, up to a maximum value of around 4.0. Moreover, for a trial footing founded at the base of the 'crust', stresses attracted by the columns were higher than all other columns where founding depth (level) was at shallower depth in the crust. A significant stress transfer was also measured beneath the toe of columns intentionally installed shorter than the minimum design length predicted by the Hughes and Withers (1974) approach at all iii applied loads, but not for columns equal to, or longer than minimum design length, confirming the predictions of this laboratory-based approach at the field scale. The stress measurements recorded by the field instrumentation demonstrate that the behaviour of the composite stone column-soil-foundation system is complex, with simultaneous and interdependent changes in pore pressures, soil stress ratios and resulting stiffness of both soil and columns. Whilst observed settlements exceeded those predicted, with larger foundation settlements observed at low applied loads over stone columns than at the same loading level in untreated ground, principally due to soil disturbance and accelerated consolidation effects during initial loading, at higher applied loadings however the stone columns significantly reduced the rate and magnitude of settlement compared to a foundation in the untreated 'crust'. It is therefore clear that the stone columns 'reinforced' the weak soil, providing a significantly increased factor of safety against bearing failure.

Resíduos de mineração, dispostos em barragens de rejeito, são materiais de baixas densidades e resistências, em geral – muitas vezes, suscetíveis à liquefação. Desta forma, técnicas de melhoramento de solos, tais como o Deep Soil Mixing, surgem como possibilidade à estabilização destes materiais. Neste sentido, baseado nesta técnica, este trabalho visa avaliar o comportamento mecânico de resíduos de mineração de ouro estabilizados com cimento, comparativamente aos rejeitos no estado natural, analisando fatores de influência (quantidade de agente cimentante, umidade inicial das amostras e líquido empregado na moldagem). Para este propósito, ensaios de resistência à compressão simples, de compressão diametral, de ondas ultrassônicas e triaxiais não-drenados (CIU) foram empregados. Os resultados mostram que os resíduos de mineração, nas condições representativas de campo, apresentam baixas resistências e suscetibilidade à liquefação a baixas tensões confinantes. Por sua vez, os ensaios com resíduo estabilizado com cimento revelaram que: o aumento nas taxas de cimentação, a diminuição dos teores de umidade iniciais das amostras e uso de licor proveniente das barragens de rejeito nas moldagens, repercutiram, em geral, em aumentos nas resistências (qu e qt) e na rigidez inicial (G0) das misturas As análises de variância comprovaram que todos os fatores controláveis estudados foram significativos para as respostas avaliadas e demonstraram que a influência da dosagem de cimento foi muito mais pronunciada, em relação às outras variáveis. O comportamento tensão-deformação das misturas, sob condições não-drenadas, foi típico de materiais cimentados submetidos à baixas tensões confinantes – com geração de poro-pressões negativas devidas à tendência à dilatação. Ainda, ficou demonstrado que o índice porosidade/teor volumétrico de cimento (η/Civ) é adequado para a previsão do comportamento mecânico das misturas resíduo-cimento, considerando os parâmetros estudados – ampliando a possibilidade de aplicação deste índice. Foi observado, que existe uma proporcionalidade direta entre as resistências à tração e à compressão das misturas, que independe da relação η/Civ, sendo esta traduzida através de um valor escalar único (ξ = 0,17). / Mine tailings are materials of low in situ densities and strengths, in general – often susceptible to liquefaction. In view of this, soil improvement methods such as Deep Soil Mixing can be alternatives for the stabilization of these materials. In this sense, based on DSM techniques, this research aims to analyze the mechanical behaviour of cemented gold mine tailings, comparing to its natural condition, evaluating factors that influence the stabilization (cement content, initial water content and type of water for preparing specimens). For this purpose, unconfined compressive tests, splitting tensile tests, ultrasonic pulse velocity tests and undrained triaxial (CIU) tests were used. The results showed that remoulded mine tailings samples presented low strength and liquefaction susceptibility under low confining pressures. In its turn, the tests with cemented gold tailings revealed that: increasing the cement content, decreasing initial water content and using water from the tailings pond (liquor) in moulding provided strength (qu and qt) and initial stiffness (G0) gains on the mixtures of gold mine tailings-Portland cement. In this regard, the variance analysis statistically demonstrated that all the factors chosen on the experiment were significant to the parameters assessed It is also showed that the cement content influence was much more pronounced than other factors. Furthermore, the stress-strain behaviour of the blends is typical of cemented materials under low confining pressures and undrained conditions – with negative pore-pressures build-up. In addition, it is demonstrated that the porosity/cement index controls the mechanical performance of gold tailings-Portland cement blends, considering the whole range of densities and cement contents studied – what broadens the applicability of such index. Finally, it was found a single relationship between tensile (qt) and compressive strength (qu) equal to 0.17, being independent of the porosity/cement ratio.

This study uses a 3D finite element program, calibrated with the results of a full scale instrumented load test on a limited size footing, to estimate the settlement improvement factor for footings resting on rammed aggregate pier groups. A simplified 3D finite element model (Composite Soil Model) was developed, which takes into account the increase of stiffness around the piers during the ramming process. Design charts for settlement improvement factors of square footings of different sizes (B = 2.4m to 4.8m) resting on aggregate pier groups of different area ratios (AR = 0.087 to 0.349), pier moduli (Ecolumn = 36MPa to 72MPa), and with various compressible clay layer strengths (cu = 20kPa to 60kPa) and thicknesses (L = 5m to 15m) were prepared using this calibrated 3D finite element model. It was found that, the settlement improvement factor increases as the area ratio, pier modulus and footing pressure increase. On the other hand, the settlement improvement factor is observed to decrease as the undrained shear strength and thickness of compressible clay and footing size increase. After using the model to study the behaviour of floating piers, it was concluded that, the advantage of using end bearing piers instead of floating piers for reducing settlements increases as the area ratio of piers increases, the elasticity modulus value of the piers increases, the thickness of the compressible clay layer decreases and the undrained shear strength of the compressible clay decreases.

This study discusses the results of numerical modeling aspect of aggregate pier foundations (aggregate piers) in soft, compressible soils. FLAC 2D (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua), a finite difference code is utilized in the analyses. Use of axisymmetry enabled to visualize a three dimensional model throughout this research. The primary objective of this research is to make comparisons for stress concentration ratio &lsquo / n&rsquo / , and settlement reduction ratio b for given variables consisting of length, diameter, elastic modulus of the aggregate piers, and foundation pressures. Analyses have been carried out with 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 m long piers with diameters of 60 cm, and 80 cm, placed under a circular footing in 1.30 m diameter. Two values for elastic modulus of the piers have been used to reflect the effect of pier stiffness on settlement behavior. Analysis and design methodology have been carried out in three stages. The first stage consists of modeling the matrix soil with an elastic constitutive model and exerting foundation pressures to first check the accuracy of the mesh by comparing the effective vertical stress and settlement values by analytical methods. Once satisfactory results are achieved, modeling of a rigid foundation is carried out. Consequently, aggregate piers are modeled and loaded. For foundation pressures, a range of values consisting of 25, 50, 75, and 100 kPa have been chosen to see the behavior of piers under variable foundation pressures. There are solid outcomes of this study. It concludes by stating that the settlement behavior of piers having L/d ratios greater than 3.75, are alike. Thus, there is almost no additional settlement improvement achieved with piers longer than 3 m with 60 cm pier diameter.

Despite the developments in the last decades, field performance information for short aggregate pier improved ground is needed for future design and to develop a better understanding of the performance of the short (floating) aggregate piers. A full-scale field study was performed to investigate the floating aggregate pier behavior in a soft clayey soil. Site investigations included five boreholes and sampling, four CPT soundings, and SPT and laboratory testing. The soil profile consisted of 8m thick compressible clay overlying weathered rock. Four large plate load test stations were prepared. A rigid steel footing having plan dimensions of 3.0m by 3.5m were used for loading. Four 65cm diameter reaction piles and steel cross beams were used to load the soil in each station. First test comprised of loading the untreated soil up to 250 kPa with increments, and monitoring the surface settlements. Moreover, distribution of settlements with depth is recorded by means of deep settlement gages installed prior to loading. Other three tests were conducted on clay soil improved by rammed aggregate piers. In each station, seven stone columns were installed, having a diameter of 65cm, area ratio of 0.25, placed in a triangular pattern with a center to center spacing of 1.25m. The length of the columns were 3m, 5m in the two station resembling floating columns, and 8m in the last station to simulate end bearing columns to observe the level of the improvement in the floating columns. Field instrumentations included surface and deep settlement gages, and load cell placed on a aggregate pier to determine distribution of the applied vertical stress between the column and the natural soil , thus to find magnitude of the stress concentration factor, n , in end bearing and floating aggregate piers. It has been found that, the presence of floating aggregate piers reduce settlements, revealing that major improvement in the settlements takes place at relatively short column lengths. It has been also found that the stress concentration factor is not constant, but varies depending on the magnitude of the applied stress. The magnitude of stress concentration factor varies over a range from 2.1 to 5.6 showing a decreasing trend with increasing vertical stress.

Resíduos de mineração, dispostos em barragens de rejeito, são materiais de baixas densidades e resistências, em geral – muitas vezes, suscetíveis à liquefação. Desta forma, técnicas de melhoramento de solos, tais como o Deep Soil Mixing, surgem como possibilidade à estabilização destes materiais. Neste sentido, baseado nesta técnica, este trabalho visa avaliar o comportamento mecânico de resíduos de mineração de ouro estabilizados com cimento, comparativamente aos rejeitos no estado natural, analisando fatores de influência (quantidade de agente cimentante, umidade inicial das amostras e líquido empregado na moldagem). Para este propósito, ensaios de resistência à compressão simples, de compressão diametral, de ondas ultrassônicas e triaxiais não-drenados (CIU) foram empregados. Os resultados mostram que os resíduos de mineração, nas condições representativas de campo, apresentam baixas resistências e suscetibilidade à liquefação a baixas tensões confinantes. Por sua vez, os ensaios com resíduo estabilizado com cimento revelaram que: o aumento nas taxas de cimentação, a diminuição dos teores de umidade iniciais das amostras e uso de licor proveniente das barragens de rejeito nas moldagens, repercutiram, em geral, em aumentos nas resistências (qu e qt) e na rigidez inicial (G0) das misturas As análises de variância comprovaram que todos os fatores controláveis estudados foram significativos para as respostas avaliadas e demonstraram que a influência da dosagem de cimento foi muito mais pronunciada, em relação às outras variáveis. O comportamento tensão-deformação das misturas, sob condições não-drenadas, foi típico de materiais cimentados submetidos à baixas tensões confinantes – com geração de poro-pressões negativas devidas à tendência à dilatação. Ainda, ficou demonstrado que o índice porosidade/teor volumétrico de cimento (η/Civ) é adequado para a previsão do comportamento mecânico das misturas resíduo-cimento, considerando os parâmetros estudados – ampliando a possibilidade de aplicação deste índice. Foi observado, que existe uma proporcionalidade direta entre as resistências à tração e à compressão das misturas, que independe da relação η/Civ, sendo esta traduzida através de um valor escalar único (ξ = 0,17). / Mine tailings are materials of low in situ densities and strengths, in general – often susceptible to liquefaction. In view of this, soil improvement methods such as Deep Soil Mixing can be alternatives for the stabilization of these materials. In this sense, based on DSM techniques, this research aims to analyze the mechanical behaviour of cemented gold mine tailings, comparing to its natural condition, evaluating factors that influence the stabilization (cement content, initial water content and type of water for preparing specimens). For this purpose, unconfined compressive tests, splitting tensile tests, ultrasonic pulse velocity tests and undrained triaxial (CIU) tests were used. The results showed that remoulded mine tailings samples presented low strength and liquefaction susceptibility under low confining pressures. In its turn, the tests with cemented gold tailings revealed that: increasing the cement content, decreasing initial water content and using water from the tailings pond (liquor) in moulding provided strength (qu and qt) and initial stiffness (G0) gains on the mixtures of gold mine tailings-Portland cement. In this regard, the variance analysis statistically demonstrated that all the factors chosen on the experiment were significant to the parameters assessed It is also showed that the cement content influence was much more pronounced than other factors. Furthermore, the stress-strain behaviour of the blends is typical of cemented materials under low confining pressures and undrained conditions – with negative pore-pressures build-up. In addition, it is demonstrated that the porosity/cement index controls the mechanical performance of gold tailings-Portland cement blends, considering the whole range of densities and cement contents studied – what broadens the applicability of such index. Finally, it was found a single relationship between tensile (qt) and compressive strength (qu) equal to 0.17, being independent of the porosity/cement ratio.

Resíduos de mineração, dispostos em barragens de rejeito, são materiais de baixas densidades e resistências, em geral – muitas vezes, suscetíveis à liquefação. Desta forma, técnicas de melhoramento de solos, tais como o Deep Soil Mixing, surgem como possibilidade à estabilização destes materiais. Neste sentido, baseado nesta técnica, este trabalho visa avaliar o comportamento mecânico de resíduos de mineração de ouro estabilizados com cimento, comparativamente aos rejeitos no estado natural, analisando fatores de influência (quantidade de agente cimentante, umidade inicial das amostras e líquido empregado na moldagem). Para este propósito, ensaios de resistência à compressão simples, de compressão diametral, de ondas ultrassônicas e triaxiais não-drenados (CIU) foram empregados. Os resultados mostram que os resíduos de mineração, nas condições representativas de campo, apresentam baixas resistências e suscetibilidade à liquefação a baixas tensões confinantes. Por sua vez, os ensaios com resíduo estabilizado com cimento revelaram que: o aumento nas taxas de cimentação, a diminuição dos teores de umidade iniciais das amostras e uso de licor proveniente das barragens de rejeito nas moldagens, repercutiram, em geral, em aumentos nas resistências (qu e qt) e na rigidez inicial (G0) das misturas As análises de variância comprovaram que todos os fatores controláveis estudados foram significativos para as respostas avaliadas e demonstraram que a influência da dosagem de cimento foi muito mais pronunciada, em relação às outras variáveis. O comportamento tensão-deformação das misturas, sob condições não-drenadas, foi típico de materiais cimentados submetidos à baixas tensões confinantes – com geração de poro-pressões negativas devidas à tendência à dilatação. Ainda, ficou demonstrado que o índice porosidade/teor volumétrico de cimento (η/Civ) é adequado para a previsão do comportamento mecânico das misturas resíduo-cimento, considerando os parâmetros estudados – ampliando a possibilidade de aplicação deste índice. Foi observado, que existe uma proporcionalidade direta entre as resistências à tração e à compressão das misturas, que independe da relação η/Civ, sendo esta traduzida através de um valor escalar único (ξ = 0,17). / Mine tailings are materials of low in situ densities and strengths, in general – often susceptible to liquefaction. In view of this, soil improvement methods such as Deep Soil Mixing can be alternatives for the stabilization of these materials. In this sense, based on DSM techniques, this research aims to analyze the mechanical behaviour of cemented gold mine tailings, comparing to its natural condition, evaluating factors that influence the stabilization (cement content, initial water content and type of water for preparing specimens). For this purpose, unconfined compressive tests, splitting tensile tests, ultrasonic pulse velocity tests and undrained triaxial (CIU) tests were used. The results showed that remoulded mine tailings samples presented low strength and liquefaction susceptibility under low confining pressures. In its turn, the tests with cemented gold tailings revealed that: increasing the cement content, decreasing initial water content and using water from the tailings pond (liquor) in moulding provided strength (qu and qt) and initial stiffness (G0) gains on the mixtures of gold mine tailings-Portland cement. In this regard, the variance analysis statistically demonstrated that all the factors chosen on the experiment were significant to the parameters assessed It is also showed that the cement content influence was much more pronounced than other factors. Furthermore, the stress-strain behaviour of the blends is typical of cemented materials under low confining pressures and undrained conditions – with negative pore-pressures build-up. In addition, it is demonstrated that the porosity/cement index controls the mechanical performance of gold tailings-Portland cement blends, considering the whole range of densities and cement contents studied – what broadens the applicability of such index. Finally, it was found a single relationship between tensile (qt) and compressive strength (qu) equal to 0.17, being independent of the porosity/cement ratio.

Preloading without a surcharge is a common method for ground improvement. Thereare however uncertainties related to the number of site investigations and the partialfactor method has been identified as a problem. This thesis proposes a probabilisticdesign approach, using a Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the failure probabilityin the serviceability limit state for preloading without a surcharge. The methodwas applied to a case where the possibility of using preloading without a surchargewas determined. A parameter influence and sensitivity analysis were performed todetermine what parameters were most important for the calculation. Problems withthe generation of random samples for the parameters; preconsolidation pressure andlimit pressure were identified, and four different methods of generating the randomsamples were tested, and discussed.The failure probability was calculated as a function of preloading time which wasused to determine what preloading time is needed to fall below the acceptable failureprobability of 5%. The required preloading time was found to be 580 days. Themost important parameters were found to be preconsolidation pressure, the modulusM0 and the coefficient of vertical consolidation.The proposed method is working and has several advantages, among them are theability to calculate the failure probability and the compatibility with the observationalmethod. The model uncertainty has been discussed, and a general commentis that with more research can the model uncertainty be decreased. Only 1D consolidationis considered in the method, this simplification is very practical as 2D and3D effects often can be neglected.

Compacted fill and rammed aggregate piers (RAPs) were separately installed adjacent to a 9-ft by 9-ft by 2.5-ft driven pile foundation founded in soft clay. The compacted fill used to laterally reinforce an area of 11 ft by 5 ft by 6 ft deep adjacent to the pile cap was clean concrete sand. The thirty-inch diameter RAPs were installed in three staggered rows to a depth of 12.5 ft below the ground surface adjacent to the pile cap to test the increase in lateral resistance afforded by their installation. The foundation was laterally loaded and load, displacement, and strain readings were recorded. The results of this testing were compared with similar tests performed with virgin soil conditions. The total lateral capacity of the pile foundation increased by 5 percent or14 kips due to compacted fill placement against the face of the pile cap. The passive force acting only on the pile cap decreased from 54 kips in the virgin case to 30 kips after installation of the compacted fill, a decrease of about 45 percent. The total lateral capacity of the pile foundation that was retrofit with RAPs was increased by 18 percent or 52 kips as compared to an identical pile cap in virgin clay. The passive force acting on the pile cap at 1.5 inches of pile cap displacement was determined to be approximately 50 kips, showing a slight decrease in passive resistance as compared to the tests performed on virgin soil. Both reinforcement techniques reduced pile head rotation and the bending moments in the shallow portions of the piles.