GROUND

IMPROVEMENT
TECHNIQUES
 UNIT-I
•Need for Ground Improvement

•Applications

•Factors affecting Ground Improvement techniques

•Different Techniques
 Why

Ground Improvement
Required

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Introduction
• Soil is a mixture of sand, silt and clay (complex material)
• These three ingredients can be compared with ingredients
of concrete (Gravel, sand &cement which act as skeleton,
filler and binder respectively)
• Clayey soil, Sandy soil, Silty soil, Stable/Well graded soil
• Soil blending – unstable soil converted into stable soil
• Ground Improvement – to improve its engineering
properties
• Ground modification – temporary treatment
Large Civil Engineering Projects are being
executed in all over the country in order to
enhance the infrastructure of the country.
Thus it is increasingly important for the
engineer to know the degree to which soil
properties may be improved or other
alternations that can be thought of for
construction of an intended structure at
stipulated site.
Ground Improvement refers to a technique
that improves the engineering properties
of the soil mass treated.

Usually, the properties that are modified are

Shear strength, Stiffness, Permeability.

Ground improvement has developed into a

sophisticated tool to support foundations for
a wide variety of structures.
Alterations of ground after formation
A structure should be designed by considering the
properties of ground at the time of formation, at the
starting of the project and possible changes which might
take place to the ground during the design life of the
structure.

Few factors which contribute for ground alteration are:

Effect of Water Seepage and Surface Erosion

Effect of vegetation
Effect of temperature variation
Effect of vibration
Effect of Seasonal Moisture variation
Effect of Mining Subsidence and Pumping
Effect of construction operation
 Effect of water seepage and surface tension

Troubles occur due to water seepage and erosion in sandy soils.

Internal erosion can result from carrying away of fine soil particles by
ground water seeping in broken sewers or culverts and due to careless
deep excavation below water table.
The consequent loss of ground from beneath foundations leads to
collapse of structure.
Subsidence is also possible due to conversion of minerals in to solution
due to water seepage.

Surface erosion may occur due to loss of materials in strong winds and
flowing water.
Fine particles such as fine sands and silts and dry peat are highly
susceptible to erosion by winds.
Surface erosion is severe in areas where monsoons rains are very heavy.

Erosion can be prevented by providing adequate depth of foundation, by

growing vegetation, by blanketing the soil by gravel, crushed rock etc.
EFFECTS OF LIQUEFACTION
 Effect of Vegetation
Swelling and Shrinking problems are aggravated due to the
effect of the roots of vegetation.

The roots of trees, plants and shrubs consume

considerable amount of water from the soil leading to
shrinkage.
Roots of isolated trees can spread to a radius greater than
the height of the tree.
Removal of water by the roots causes shrinkage both
horizontally and vertically

Root system(Vegetation) causes 2 types of problems:

 heave of foundation on sites which have recently cleared

trees
settlements in existing structures close to growing trees
which consume considerable amount of water leads to
shrinkage.
 Effect of Temperature

Both low and high temperature causes volume changes leading to

heave and shrinking respectively.

Temperature around 0 degrees continuously freezes the soil moisture

near the ground and this inturn results in increase of depth of freeze
which ultimately results in rise of ground surface (Frost heave)

Frozen water is concentrated in layers parallel to ground surface. Frost

heave is rarely uniform and exerts enormous upward pressure causing
damage to structures constructed on them.

During warm weather the frozen soil thaws causing low shear strength
and ground subsidence.

The zone of soil subject to freezing and thawing depends on several

factors such as type of soil, vegetation, exposure to the sun, surface
configuration and ground water movements.
The depth of frost line depends on the air temperature and its period and
soil ability to conduct heat.

In permanently frozen ground(Permafrost), the frost heave effects are very
severe.

Coarse grained soils such as gravel and sand with no fines are rarely
subject to freeze causing objectionable heave

Fine sands and silts have the optimum combination of fine pores and
relatively high permeability that causes ice formation and heave

Clays are susceptible to frost action due to presence of cracks and

fissures.

Soils subjected to very high temperature leads to severe

shrinkages(Example: soil beneath foundation of boilers, kilns and furnaces)
 Effect of vibration

Sandy soils when subjected to vibrations by moving machinery, traffic, pile

driving, blasting and earthquakes etc increases the density of sand and
cause subsidence of its surface.

The most economical way of compacting loose sandy soils.

Vibration technique is both harmful and beneficial.

Settlement of sand surface subjected to pulsating load may be many

times greater than that produced by a peak static load.

Most serious settlements in sand due to vibrations are caused by high

frequency vibrations in the range of 50-2500 impulses per minute.

Settlement caused by vibration on clay is usually small because of

cohesive bond between clay particles.(Vibration does not cause any
damage).

Long continued traffic also produces considerable settlement.

 Effect of mining subsidence and pumping

Ground subsidence due to mining, pumping or dredging is

generally of high magnitude.

In coal mining (method of pillar workings, long wall workings) the

roof is supported by rectangular pillars of unworked coal. On the
onward working, 30-50% of coal is extracted, on return working,
pillars are removed completely to allow full collapse or partially to
give support at some locations to safeguard the structures at
ground surface.

Ground subsidence due to sudden collapse are not uniform and is

it is difficult to predict it accurately.

The extent and depth of subsidence is greatly reduced by carefully

planned extraction and accompanied by recharge.

Excessive pumping of oil and lowering of water table changes the

neutral stresses and increases the effective stresses. This increase
in stress causes additional compression leading to ground
subsidence.
 Effect of seasonal moisture variation

• Moisture variations leads to Shrinkage and swelling

• Depends on type of soil, degree of saturation, initial moisture content

• Shrinkage is reduced due to presence of sand and silt size particles.

• Soil with high plasticity shrink greatly causing settlement.

• Highly compressible clays exhibit cracks of 0.5m wide and 5m deep

• Soils such as black cotton also undergoes swelling with increase in

moisture content.

• Control of swelling may lead to increased pressures up to

500KN/m2

• Difficult to assess qualitatively.

EFFECTS OF SWELLING
 Effects of Swelling and Shrinkage

Swelling and Shrinking Soils exists in many areas in India, mainly

in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Deccan Plateau, Chennai
 Effect of Construction Operation

• Due to increasing load

• Excavation

• Lowering WT
 COLLAPSIBLE SOILS

Collapse Occurs due to saturation, Loss of Cementation bonds, Specific

Clay structure
FAILURE OF SLOPES
 GROUND SITUATIONS
To enable the engineer to decide a proper treatment
approach, and or a design approach, the soil/rock conditions
can be placed under three categories.
1. Hazardous – a regular design approach or an economical
treatment may not be feasible and construction in such a
location may result in ultimate disaster. As far as possible
such locations should be avoided.
2. Poor – require special design/treatment for development
3. Favourable – normal design/treatment are suitable

Hazardous ground conditions:

• Sites in close proximity to faults
• Seismically active regions
• Loose to medium dense fine sands (susceptible for quick
sand condition leading to liquefaction)
• Locations underlain by active mines
• Flood plains and other relatively low ground
• Landfill areas
Poor ground conditions:
• Loess, lightly cemented clays (collapse on saturation)
• Expansive clays (BC soil-volume changes occur with moisture
changes, show frost heave, if depth of active zone is less a
suitable ground treatment technique can be applied)
• Soft to firm clays (have low BC, generally undergo long term
consolidation, ground treatment or deep foundations are
suggested)
• Organic soils (highly compressible, replacement or deep
foundations are suitable)
• Loose sand and silt (need treatment)
Favourable ground conditions:
• Cohesive granular soils (sandy-clay mixture)
• Cohesion less granular soils (medium dense to dense sand,
sand-gravel mixture)
• Shallow rock without any discontinuities.
Alternative Approaches
When a project encounters difficult foundation conditions,
possible alternative solutions are,
• Avoid the particular site
• By pass the unsuitable soil by means of deep foundations
extending to a suitable bearing material
• Redesign the structure and its foundations (Use a raft
foundation in which the inadequacies of soil are unable to
cause any harm to the superstructure/design a very stiff
structure which is not damaged by settlement/choose a
very flexible construction which accommodates differential
movement )
• Remove that poor material and either treat it to improve
and replace it or substitute for it by a suitable material
• Treat the soil in place or improve its properties
So ground improvement is needed whenever,
• We encounter poor soil conditions at a site, such as loose sand,
soft clay, highly organic deposit or dumped heterogeneous
material.
• Where there is a lack of good quality granular materials
needed for the construction of dams, embankments, roads or
foundations.
• As more and more land becomes subject to urban or industrial
development, good construction sites are difficult to find and
the soil improvement alternative more frequently becomes the
best option, technically and economically.
Objectives of ground improvement:
• Increase strength, reduce erodibility
• Reduce distortion under stress (i.e. increase stress-strain
modulus)
• Reduce compressibility
• Control shrinking and swelling (improve volume stability)
• Control permeability, reduce water pressures, redirect seepage
• Prevent detrimental physical or chemical changes due to
environmental conditions (freezing/thawing, wetting/drying)
• Reduce susceptibility to liquefaction
• Reduce natural variability of barrow materials or foundation
soils
Factors affecting selection of ground improvement
technique:
The factors that must be considered in the selection of the
best technique of ground improvement include the
following
• Type and degree of improvement required
• Soil type – sand, clay, organic etc.
• Geological structure, seepage conditions
• Area and depth of treatment required – depends on the
geometric characteristics of the soil deposit and the
nature of facilities proposed for construction.
• Type of structure and load distribution
• Soil properties – strength, compressibility, permeability,
etc.
• Cost of the project
• Availability of material (stone, sand, water, admixture,
stabilizers, etc.)
Factors affecting selection of ground improvement
technique:
• Availability of skills and equipment
• Permissible total and differential settlements
• Construction time available
• Environmental considerations – waste disposal,
erosion, water pollution, etc.
• Possible damage to adjacent structures or pollution of
ground water resources
• Durability of the materials involved (related to the
expected life of the structure for the given
environmental and stress conditions)
• Toxicity or corrosivity of any chemical additives
• Feasibility of construction control and performance
measurements
 Applications of ground improvement

Environmental geotechniques
• Understanding the environmental significance of
geotechnical processes. Ex: constructive use and
modification of waste materials, stabilization of newly
exposed soil surfaces, prevention of subsidence due to
mining, preservation of quality and flow patterns of ground
water
Containment and constructive use of waste materials
• Fixation of dangerous pollutants, impart minimal strength
and volume stability to the waste mass, treatment of
wastes in slurry form (cement stabilization), use of high
energy waste materials such as flyash (as a stabilizing
agent with lime/cement for road bases)
Low cost building with soil
• Mud bricks (compacting clay soil by mixing with straw,
lime, cement etc), earth covered housing (thermal
insulation properties of soil are taken as advantage)

Metallic reinforcement and geosynthetics

• Reinforced earth (synthetic/metallic – used in building
retaining walls, bridge abutments, slope stabilization in cut
and fill), synthetic fabrics in the construction of roads,
railways, embankments, retaining walls, drainage system,
erosion protection etc
• (corrosion of metals, degradation of synthetics, long term
loss of strength, deformation also considered)
• Major functions of synthetics are filtration, drainage,
separation and reinforcement.
 Classification of Ground Improvement Techniques

(Use static methods for cohesive soils and dynamic methods

for cohesion less soils)

Mechanical modification:

• Shallow surface compaction

Static rollers - smooth steel rollers, pneumatic tyred rollers,

sheep foot rollers, grid rollers

Impact and vibratory equipment - tampers, rammers, plate

compactors, vibratory rollers, impact rollers

• Deep compaction
Explosion, heavy tamping and dynamic compaction, vibro
compaction and vibro replacement, compaction piles.
Hydraulic modification:

• Dewatering
Open sumps and ditches, gravity flow wells, vacuum
dewatering wells, electro-kinetic dewatering

• Filtration, drainage and seepage control with geo-

synthetics

• Pre-loading and vertical drains

Cylindrical sand drains, sand wicks, geo drains, rope
drains, band drains, stone columns

• Vaccum method
Physical and chemical modification:

• Admixtures
Granular admixture, Portland cement, lime, fly ash,
bitumen etc.

• Grouting
Penetration grouting, displacement grouting,
compaction grouting, grouting of voids, jet grouting

• Thermal modification
Heating, freezing
Modification by inclusions and confinement:

• Soil reinforcement
Strip reinforcement, bar and mesh reinforcement, geo
grids, geo-synthetic sheet reinforcement

• In-situ ground reinforcement

Ground Anchorage – plate anchor, multi helix screw

anchor, grouted anchor, under reamed anchor

Rock bolting

Soil nailing

• Soil confinement by formwork

 Soil Stabilization

Procedure in which a special soil is proportioned /added/removed

or a cementing material/chemical material is added to a natural soil
to improve one or more of its properties.

One of the common methods of soil stabilization includes mixing of

natural coarse grained soil and fine grained soil to obtain a mixture
that develops adequate internal friction and cohesion and thereby
provides a material that is workable during placement and will
remain stable further.

This approach is generally referred as Mechanical Stabilization.

Cement, lime,bitumen,asphalt, polymers are some of the stabilizers.

 Requirements of Soil Stabilization

The mode of alteration and degree of alternation necessarily depend on the

character of the soil and on its deficiencies.(Main requirement is adequate
strength)

Cohensionless soil – strength can be improved by adding cementing or binding

agent.

Cohesive soil – by drying or making soil moisture resistant, increasing cohesion

by cementing material.

Compressibility – can be modified by consolidation by filling voids.

Swelling and shrinkage – adding cementing agents, preventing moisture

changes.

Permeability(decreasing) – by filling voids or adding impervious material

Permeability(Increase) – by washing
Based on their function or effect on soil they may be classified as follows:

Mechanical Stabilization – improving soil gradation or arrangement

Cementing: binding the particles together without their alteration

Physico- Chemical alteration – changing the clay minerals or clay-water

system

Aggregants and Dispersants: Alteration of electrical forces between soil

particles

Void filling – plugging in voids

Consolidation

Every stabilization process will be satisfactory when it provided the required

qualities and fulfills the following criteria:

1) Be compatible with soil material

2) Be permanent
3) Be easily handled and processed
4) Cheap and safe
MECHANICAL STABILIZATION
 Mechanical stabilization
 Improvement of soil gradation (Blending of aggregates)
 Rearrangement of soil particles (compaction)

Blending of Aggregates/Granular Admixtures/Proportioning of

materials:
Natural materials are deficient in one or more of the particle size
fractions required. A mechanically stable material can be produced
only by mixing two or more of the materials in appropriate
proportions.

A granular mass has a relatively high dry density when its particle
size distribution follows a certain law (Fuller and Thompson, 1907)

%passing any sieve = 100(aperture size of that sieve/size of the largest

particle)1/2

It is observed that to obtain adequate cohesion, greater proportion of

material less than 0.075mm is necessary.
Rothfuch’s Method This method is used when a number of materials have to be
mixed together for obtaining a desired or design gradation.

The desired gradation may be decided either based on recommended grain size
distribution charts or tables or using the below Fuller’s equation.

P= 100 (d/D) n

Where, D = diameter of largest particle, mm

P = percent finer than diameter ‘d’ (mm) in the material

n = gradation index, which have values ranging from 0.5 to 0.3 depending upon
the shape

On a graph paper, with Y-axis representing percent passing and X-axis

representing particle size, as shown in figure. A diagonal line is drawn from point
corresponding to (100 percent passing, maximum particle size of the material) to a
point corresponding to (zero percent passing, smallest particle size of the
materials)
The different particle sizes are marked on X-axis corresponding to the
mean values of percentage finer taken on the Y-axis.

For different materials say A, B and C, sieve analysis has to be done and
percentage finer has to be calculated for each range of particle size for all
the materials and grain size distribution curves of these three materials
are plotted as shown in fig and the balancing straight lines of A, B and C
are obtained, allowing only minimum of the areas on either sides of the
balancing lines.

The opposite ends of the balancing straight lines of A and B are joined
(i.e., zero percent passing of materials A is joined with 100 percent
passing of B). Similarly the opposite ends of balancing lines of B and C
are joined.

The points where these lines meet the desired gradation line represent
the proportion in which the materials A, B and C are to be mixed.

These values may be read from the Y-axis by projecting the points of
intersection as shown in fig.
Rothfuch (1935) method

It consists of the following stages.

1.The particle-size distribution curve of the required grading is plotted.

This is readily done by drawing an inclined straight line and marking
on it the sizes corresponding to the various percentages passing.
2.The particle-size distribution curves of the different soils to be mixed
are plotted on this scale.
3.With the aid of a transparent straight-edge, the straight lines which
most nearly approximate the particle size distribution curves of each
component are drawn. This is done by selecting for each curve a
straight line such that the areas enclosed between it and the curve
are minimal and are balanced about the straight line.
4.The opposite ends of these straight lines are joined together and the
proportions for mixing can be read from the points where these
joining lines cross the curve representing the required grading which
represents the design grading.
• When a borrow area contains poorly graded soils, mixing material
from different locations may bring an improvement in the grain size
distribution and thus in density and related properties such as to
gain higher strength and lower compressibility.

• Mixing granular materials for achieving maximum density and some

cohesiveness was important in the early days of building unsealed
roads but is more or less being phased out on economic grounds.

• Granular admixtures may still have some importance in efforts to

use waste materials such as slag and flyash (by products of
industrial processes) for pavement construction. Combinations of
granular waste products from different sources or inter mixing with
natural materials, could offer an economic and environmentally
welcome answer to both the growing scarcity of good aggregates
and the problem of disposing of large quantities of granular waste
products.

• Addition or removal of soil particles: addition of binder to gravel for

road construction, addition of bentonite to reduce permeability,
removal of fines from gravel for filters.
UNIT-2
Chemical Stabilization:

Modifying soils by the mechanical addition of chemical compounds

such as cement, lime, bitumen etc is called chemical stabilization or
modification by admixtures.

The purpose of mixing the additives is to

1. Increase strength
2. Reduce deformability
3. Control shrinking and swelling
4. Reduce permeability
5. Reduce erodibility
6. Increase durability

Types of admixtures:
Lime, Portland Cement, Bitumen and tar (these are widely available
and environmentally acceptable.
Portland Cement:
Binding of soil particles together without their alteration is referred to as soil
stabilization by cementing.

Nature of soil suitable for cement stabilization:

• All inorganic soils which can be pulverised (2% of organic matter is allowed)
• Soils with higher specific surface require more cement. Presence of clay in
soil causes problems in pulverisation, mixing and compacting
• Exchangeable ions in a soil influence the response of soil treatment. Calcium
is the most desirable ion for ease of cement stabilization
• Soils with following limits can be economically stabilized.
max.size – 75mm, passing 4.75mm - >50% with LL < 40%, passing 75mic -
<50% with PI <18%.
• Best results are obtained with well graded soils having <50% of its particle
finer than 0.075mm and PI < 20%

Amount of cement: cement content varying from 5 to 20% by weight

for gravels – 5 to 10%, for sands – 7 to 12%, for silts – 12 to 15%, for clays – 12
to 20%. (lowest % related to evenly mixing small quantities, highest % related
to shrinkage cracking)
Moisture content: It plays two roles.
1. It influences the compaction characteristics
2. It furnishes water for cement hydration
When the cement is hydrating satisfactorily in a mixture, an increase in
strength is obtained with increasing cement content.

Soil-Cement-Water reactions:
The reaction of cement and water forms cementitious calcium silicate and
aluminate hydrates, which bind soil particles together. The hydration releases
slaked lime which in turn may react with components of soil.
The following reactions will take place between soil, cement and water.
• Hydration of the OPC, producing Ca(OH)2 equals upto 25% of weight of
cement
• Adsorption of Ca(OH)2 by the clay (a cation exchange reaction)
• When the clay is saturated with Ca(OH)2, a pozzolonic reaction occurs
• The end result is an improved soil which contains hardened cement and soil
particles hardened by their pozzolonic reaction with products of hydration
process
• Include flow chart
Construction of soil-cement:
1. Pulverizing the soil to be treated
2. Adding water and cement
3. Mixing – mixing should be continued only upto the optimal level.
Increase in continued mixing causes a decrease in the degree of mixing
and may lead to segregation of components. Mix-in-place method,
travelling plant method and stationary plant method are suitable to
produce soil-cement mixtures in the field.
4. Compacting – sands should usually be compacted slightly dry of OMC and
clays slightly wet of OMC.
5. Finishing and curing – soil-cement is cured under conditions that prevent
drying of the surface. A damp environment is most desirable for curing.

Note: to accelerate the set and to improve the properties of soil-cement, lime
or CaCl2 is added. These additives permit a reduction in the amount of
cement required to treat a soil responsive to cement and stabilize some
of the soils (organic soils) which are not responsive to cement.
Effect of stabilization on properties of soil:

1. Density and plasticity: may slightly increase the MDD of sands and highly
plastic clays, but that of silts may be decreased. It reduces the PI of
cohesive soil due to increase in PL or reduction of LL.
2. Strength: Include graphs, the unconfined compressive strength is
increasing linearly with cement content. This increase is more for coarse-
grained soils than for silts and clays. Cohesion and friction angle are also
increase with cement content.
3. Swelling and shrinkage: even small additions of cement (1%) to an
expansive soil reduce shrinkage and swell.
Lime:
Lime is produced from natural lime stone. The type of lime formed based
upon the parent material and production process.

Basic types of lime:

High calcium quick lime CaO
Dolomite quick lime CaO+MgO
Hydrated high calcium lime Ca(OH)2
Normal hydrated dolomite lime Ca(OH)2 + MgO
Pressure hydrated dolomite lime Ca(OH)2 + Mg(OH)2

For engineering soil modification, lime is used in the form of quick lime or
hydrated lime.
Quick lime: It is delivered in the form of a coarse-grained powder with a bulk
density of 0.85 to 1.05 t/m3. It reacts quickly with water, producing hydrated
or slaked lime, generating considerable heat and causing volume increase.
CaO+H2O → Ca(OH)2 + 65.3KJ/mol
The slaking process creates clouds of steam. It will burn exposed skin when
moisture is present. It may also cause corrosion of equipment.
Slaked lime: It is used in the form of a fine powder with a bulk density of 0.45
to 0.6t/m3 or as a slurry with a water content of 80 to 100%.

Quick lime is more cost effective than slaked lime in terms of handling and
transportation. A truck load of quick lime has 25% more lime available for the
reaction with soil than slaked lime.

Soil-Lime reactions:
• Short term reactions
1. Hydration (for quick lime)
2. Flocculation (ion exchange)
• Long term reactions
1. Cementation (pozzolanic)
2. Carbonation
Hydration:
• Quick lime will immediately react with water in soil.
• This drying action is particularly beneficial in the treatment of moist clays.
• In the placement of lime columns and layers, the heat generation and
expansion of the lime further enhance the consolidation effect.
Flocculation:
• When lime is mixed with clay, sodium and other cations adsorbed to the
clay mineral surfaces are exchanged with calcium. This affects the way the
structural components of the clay minerals are connected together.
• Lime causes clay to coagulate, aggregate or flocculate
• Lime increases the PI of low plastic soils and decrease the PI of high plastic
soils. The clays plasticity is reduced, making it more easily workable and
potentially increasing its strength and stiffness.
• Addition of lime causes a reduction in the max. compacted density and an
increase in the OMC.
Cementation: Main contributor to the strength
• It is thought to be a reaction between the calcium from lime with the
available reactive alumina or silica from soil.
• The structure of the stabilized clay was described as an assembly of hard-
skinned.
• Lime poor lumps of clay embedded in a lime-rich, fine grained soil matrix.
• The higher the surface area of the soil, the more effective is the process (not
suitable for clean sands and gravel)
• Cementation is limited by the amount of available silica. Increasing the
quantity of lime added will increase strength up to the point where all the
silica of the clay is used up.
• Adding too much lime can actually be counter productive. This is in contrast
to stabilization with cement.
Carbonation:
• Reaction of lime with carbon-di-oxide in the open air or in voids of the
ground forms a relatively weak cementing agent.
• This may be beneficial where lime is plentiful.
• The CaCO3 formed will not react any further with the soil.

Construction procedure:
Scarify the base, pulverise the soil, spread the lime, mix the lime and soil, add
water if necessary to bring to OMC, compact the mixture, shape the stabilized
base, curing – keep moist and traffic free for at least 5days, add wearing
surface.
Effect of stabilization on properties of soil:
Workability: is improved because flocculation makes the clay more friable.
This assists effective mixing and compaction.
Plasticity: decreases mainly because of an increase in plastic limit. Include
graph
Compaction characteristics: Include graph
• Lime increases the OMC for compaction, which is an advantage when
dealing with wet soil.
• Flocculation and cementation will make the soil more difficult to compact.
Therefore, the max. dry density achieved with a particular compactive
effort is reduced.
• The compaction curve for lime treated clay is generally flatter, which
makes moisture control less critical and reduces the variability of the
density produced.
Strength: lime increases the strength of clayey soil (in terms of UCS, CBR
results). It improves durability under traffic, resistance to the action of wind,
water and freeze-thaw cycles. Both c and ф values increase with lime content.
Volume stability: reduce shrinkage and swell upon drying and wetting rptly.
Include graph
Permeability: lime increases the permeability of clayey soil. It makes soil
pores larger and thus frost penetration is generally reduced.
Bitumen:
• Bituminous materials → Bitumen, Tar, Asphalt
• Bitumen is a product obtained after processing the recidue that remains
after the distillation or evaporation of crude petroleum.
• Tar is the result of destructive distillation of coal or other carbonaceous
materials such as oil, lignite, peat and wood.
• Asphalt consists of inert mineral particles impregnated or cemented by
bitumen.
• Bituminous material stabilizes the soil either by binding the particles
together (in cohesionless soils) or protecting the soil from deleterious
effects of water (i.e. water proofing in cohesive soils) or both.
• Among the bituminous materials, most of the bitumen stabilization (mostly
in bases for highway and airfield pavements) has been with Asphalt.

Asphalts are materials in which the primary components are

natural or refined petroleum bitumen or combinations there of.
Asphalts are produced by three processes.
1. Vacuum distillation producing straight-run asphalt (it has low softening
temperature and low melt viscosity, commonly used in soil stabilization).
2. High temperature pyrolysis of refinery heavies, producing cracked
asphalt.
3. High temperature air blowing straight run asphalt, producing blown
asphalt.

Asphalt cannot be directly added to the soil because of its viscosity. Its fluidity
can be increased by heating, emulsifying in water, cut back with some solvent
gasoline (the viscosity of bitumen is temporarily reduced by the cutting oil
which evaporates after placement like naphtha, kerosene, diesel oil etc).

So, bitumen is not as common as the other major stabilizers mainly because
of its relatively high costs. Experience is required in controlling temperatures
(and viscosity) in hot applications, in choosing correct proportions and mixing
time for emulsions and cut backs and in optimizing curing rates and
conditions.
Nature of soil:
All inorganic soils satisfying the following requirements yield the best results.
• Maximum particle size less than one-third the compacted thickness of the
treated soil layer.
• Greater than 50% finer than 4.76mm size
• 35 to 100% finer than 0.42mm size
• Greater than 10%, but less than 50% finer than 0.075mm size
• LL less than 40%
• Plasticity index less than 18%

Asphalt stabilization cannot be effective in fine grained soils with high PH and
dissolved salts. It is difficult to handle plastic clays because of mixing problem.
Construction of soil-Asphalt:
• Pulverisation of the soil to be treated
• Addition of water for proper mixing
• Adding and mixing of the bitumen (a thorough incorporation of the additive
with the soil yields a better stabilized soil)
• Aeration to the proper volatiles content for compaction
• Compaction (soil-asphalt showed a maximum strength at a moulding
volatiles content for max. compacted density. The water pick up and thus
strength loss is least at this moulding volatiles content).
• Finishing
• Aerating and curing (longer the period of cure and warmer the temperature
of cure, the greater the volatiles lost; longer the period of immersion, the
greater the water pick up)
• Application of surface cover
Effect of stabilization on properties of soil:

1. Compaction characteristics: (Include graph) The max. dry density falls

with increasing bitumen content. Graph shows that the OMC necessary
for reaching max. density decreases with increasing tar content. But the
corresponding total amount of liquid added (water and tar) actually rises.

2. Strength: (Include graph) measured by UCC or CBR test. Initially there is

an increase in strength with the quantity of binder added until max.
stability is reached. Thereafter increasing the bitumen content reduces
strength. As the bitumen content increases past the peak strength, the
difference between soaked and un-soaked strength diminishes.

3. Water absorption: The degree of water absorption and the

corresponding loss of strength is a function of the soaking period. When
the time of soaking increases, the water absorption capacity also
increases but the strength decreases.
Construction Methods:
Mix-in-place method:
In this, a train of machines is run over the soil to be processed.
• Breaking up the soil – rippers, cultivators or rotary tillers are used
• Loosen the soil to a uniform depth – ploughs or scarifiers are used
• Water is then added to the loose soil – sprayer is used
• The necessary stabilizer is then added – spray wagon is used in case of fluid
stabilizer, hand or bulk spreader is used in case of powder stabilizer
• Mixing of stabilizer into the soil – it is done by special passes of the rotary
tillers or of special soil mixers
• Shaping of the loose mixed material – done by compaction by a suitable
roller
• Curing – the surface is covered with a layer of moist soil/straw or the surface
may be kept damp by frequent application of a light spray of water.
Sometimes a bituminous primary coat is used which provides a key for the
surfacing
Advantages: Plant is simple, cheap and easily transported; No. of machines required
can be adjusted to the size of the job; Whole processed section is ready for compaction
at a time; A large average output may be maintained.
Disadvantages: Not easy to obtain a uniform thickness because of the difficulty of
setting machines to a given depth; Mixing is not uniform; Water lost by evaporation.
Travelling Plant method:
• The procedure for application of the stabilizer is the same as that of mix-in
place method.
• In case of powder stabilizers, the pulverised soil is heaped into a windrow by
a specially converted motor-grader or a sizer and the powder is spread on
top.
• In case of fluid stabilizers, the soil is windrowed and the stabilizer added by
the travelling mixer which moves along the line of windrow.

Advantages:
Accurate proportioning of added water, uniform mixing and short mixing time, depth of
treatment can be controlled, highest output for a given expenditure of plant and
labour.

Disadvantages:
High initial cost of plant, consequent need for the plant to work continuously at full
capacity, work may be stopped for a minor break down on one piece of plant.
Stationary plant method:
Two types → Continuous mixers, Batch mixers
Continuous mixer: works under the same principle as that of travelling mixer.
In this, an elevating loader supplies material to a hopper with a measuring
gate, hence a belt conveyor discharges it to a pug-mill, where water or fluid
stabilizer may be added through spray nozzles, and mixed into the soil. The
mixed materials, is then discharged into lorries.
Batch mixer: used for small jobs. An ordinary tilting drum concrete mixers
have been used. The best results are obtained by using double-paddle
mixers, pug-mills or roller pair types machines in which soil lumps are easily
broken up. It is possible to discharge the mixed materials vertically from the
mixer into lorries.

Advantages:
Accurate proportioning of mixer, easy control of depth of treatment, concrete mixers
can be used, no additional haulage if soil has taken from a borrow-pit, small loses of
moisture during mixing and transport.
Disadvantages:
Expensive if soil in site is processed, material must be compacted as delivered, and
not as a complete section.
Grouting:
It is defined as the injection of fluidized materials into voids of the ground or
spaces between the ground and the adjacent structures, generally through
bore holes under pressure.

Objective of grouting:
To produce a stronger, denser and/or less permeable soil or rock.

Principle of grouting:
To introduce a substance into rock fissures or into a soil by pumping fluid
down a small diameter tube in the required location.

Types of grout:
• Cement, cement-sand, clay-cement, slag-cement, gypsum-cement, clays,
asphalt, pulverised fuel ash (PFA), low viscosity chemicals.
• Cement and water is the most widely used group because of its relatively
low cost.
• In some situations where cement can not penetrate soils of low
permeability, injection of chemicals have been in use.
Categories of Grouting:
Depending on mode of entry into the soil or rock,
1. Penetration grouting (intrusion, permeation): The process of filling joints
or fractures in rock or pore spaces in soil with a grout without disturbing
the formation is called intrusion. The grout flows freely with minimal
effect into the voids. Permeation refers to the replacement of water in
voids with a grout at low injection pressure so as to prevent fracturing.
2. Displacement grouting: The injection of grout into the formation in such
a manner as to move the formation. It may be controlled as in
compaction grouting or uncontrolled as in high pressure soil or rock
grouting which leads to splitting the ground, also called hydro fracture. In
hydro fracture, the grout rapidly penetrates into the fractured zone which
is created when grouting pressure is greater than the tensile strength of
soil.
3. Compaction grouting: A very stiff mortar (say 25mm slump) is injected
into loose soils, forming grout bulbs which displace and densify the
surrounding ground, without penetrating the soil pores. With slightly
more fluid grout, thick fissures rather than bulbs may form. This is
referred to as squeeze grouting.
4. Grouting of voids (gap grouting): may used simply to fill voids, such as
may develop below the joints in a concrete pavement through pumping
etc.

5. Jet grouting: It is a technique where high speed water jets emanating

from a drill bit cut into alluvial soils. As the drill bit is withdrawn, grout
is pumped through horizontal nozzles and mixes with soil or displaces
soil. The original foundation material is thus replaced with a stronger
and more impermeable grout-soil mixture.

6. Electro grouting: It is a term used for promoting electro chemical

hardening during electro osmosis by adding chemicals, such as sodium
silicate or calcium chloride at the anode. Under the influence of electric
field, these chemicals permeate the ground, flowing in the direction of
the cathode, while the anode becomes a grout injection pipe.
Grout materials:
According to composition,
Suspension grouts: Small particles of solids are distributed in a liquid
dispersion medium. Water in association with cement, lime, soil etc
constitute suspensions. Also referred as particulate grouts (multi-phase
systems).

Solution grouts: An one-phase system containing liquid homogeneous

molecular mixtures of two or more substances.
a) Colloidal solutions: solutions in which the solute is present in the
colloidal state (silica or lignochrome gels)
b) Pure solutions: phenolic resins, aminoplasts

Emulsions: A two-phase system containing minute droplets of liquid in a

disperse phase (Ex: Bitumen with water, foams created by emulsifying a gas
into the grout material).
By choosing the proper emulsifying agent one can obtain globular spheres of 1 to 2
micro metre in dia, along with water can be used as a grout to fill soil voids. Slow
setting emulsions are generally recommended since they can travel the longest
distance into the material being grouted.
Suspension grouts:
A groutability ratio (GR) (which gives the relation between the grout particle
size and the soil void size) has been defined as a rough guide. This criterion
decides the limit for suspension grouting.
GR = D15 (formation)/D85 (grout) > 20

Grouting with soil: Soil itself can be used to fill up voids in coarse grained soils. The soil
to be used as a grout should be fine grained (<0.002mm). Bentonite clay is a
commonly used material whose structure is such that water is readily adsorbed on its
surface and enables reasonably to control viscosity, strength and flow properties.

Grouting with cement: A satisfactory cement based grout depends on the water-
cement ratio, the rate of bleeding and subsequent ultimate strength of grout. The
water-cement ratio varied from about 0.5:1 to 5:1 depending on required strength.
When selecting a particular cement grout for use, one should know its final strength,
flow rate, set time, shrinkage, permeability and durability.

Other ingredients sometimes used in cement grout are,

Clay, fine sand, fly ash – act as a filler and control bleeding, reduce cost
Accelerator - accelerates set and hardening
Retarder - increases fluidity
Fluidiser - entrains air
• Bentonite clay-cement mixes has been widely used as a permeation grout.
• Low water content soil-cement mixes can serve as displacement grouting.

Solution grouts:
Solution grouts can generally permeate finer soils than can suspension
grouts. Many of the solution grouts are chemical grouts only. Such chemical
grouting is done using one-shot system or two-shot system.

• In one-shot system all chemicals are injected together after pre-mixing.

Setting times are controlled by varying the catalyst concentration
according to the grout concentration, water composition and
temperature.
• In two-shot system one chemical is injected followed by injection of a
second chemical which reacts with the first to produce a gel which
subsequently hardens.
• Two-shot systems are slower and require higher injection pressure and
more closely spaced grout holes.
• Although chemical grouting costs high, it has several advantages –
absence of particulate material, low viscosity, control over setting time.
Some of more commonly used solution grouts are,
Silicate derivatives: Sodium silicate, also called as water glass, is a commonly available and
relatively an inexpensive aqueous solution. The sodium silicate is allowed to react with
carbonic acid, by the two-shot system, to form salt (sodium carbonate, a solid) and acid
(silicic acid, a liquid) which further breaks down to water and silicon dioxide ( a solid
precipitate). Thus the two original liquids react to form two solids which remain in the soil
voids or rock cracks as the grout.
Ligno sulphite derivatives: this grout can be used similar to silicates and possessing a
viscosity increasing with time. It is basically made from lignin, a residual product from
wood industry. The raw lignin can be used directly, or as a dried one. Setting time varies
from 10min to 10hours. The ligno sulphite precipitated as the salt of a heavy metal.
Acrylamides: The acrylamide grouts are characterised by constant viscosity , good
penetrability, effective control of gel time and adequate strength. Acrylamide and the
cross linking agent methylene-bisacrylamide can be mixed and easily dissolved in cold
water. Ammonium persulphate accelerates the reaction speed so that, if required, gel can
be formed within a few seconds. Acrylamide are mostly used in controlling the flow of
water and rarely used for stabilization of rock masses or soils.
Phenoplast resins: the resorcinol-formaldehyde combination is a resin results from the
polymerisation of resorcinol (meta-dihydroxy benzene) with formaldehyde inaqueous
solution when the PH is changed. This gives higher strength than acrylamide. Resorcinol is
a phenol derivative so that this grout might be considered as a phenoplast.
Grouting Procedure:

• Pre-grouting site investigation

• Grout holes pattern
• Grout characteristics
• Grouting plant and equipment
• Injection methods
Pre-grouting site investigation:
It is essential to decide the method of grouting and the extent of grouting.
Site investigation should include,
• Geological survey (to establish fissures, faults, extent of soil and rock
formations, zones of weakness etc)
• Investigation drilling (collecting samples for laboratory tests to determine
shear strength, grain-size and permeability etc)

Grout holes pattern:

• The shallow grouting with low pressure is done first to seal all major
cavities in and consolidate rock and deep grouting with high pressure is
undertaken later.
• The spacing of grout holes should follow a grid pattern such that the
radius of penetration is sufficient to cause slight overlapping between
adjacent holes.
• A second and subsequent half-size grid is then injected to fill the spaces
between adjacent columns.
• Sometimes a third and quarter-size grid is required to achieve the target.
• The quantity of grout is calculated after fixing the length, breadth and
depth of the zone.
• Grout holes are generally vertical but sometimes inclined holes are also made
to meet some objectives (i.e. when max. number of joints or bedding planes
are intersected by a specific length of grout hole) usually at an angle not
greater than 15o to vertical.
• Grout holes are drilled with rotary drilling or percussion drilling (with a depth
of 20% of the hydrostatic head in hard rock to 70% in poor rock.

Coefficient of Grid Spacing(m) Soil type

permeability of the
zone(mm/s)
>1 6 Fissured rocks
1 to 1X10-1 3 Medium/coarse sands
and gravels
<10-1 0.5 to 1 Fine Sands
Grout Characteristics:
• The grout must be able to penetrate the voids of the mass to be injected. (a
cement grout or flocculating chemical grout may get filtered in a fine sand)
• The grout should be resistant to chemical attack when in place
• The grout should be able to develop sufficient shear strength to withstand
the hydraulic gradient imposed during injection and on flowing ground
water.

Grouting plant and Equipment:

Both suspension and solution grouts use the same mixing plants and delivery
system and they differ mainly in their storage and mixing configuration.
Two systems are there for piping the grout into hole.
1. Single line type – in which the unused or refused grout is wasted
2. Circulation type – in which the unused grout is returned to the agitator

(for solution grouts, separate ingredients are stored in stationary tanks and are mixed
at junction points and delivered to the intended grout pipe)

The basic items required for a grouting plant and their functions are,
• Measuring tank – to control the volume of grout injected (measuring water to the
mixer)
• Mixer – to mix the grout ingredients
• Agitator – to keep the solid particles in suspension until pumped (not required for
chemical grouts)
• Pump – to draw the grout from the agitator to deliver to the pumping line
• Control fittings – to control the injection rate and pressure so that the hole can be
regularly blend with water and thin grout (valve box & sensors are used)
Mixing is done in three stages:
1. Formation of a vortex which acts as a centrifugal separator – thicken grouts and
unmixed cement are pushed to the periphery of the vortex and passed to a
mixing rotor.
2. Treatment of thicker fraction and unmixed cement from the vortex – these are
subjected to a violent shearing action in a mixer rotor, which breaks up thicker
fraction and lumps of cement and wets and produces a grout resembling like a
colloidal solution rather than a mechanical suspension.
3. Circulation of the treated fraction back into the vortex – vortex continues to spin
till all the thicken fraction of cement lumps are broken and the entire grout
reaches an uniform consistency.
Precautions while mixing:
• Water is placed first in the mixer
• Mixer is run at the maximum speed before adding the cement
• Grout is mixed in batches
• Ingredients have to be measured by volume
• Enough water should be maintained to cover the rotor while it is
functioning
• Mixer should not be allowed to run for more than a few minutes between
batches
• Mixers should be cleaned thoroughly after the day’s work
• A barrel type grout mixer (Include diagram) consists of a cylindrical drum
placed either horizontal or vertical with an axial shaft fitted with paddles or
blades rotated normally or by power. Cement and water are thoroughly
mixed with the help of paddles. Vertical type of mixer is used to handle
small quantity of grout.
• A grout mix should be continuously agitated to prevent setting by an
agitator sump (Include diagram) between the mixer and the grout pump. It
is a tank consisting of a vertical shaft to which horizontal blades are
connected which is revolved at 30 to 100rpm. The grout mix from the mixer
is passed through a wire screen to remove pieces of strings and other
foreign matters. Another screen is also fixed to the agitator near the
delivery pipe, to prevent entering of lumps to the pump. A graduated dip
stick is used to measure the quantity of grout in the agitator.
• (Include table) Pumps may be of piston type or diaphragm type. The best
all purpose pump should be able to displace the wide variety of grout
consistencies actually employed in practice including very low slump
mixtures.
Injection methods:
Grouting from the bottom, Grouting from the top, Circuit grouting,Point
grouting, Pressure injected lime, Electro kinetic injection, Jet grouting,
Compaction grouting etc.

Jet grouting (Replacement grouting):

• Soils ranging from silt to clay and weak rocks can be treated
• It consists of lowering a drill pipe into a 150mm diameter bore hole. The
pipe is specially designed which simultaneously conveys pumped water,
compressed air and grout fluid.
• Two nozzles are provided at the bottom end of pipe at 500mm apart.
• The upper nozzle 1.8mm in diameter delivers water surrounded by a collar
of compressed air to produce a cutting jet.
• The grout is delivered through the lower nozzle 7mm in diameter.
• The grouting action requires the stem to be slowly raised, where by the
excavated material produced from the jetting action is replaced by the
grout and forced to the surface.
• The jet water could reach about 1.5m and by rotating the stem a column of
replaced earth may be formed.
Compaction grouting (Displacement grouting):
• The basic concept of compaction grouting technique is that of injecting an
expanding bulb of high viscous grout with high internal friction into a
compressible soil.
• The injected grout acts as a radial hydraulic jack which compresses the
surrounding soil and thus achieving controlled densification.
• It is applicable to partially saturated cohesive or organic soil masses, silts,
sands and soils containing void pockets.
• It is also used to stabilize soil under residences and light commercial
buildings and sometimes foundations of large structures.
• It utilises portland cement clayey silty sand mixture. 2 to 4 bags of cement
per cubic meter of clayey silty sand are used.
• Silts and clays are added to provide plasticity and cohesion to the mixture.
• The function of sand is to provide inter particle friction and to reduce the
silts and clays to a semi plastic material.
• Grout holes are predrilled and cased up to the top of the zone to be treated.
Injection is usually done in vertical stages of less than 2.4m.
• Grout holes may be inclined with inclination not more than 20o off vertical.
Before injection the holes are primed by injection of water or lime slurry.
• Injection points are placed at different depths such that a staggered depth
pattern is achieved. Shallow points are placed closer.
• Another pattern frequently used is angulation of the grout points so as to
grout beneath a structure without going through it.
• When the max. compaction of soil surrounding each bulb is achieved, the
pressure will cause a lift of the overlying soil.
• Lifting of light structures may be achieved at depths of 1.8 to 3m below the
foundation where as for heavy structures the depth required will be about
3.6 to 6m below the foundation.

Advantages:
Minimum disturbance to the structure and surrounding ground during repair,
Minimum risk during construction, Greater economy, Supports all portions of
structures, Reduced need for extensive exploration, Greater flexibility, Ground water
not affected.
Disadvantages:
Relative ineffectiveness in stabilizing near-surface soils, prohibitive cost for some
structures if the soil to be treated is excessively deep, grouting adjacent to
unsupported slopes may be ineffective, difficulty of analyzing results, not suitable in
decomposable materials, effectiveness questionable in saturated clays, danger of filling
underground pipes with grout.
Applications of grouting:
The major applications of grouting is seepage control and strengthening.
However, grouting has been in use for other engineering works such as
underpinning, vibration control of machine foundation, slab jacking, anchor
systems etc.

1. Seepage control: Include diagram

Based on the degree of fracturing in the rock near its surface a shallow
blanket grout is placed, through which a deep curtain grout injected. In
constructing tunnels beneath water table in a pervious soil, water inflow may erode
fine soil particles resulting in piping collapses and large surface subsidence. In such
situations, one method of constructing the tunnel is to grout the soil in advance of
tunneling.
To prevent hazardous materials & toxic waste landfill leachates from
environmental pollution, grouting technique has been adopted. The isolation of a
pit from its surrounding environment is done by drilling a row of closely spaced
grouts and continuous grouting is performed from their bottom upward.

2. Soil solidification and stabilization:

Construction of transit & utility tunnels can cause settlement and stability
problems for adjacent buildings and structures located above them. By grouting the
 adjacent buildings were raised by 12 to 17mm. The volume of grout used was 35%
of the grouted volume of the original soil.
Ground stabilization proved to be necessary especially under the piers. This is
effected by appropriate chemicals or cement.
Slab jacking, formerly known as mud jacking technique relates to the raising of
concrete pavements and the stabilization of slabs by means of infilling existing under
slab voids. This is different from compaction grouting which applies primarily to soils
where as slab jacking pertains to man-made structures and is particularly effective in
highway maintenance.
3. Vibration control:
Excessive vibration is caused in those cases where vibrating machine
foundations have an operational frequency approaching the natural frequency of
the foundation-soil material and induce resonance. The simple technique in
eliminating the occurrence of resonance is the foundation may be separated from
adjacent floors/ water table may be lowered/ mass may be added by underpinning
the foundation.
chemical injection through machine foundation soil is a recent finding in
decreasing vibration. Chemical grout alters the elastic properties of the soil and
results in increased rigidity of the base. It increases the difference between the
frequency of natural vibration and the operating frequency of the machine resulting
in decrease of amplitudes. It is sufficient to stabilize the soil near the foundation
edges perpendicular to the plane of vibration.
 Grout Type Application
Suspensions – PFA Mass filling in very coarse soils and rock fissures
- cement Mass filling in very coarse soils & rock fissures + ground
strengthening
-clays Mass filling in medium coarse soils & impermeability
improvement
-clay/cement Similar to clays + added strength
Emulsions Impermeability improvement
Solutions, one shot Permeability and/or strength improvement in medium
coarse soils
Solutions, two shot As for one-shot with additional control of gel time. Also
suitable in fine soils
UNIT - 3
 A simple ground improvement technique,
where the soil is densified through external
compactive effort.
Compactive
effort

+ water =
Advantages of Compaction 1.Increases shear strength
2.Reduces compressibility 3.Reduces permeability
4.Reduces liquefaction potential 5.Controls swelling and
shrinking 6.Prolongs durability

Strategies for compaction process are

•In the case of constructed fills, specify placement
conditions
(water content, density,depth of layers, etc.)
•Select appropriate equipment (roller compactor, tamping)
and method of operation (number of passes, patterns of
tamping,etc.).
•Set up adequate control procedures (type and number of
tests, statistical evaluation,etc.).
 - to
obtain the compaction curve and define the
optimum water content and maximum dry
density for a specific compactive effort.

Standard
Proctor: Modified Proctor:
•3 layers •5 layers
• 25 blows per layer • 25 blows per layer
• 4.9 kg hammer
• 2.7 kg hammer

• 300 mm drop • 450 mm drop

• Energy input 596 • Energy input 2703

KJ/M3 1000 ml compaction mould KJ/M3
Dry density
(d)

Soil grains densely packed

- good strength and stiffness

d, max - low permeability

optimum water content Water content

What happens to the relative quantities of the three
phases
with addition of water?
Dry density (d)

water
soil

difficult to expel
all air

lowest void ratio

and highest dry
density at
optimum water
content

Water content
Max dry density: 22KN/m3 – well graded soil ….14KN/m3 for heavy clay
 Shallow surface compaction

Static rollers:

• Smooth steel rollers :

• 3 wheeled – weight upto 15tons, 2 wheeled – upto 20tons
• suitable for granular soils because of their high static pressures
• Very slow working speed (3 to 6 km/hr)
• Light weight rollers of 3 tonnes are used for footpath works
• 8 – 10 tonn static rollers are used for earthwork, bitumen road surfaces
• Effective upto 200-300mm (shallow layers)
Sheep foot rollers
• These have projecting feet on the surface of the roller and compact by a
combination of tamping and kneading action

• These consists of steel drums which can be filled with water or sand

• Initially, the projections are sunk into the layer and compact the soil near the lowest
portion of the layers. In subsequent passes, the zone being compacted already
continuously rises until the surface is reached. This process of rising of roller is
referred to as walk-out by the compactor

• Failure to walk-out signifies presence of high water content allowing shear failure.
• A roller may walk-out when the roller wt is reduced

• Suitable for clayey soils and silt-clay soils

• Rollers with larger foot prints (pad foot rollers) are used in case of soft and wet soil
• Working speed 9 km/hr
• Steel rollers may be used to level off areas worked by sheep foot rollers

• Effective in breaking down large pieces of soft rock

• Drum width – 120 to 180cm, drum dia – 100 to 180cm, loaded mass – 2950 to
13600kg, area of foot – 36 to 50 sq cm, length of foot – 18 to 25.5cm
Advantages:

•Feet produces kneading action

•Increase in blending of soils
•Possible soil compaction over a
wide range of moisture content
•Effective in breaking down large
pieces of soft rock

PAD FOOT ROLLER

Disadvantages:

•Relatively slow operation

•Lower compacted density
•Large entrapped air
•Soft zones are not revealed easily.
SHEEP FOOT ROLLER
Pneumatic-tyred rollers:
• Suitable for cohesionless soils and low cohesive soils
• Compaction produced primarily by static wt of ballast and kneading
action of tyres
• These are outfitted with a ballast box between two axles so that the
compaction load can be easily varied
• 7 to 13 wheels are mounted in two rows and spaced so that the wheels
of the rear row track in the space between those of the front row
• Wt of rollers ranging upto 200tons
• Working speed 6 to 12 km/hr
• Compactive effort depends on gross wt, wheel dia, wheel load, tire
width and size, inflation pressure, number of passes and loose lift
thickness
Advantages:
•Surface of layer is not bridged but uniform
•Bituminous layers compacted by rubber tyre roller show better sealed to keep
away dirt and moisture
•Post compaction by traffic is negligible when compacted by rubber tyred rollers
•Provides kneading effect compared to smooth wheel rollers thereby provide better
surface compaction
•No cracks are formed
Grid rollers:

• Intermediate between smooth wheel and sheep foot rollers

• Suitable for coarse grained soils and weathered rock such as sand stone
(clayey soils may clog the grid)

• The rotating wheel made of a heavy wire mesh with square holes

• High operating speed assists in the breakdown of material, lower speed

enhances the densification effect
Impact and vibratory equipment:
Tampers, Rammers and plate compactors:
• Used in confined areas such as on backfill in trenches, around pipes and behind
retaining walls and bridge abutments
• Tampers and rammers are work on the impact principle with a stroke length of
300-700mm
• Plate compactors are manually pulled along the surface and having smaller
amplitude of vibration

PLATE
RAMMER TAMPER COMPACTOR
Vibrating rollers:
• Used in compacting granular soils
• Smooth wheel rollers and sheep foot rollers can be modified as
vibrating rollers
• A separate motor driven eccentric load system is provided about a
rotating shaft to cause a high frequency, low amplitude oscillation of
the vibrating drum
• The performance depends on static wt, frequency, amplitude of
vibration and roller speed
• An amplitude of 1.5 to 2mm with a frequency in between 25 to 30Hz
should be adopted for getting max. compactive effort.
• Roller speed – 3 to 6km/hr
Impact rollers:
• Square roller with rounded edges
• Thickness can be between – 1.5m – 3m
• Suitable for natural ground and fill
• As its centre rises and falls, its mass exerts a high impact force
• Not recommended for surface works, as it leaves an uneven surface
Applicability of compaction equipment:

Equipment Most suitable soils Typical applications Least suitable soils

Smooth wheel Well graded sand-gravel mixture, Running surface, base Uniform sands
rollers (static or crushed rock, asphalt courses, sub grades for
vibrating) roads and runways
Rubber tired rollers Coarse grained soils with some Road & air field sub grade Coarse uniform cohesion
fines and base course proof- less soils and rock
rolling
Grid rollers Weathered rock, well graded Sub grade, sub base Clays, silty clays,
coarse soils uniformly graded
materials
Sheep foot rollers Fine grained soils with more than Dams, embankments, sub Clean coarse grained
(static) 20% fines grades for air fields and soils, soils with cobbles,
highways stones
Sheep foot rollers As above, but also sand-gravel Sub grade layers
(vibrating) mixtures
Vibrating plate Coarse grained soils, 4 to 8% fines Small patches Cohesive soils
(light)
Tampers and All types Difficult-access areas
Rammers
Impact rollers Wide range of moist and Sub grade earth works Dry, cohesion less soils
saturated soils (except surface)
 Heavy tamping/Dynamic
compaction/Impact compaction:
 Repeated lifting and Dropping of Weight at a location
 Tamping Weight (Concrete/Cast iron/Steel)- 80 to 120 kN
 Ht. of Drop- 10 to 40m
 No. of drops (same location)- 8 to 12 times
 Formation of Crater like Depression-Filled with Extra Soil
 Process Repeated- Grid Pattern at a spacing of 2-4 m
 Densification of Soil- 4-8m below GL
 In impact compaction, when the wt strikes the ground, produces P,S and R waves.
 P waves cause direct compression, S waves mobilize shear forces and also cause
densification, R waves are potentially harmful in loosening surface soil and
damaging adjacent structures (min 60m clearance is required from zone of
compaction)
 The upper 1 to 2m soil is in disturbed condition and is compacted in same manner
with lighter weight having greater area and is dropped over a smaller distance.
 The major variables in the process are – magnitude of wt, size/surface area of wt,
ht of free fall of wt, no of drops per location, distribution of drop locations over the
site, strength and permeability of soil, degree of saturation of soil, non
homogeneity/anisotropy of soil
In-Situ Dynamic Compaction
Heavy tamping/Dynamic compaction/Impact compaction:

 Approximate estimate of depth of penetration is with in the following range

1.26√Wh < D < 3.16 √Wh

Where, W – tamping wt, h – drop ht (m), D – depth of compaction (m)

Advantages –

 Simplest and one of the most basic methods

 Depth of compaction can reach up to 20m
 All types of soils can be compacted
 Produces equal settlements more quickly
 Treat soils both above and below water table
 Proved effective for the rehabilitation of waste disposal areas.
VIBRATION METHODS
Inertia forces become significant in comparison to static forces when the
applied loads on the soil mass changes rapidly causing excessive
deformation of the soil.

This behavior can be used in ground improvement technique by adopting

some form of vibration which causes deformation and displacement of soil
and thereby resulting in densification.

Cohensionless soils get densified largely by fracture and reorientation of

grains.

Vibrations are less effective in cohesive soils as they are offset by the
increased cohesive resistance due to dynamic loading.
 Vibro Compaction

Vibro compaction is a rapid densification technique which could be used in

saturated cohesion less soils.

Vibrations or shock waves cause localized spontaneous liquefaction

followed by densification and settlement.

The load /shock is temporarily transferred to the liquid and soil particles
take a denser pattern.

Even in dry soils, the particles move from the original position and take a
more compact pattern due to shock.

Once the particles are free or loosened due to shock, even a small
pressure is enough to put them to a compact mass.

The new density or the compactness attained is permanent and not

reversible.
The effectiveness of these methods decrease with increase in % of fines
in soil, because permeability is too low to prevent rapid drainage
following liquefaction.

Presence of silt more than 20% or clay more than 5% reduces the
effectiveness of these methods.

These methods cannot be used in partially saturated soils also due to

resistance offered by air-water menisci.

Methods of Vibro-compaction

1. Blasting

2. Vibratory Probe

3. Vibratory compactors
 BLASTING

• Suitable to modify sands, loose rock and special soils such as loess which
is having high porosity and a distinct soil skeleton

• A certain amount of explosive charge (Dynamite) is buried in a loose sand

deposit and the charge is detonated, the explosion causes stress waves
emanate outwards from the point of the blast which breakdown the soil
structure, resulting in a reorientation of soil particles and subsequent
volumetric compression.

• In saturated soils, temporary high pore pressures are set up, causing
liquefaction followed by consolidation
 Materials & Equipments
 Dynamite sticks.
 Electric detonator.
 Drilling equipment.
 Backfill material (Sand).
 Waterproof packets.

Procedure
 Series of boreholes are drilled and Pipe of 7.5 to 10 cm is driven to the required
depth
 Dynamite sticks and detonator are wrapped in a water proof bundle and is
lowered through casings
 Casing is withdrawn and a wad of paper or wood is placed against the charge of
Explosive (To protect it from misfire)
 Boreholes are backfilled with sand to obtain full force of blast
 Electric circuit is closed to fire the charge
 The charge is fired in definite pattern
 For deeper deposits blast is done in stages
 Repeated shots are more affective than single larger one
 Each successive blast in a given area will cause less densification than the one
preceding
 Top 1m surface get disturbed and needs surface compaction
Weight of Charge(Rough Guideline)- W= 164CR3
W = Weight of Explosive (N)
C = Coefficient (0.0025 for 60% detonator)
R = Radius of influence (m)

Arrangement of Explosive- Grid Pattern

Firing Pattern – From outside to inside

First Blast- At the corner of Periphery Line of First Grid from outside
Second Blast – At the Centre of Periphery Line of First Grid from outside
Third Blast - At the corner of Periphery Line of Second Grid from outside

Spacing – 3 to 8 m (Less than 3 generally avoided)

Depth of Stratum to be densified – 10m or less

•Depth of Explosive- 2/3 of depth
•Compaction - In one tier only

 Depth of Stratum to be densified – More than 10m

•Depth of Charge – Greater than Radius of Sphere of Influence (R)
•Compaction- More than one Tier
• To estimate the safe distance from the explosive,

Nh = W 1/3 /R

Where, Nh = Hopkinson’s number

W = wt of explosive (kg)
R = Radial distance from point of explosion (m)

If, Nh < 0.09 to 0.15, little or no liquefaction is said to occur

Advantages –

• less time, labour and expenses;

• no need of special equipment;
• effective for large areas;
• most suitable for remote areas.
• 70-80% compaction achieved.

Disadvantages –

• non-uniformity;
• potential adverse effect on adjacent structures;
• dangerous.
Dynamic consolidation:
The process of densification of a saturated or nearly saturated soil caused by
sudden loading, which involves shear deformation. Due to this sudden load,
temporarily high pore pressures are developed and undergoes liquefaction
followed by consolidation.

In case of dynamic compaction, the main problem associated with

compaction is the “Ground vibration”. This comes about mainly from the R
waves, which account for 67% of the total energy generated by the impacts.
The max level of vibration that is generally considered safe for structures is
5cm/sec. So in general, if a structure is located within 30m of the work site,
an alternative method should be considered. Such alternatives are vibro-
compaction and sand compaction piles.
Vibro-compaction and Vibro-replacement:

• These two techniques together called as Vibroflotation.

• Vibro-compaction is used for cohesionless soils and vibo-replacement is
used for cohesive soils
• These tests are carried out with the help of a special vibratory tool called
the Vibroflot
• Vibroflot is just like a needle vibrator which is used to increase the density
of fresh concrete placed in beams and columns. Such as vibroflot is used to
increase the density of loose sand.
• Length – 3 to 5m, dia – 0.4m, wt – 20KN, motor output – 35 to 120KW, speed –
1800 to 3000 rev/min i.e 30 to 50Hz, centrifugal force – 160 to 220KN, amplitude –
4 to 16mm, depth of penetration – upto 35m, total depth/day – 200 to 500m, rate
of water flow – 225 to 300 lit/min, water pressure – 400 to 600 Kpa, backfill
consumption rate – 0.5 to 1.5 m3/m of compacted depth, lift/withdrawl rate of
vibroflot – 0.3m/min
Each compaction sequence has four basic steps:

• Vibrofloat is positioned over the spot to be compacted and its lower jet is
then fully opened
• Water is pumped in faster than it can drain away into the sub soil. This
creates a momentary “Quick” condition beneath the jet which permits the
vibrofloat to settle of its own weight and vibration
• Water is switched from the lower to the top jets and the pressure is
reduced enough to allow water to be returned to the surface, eliminating
any arching of backfill material and facilitating the continuous feed of
backfill
• Compaction takes place during the 0.3m/min lifts, which return the
vibrofloat to the surface
Vibro-compaction:
• A column of dense sand having a dia of 2 to 3m is created and such dense
columns are made in a grid pattern at a spacing of 2 to 3m to increase the
density of the entire soil mass. The max relative density attained is usually
in the range of 80% to 90%.
• The vibro-compaction is not useful for soils having >20% fines. In those
cases, we go for vibro-replacement

Influence of presence of fines on ground improvement:

%Fines Avg. N value

before after
5 5 18
10 5 13
15 5 9
20 5 7
Vibro-replacement:
• When vibroflot is used in clay, the water jets cut into the soil and carry the
fine particles to the top of the borehole and out of the bore hole in the
form of clay-water slurry. The clay particles neither get displaced laterally
nor is the density of clay surrounding the bore hole increased. So, the
vibroflot only causes vibro-replacement of clay by the coarse sand or gravel
when the hole is backfilled.
• In the former case, the sand grains get displaced laterally. Being coarse
grained in size, sand particles do not get carried away by the water from
the jets which flows upward and out of the hole after cutting the soil. Only
some silt sized particles may be washed out.

Merits of Vibro-flotation:
• No material cost except the backfill material
• Complete uniformity in density and hence better control on settlement
• Gives high bearing capacity
• Faster than pile driving
• Much quicker in operation than the conventional impact type hammer
Vibro-flotation patterns and spacing for isolated square footings:

Square footing size No. of Centre to centre Pattern

(m) vibroflotation spacing (m)
points
<1.2 1 - -
1.4 to 1.7 2 1.8 Line
1.8 to 2.1 3 2.3 Triangle
2.3 to 2.9 4 1.8 Square
3.0 to 3.5 5 2.3 Square + one at
centre
Relative effectiveness of two methods:

Type of soil Vibro-compaction Vibro-replacement

Sands Excellent Not applicable
Silty sands (<20% fines) Good Excellent
Silts Poor Good
Clays Not applicable Good
Dumped fill Depends on nature of fill Good
Garbage Not applicable Not applicable
Suitability Number:
Suitability of backfill material depends on gradation. The rating system is
based on a suitability number.

Backfill evaluation criteria:

Suitability Number Description of Rating

0 to 10 Excellent
10 to 20 Good
20 to 30 Fair
30 to 50 Poor
>50 Unsuitable
Compaction piles/Displacement piles:

• Concept – Reducing void spaces by making bore holes and subjecting soil to
lateral pressure
• A closed ended hollow tubular pipe is driven down to the depth of
treatment. The loose sand surrounding the pipe is displaced laterally during
pipe driving
• After the pipe has been driven to the depth of treatment, the pipe is
withdrawn and extra sand or gravel is backfilled into the hole to form a pile.
• Such treatment is carried out at a predetermined regularly spaced grid
pattern to obtain a uniform denser deposit.
• Pile dia – 0.4 to 0.6m, treated soil depth – up to 20m (driving of pipe is difficult
beyond 20m due to skin friction), grid spacing – 2 to 3m, zone of densification – 3 to
4 times the pipe radius fro the centre of the pipe
Terra-Probe Technique:
The vibratory driving of a large diameter hollow steel pipe with an open end
is called Terra-probe technique.

• Dia of pipe – 30in (hollow), inserted and vibrated in soil

• Amount of fines in soil to be treated - not more than 15% passing
0.075mm sieve and not more than 3% passing 0.005mm sieve
• Probe spacing – 3 to 4ft between centres
• Time for one cycle – 3min (for insertion and withdrawal)
• Surface subsidence is noticed after densification because, no additional
backfill material is added
Comparison of In-situ densification methods in sands:

Method Comparison of Main Limitation Situation most

Uniformity of Output Cost suited for
Densification rate
Compaction Uniform Moderate High Pipes difficult to Densification
piles drive beyond down to depth of
25m depth 10 to 20m
Heavy Max. at mid High Mod Impact can Densification
erate
tamping depth affect safety of down to depth of
adjacent 5 to 10m
structures
Vibro Uniform Moderate High Not effective Densification
compaction when fines down to depth of
exceed 20% 10 to 35m
Explosives Some loose Very high low Blast can affect Densification of
pockets may safety of large and remote
remain adjacent areas
structures
UNIT-4
Preloading:
• Application of an external loading for a long duration to cause consolidation
in the soil.
• If the thickness of the fill placed for preloading is greater than that required
for the final ground surface elevation, the excess fill is termed a surcharge
fill.
• Preloading increases the pore water pressure and the consolidation process
occurs, an increase in the effective stress takes place in the soil
accompanied by surface settlement.
• The preloading material placed over the ground is sufficient to produce a
stress in the soil equal to that anticipated from the final structures.
• The ratio of the weight used for preloading to the weight of the final
structure to be constructed is called coefficient of surcharge and it varies
from 1 to 2.
• Using conventional theories of consolidation, the amount of surcharge fill
required and the loading period can be estimated.
• The rate of preload and surcharge fill placement may be controlled
depending on the rate at which the soil is gaining strength. These should be
checked during the fill placement by means of piezometers and in-situ
strength tests.
Advantages of preloading:
• The cost involved is comparatively less and vary between 10 to 20%
without using vertical drains and 20 to 40% with the use of vertical drains.
• Especially attractive when the fill material, after completion of preloading
is subsequently used in the same project as fill material or for site
preparation.
• Simple conventional construction equipment needed for earth moving job
is sufficient for the preloading works.
• Cost of monitoring instruments are cheap and time needed for installation
in only 2to 3 weeks.
• Effect of preloading can be observed periodically from the field
instrumentation and makes possible future predictions about the
behaviour.
• Provide uniform improved properties of the ground.
Preloading Methods:

1. Heaping of fill materials (Just like embankment) is the most common

method of preloading. There is a danger of a base failure in heaping fill
material, still this method is generally adopted as it is less costly. The height
is 3 to 8m and the max. and min. height being 1.5m and 18m respectively.
The usual range of settlement observed is from 0.3 to 1m.
2. The final structure is used as a vehicle for load application. This has been
extensively applied for liquid storage tanks. A tank is constructed and then
filled with water incrementally and allow for settlement. Finally the tank is
emptied and its base levelled by jacking and fill the required liquid. This
method tremendously reduces the cost and time of construction.
3. Another most effective method is lowering the water table . The effect will
be more in highly permeable soil. As the water table is lowered the effect of
buoyancy is lost and the soil above the water table gains unit weight by
about 10KN/m3. Every meter lowering of water table will produce about the
same loading as half a meter depth of fill. The lowering of water table is
done by a suitable dewatering system.
4. Another approach is inundating or preponding. When the water table is
low, a load can be applied to some soils by opposite action i.e. inundating
or preponding the surface. The effect of preponding is breaking loose
bonds between particles, increasing surface tension forces and the weight
of water. This technique is also referred to as hydro compaction.
5. Another method is vacuum preloading. In this a 150mm layer of sand is
placed on the surface of a soft clay, the layer is covered with an impervious
membrane. An application of a vacuum of 60 to 80KPa is induced in the
sand which acts as an equivalent overload. For better performance, it is the
usual practice to use vertical drains in conjunction with this method.
Vertical drains:
The preloading system is likely to be inefficient when used alone in very
thick soft clays or in soils with exceptionally low permeability. As the length
of the drainage path controls the time for consolidation, this should be as
short as possible. For this purpose only a layer of sand (sand blanket) is
placed on the top of the site prior to constructing the fill. By this provision
any water squeezed from the underlying soil will reach the sand layer and
flow fast laterally to the fill edge as the permeability of sand is much larger
than the underlying soil. Based on the same concept, radial improvements
in preloading time can be effected by the installation of vertical drains to
shorten the drainage path.
Principle:
Installation of vertical drains in conjunction with preloading brings about the
rapid dissipation of excess pore water pressure and thereby accelerating the
primary consolidation. These drains provide the path way for the pore water
to escape from the consolidating soil by travelling a shorter distance than
would be necessary without them. Further, they allow the flow inside the
soil to take place along the horizontal which is the direction of least
resistance.
Vertical drains in certain field conditions may be unnecessary or even
harmful. For example, in peaty soil the permeability is high enough so that
primary consolidation is so rapid that vertical drains are unnecessary and
may be ineffective in clays with abundant pervious inclusions. Further in
sensitive clays, soil disturbance may result in high initial pore water pressure
and a zone of low permeability around the drain. Some times, the required
for installation of vertical drains may be greater than the time saved from
the process of consolidation. Vertical drains may raise the cost of soil
improvement, in certain cases, by as much as a factor of 3 or more.
Therefore, the decision to provide vertical drains to accelerate the
consolidation should be supported by strong field conditions.
Types and Construction of vertical drains:
Vertical drains are mainly of two types.
1. Sand drains (made by filling a cylindrical hole with sand)
2. Prefabricated drains (sand wicks, geo drains, rope drains, band drains
etc)

Sand Drains:
• They range in diameter from 180 to 450mm.
• There are three methods of sand drain construction viz., high pressure
water jetting, displacement of the natural ground and wash boring. In all
these methods a steel pipe is inserted in the ground and later withdrawn
as sand is poured from the top to fill the hole.
• The spacing of drains varies from 2.5 to 5m.
• High pressure water jetting provides forcing water through the bottom of
a steel jetting rod at about a rate of 50lit/sec or more. It looses up the soil
at the bottom of the hole and then the loosened soil along with water is
allowed to flow upwards around the jetting rod. Include Diagram
• This method requires a large quantity of water and creates a disposal
problem of the soil slurry which may cause an environmental hazard.
• In the displacement method a close mandrel consisting of a steel tube closed
at the lower end by a loose cap is used.
• The mandrel is driven by percussion or vibration or jetting into the place.
When the pipe has reached the desired depth, sand and water are introduced
at the top and the pipe is withdrawn.
• Due to the forcing of the pipe the soil is disturbed and causes high initial pore
pressure, low permeability around the hole and decrease in shear strength.
• Still this is a simple inexpensive method which is very popular.
• In the wash boring method the hole is advanced by circulating water into the
hole at a rate of 1 to 2 lit/sec.
• The soil slurry from the hole are allowed to settle and from which clean water
is siphoned back into the circuit.
• This method causes less soil disturbance, performed with simple equipment,
slower and more expensive than the previous two methods. Still it is quite
useful in small projects.
• The sand used for filling the holes should not contain fines and be uniformly
graded. The sand should not be coarse also (<4mm only)as to over facilitate
the migration of fine particles from the soil into the drain.
• The voids in sand created by filling the hole should be sufficiently pervious to
allow the unobstructed flow of water from the soil into the drain and from the
lower part of the drain to the top.
Prefabricated Drains:

Card board Drains:

• Initially the card board drains were 100mm wide and 3mm thick. Include
Diagram
• They are installed in the ground using a specially made mandrel.
• Channels have been provided in the card board (about 10% of the cross
sectional area) which facilitate the water to escape from the clay to the
ground surface.
• A 100mmX3mm card board can function equal to a 50mm dia sand drain
• Easy to install with less soil disturbance
• Specially processed card board has long life but can not sustain larger
deformations.
Geo Drain:
• Also known as plastic band-shaped drain
• It consists of a 100mm wide and 3mm thick paper covered polythene strip
which contains channels along both sides. The configuration is so chosen
such that a drainage channel of more than 70% of the total drain area is
available. Include diagram
• In order to give a long life the exterior filter paper is chemically impregnated.
• These drains showed relatively little disturbance and could sustain large
settlement without break of drain continuity.
• Advantages: low cost, fast installation, ensured drain continuity, clean site,
light-weight installation equipment, high permeability, negligible sub soil
disturbance, positive drainage.
• Common types of plastic drains (90 to 100mm wide and 3 to 5mm thick) are
usually installed by a lance about 140mm in cross section.
• Open or closed mandrel are fitted to the rigs. A downward force of 200KN
can be executed by the rigs and they provide for the simultaneous driving of
up to four wicks at a time.
• Installation speed is of the order of 0.3 to 0.6m/sec and driving depth could
be up to 45m.
• Plastic drains are wound around reels, and as the mandrel is lowered into the
ground, the band is released by unwinding.
• The spacing is commonly in the order of one and a half to two wick drains
per one sand drain.
Sand Wicks:
• These are ready made small diameter (about 100mm) sand drains which
are contained in long filter stockings (Sand is packed in filter stockings).
• These drains can also be of flexible corrugated plastic pipe, wrapped inside
a filter.
• Sand wicks are installed by the closed-mandrel technique adopted for sand
drains.
• The first step of the installation procedure is to place a working platform for
the equipment. This is done by placing a free-drainage soil which serves as
a drainage blanket when connected to the drains.
• The blanket thickness must be adequate to allow for loss of grade during
consolidation.
• This type of drain is economical where labour costs are low.

Rope Drains:
• The rope material consists of natural fibres such as coir.
• In these drains the drainage capacity is the major constraint.
Lime Piles:
• A special hollow rod with rotating vanes is augered into the ground to the desired
depth and the stabilizing admixture is simultaneously introduced. By this process
piles up to 600mm diameter can be constructed.
• Lime is effective in both expansive plastic clays and in saturated clays. In these
materials compressive strengths of the order of 1 to 2 MN/m2 can be obtained.
• If over-lapping columns are constructed, then a soil-lime wall will result.
• These are used beneath light structures and road embankments to reduce
settlement resulting from consolidation of thick deposits of soft glacial clays.
• Quick lime was mixed with clay and columns up to 10m long and 50cm in diameter
were constructed.
• The lime clay mixture has substantially increased the strength of the natural clay
and the columns transferred surface loads to deeper, stronger strata.
• The increase in shear strength from lime mixing was most significant in fresh and
brackish water deposited glacial clays, but in soft organic clays and salt water
deposited clays the strength increase was low.
• Applications: To decrease the negative skin friction on piles, to prevent the lateral
displacement of soil around pile foundations from creep, to increase the stability of
clay slopes, to reduce the lateral earth pressure on retaining structures and a
replacement for sheet piles in deep excavations to prevent bottom heave.
Stone Columns:
• Also called as granular piles are installed mostly using vibration techniques.
• A cylindrical vertical hole is made and gravel backfill is placed into the hole
in increments and compacted by a suitable device which simultaneously
displaces the material radially. This results in a densely compacted stone
column of certain depth and diameter.
• Different simple techniques are used for constructing stone columns
• Formation of stone columns using a vibroflot is quite a suitable technique
for improvement of cohesive soils.
• The vibroflot is allowed to sink into the ground due to its own weight,
assited by water or air as a flushing medium, up to the required depth.
• The soil around the vibroflot is disturbed or remoulded and the softened
material can be removed by jetting fluid.
• Water is used as a jetting fluid for fully saturated soils while compressed air
is used for partially saturated soils
• By this process a bore hole of larger diameter than the vibroflot is formed.
• The hole is backfilled with gravel of 12 to 75mm size or furnace slag.
• With the repenetration of the vibroflot the backfill material is displaced
into the sides of the borehole and compacting underneath its tip. While
backfilling the vibroflot is raised and lowered.
• This procedure is repeated till the hole is completely filled and compacted
which forms a cylindrical granular pile.
• Apart from this, a closed end pipe mandrel is driven to a desired depth and
the gravel is allowed to fill after opening trip valve. A rammer is used to pack
the soil through the pipe as it is withdrawn and gravel added.
• Another method which primarily uses a hammer weighing 15 to 20KN falling
through a height of 1 to 1.5m for compacting stone aggregates placed in
pre-bored holes. The resulting stone column is referred to as rammed stone
column and the technique is claimed to be economical than vibrator
compaction.
• A simple method using the conventional auger boring equipment and a free
fall cast iron hammer has also been used. Include diagram
• In this method the bore hole is made by spiral auger and is cleaned
manually by using specially made tools.
• In the cleaned hole granular piles are cast using 20 to 30mm size stone
aggregate and 20 to 25% of sand with uniformity coefficient of 2.
• The aggregate and sand layers are placed alternatively with layer
thicknesses of 300 to 500mm and 50 to 100mm respectively.
• Each two layer unit with sand layer at top is compacted with the help of a
cast iron hammer of weight 1250KN with a free fall of 750mm.
• Due to the impact of hammer the sand fills the voids of the stone
aggregate followed by the lateral and downward displacement of the
charged material till full compaction is achieved.
• Granular piles of 600mm diameter and 15m deep have been successfully
installed using this technique.
• The spacing of stone columns is determined based on the settlement
tolerances for the loads to be applied and the degree of improvement
required. These are spaced from 1.2 to 3m on centre over the site.
• Stone columns may be arranged to support isolated footings, strip footings
or mat foundations. The entire foundation area should be covered with a
blanket of sand or gravel at least 0.3m thick to help distribute loads and to
facilitate drainage of water conducted out of the soft soil through the
columns which act as vertical drains as well as reinforcing elements.
• Stone columns are very much suitable for soft, in organic cohesive soils.
They also can be used in loose, sand deposits to increase the density.
Stone columns are capable of dissipating excess pore water pressure in the
in-situ soil and thereby reducing the void ratio in the zone of influence
• Stone columns can not be used effectively in thick deposits of peat or
highly organic silts or clays.
Thermal Methods:
Heating or cooling a soil can cause marked changes in its properties.
Although thermal stabilization appears to be very effective, it has several
inherent undesirable features which have totally limited its use. The cost is
the main disadvantage since cost of heating or cooling to effect stabilization
is no way competitive with the cost of other techniques.

Stabilization by heating:
Even a small increase in temperature may cause a strength increase in fine-
grained soils by reducing the electric repulsion between the particles, a flow
of pore water due to thermal gradient and a reduction in moisture content
because of increased evaporation rate. Hence, it is technically feasible to
stabilize fine-grained soils by heating.
• 100oC – cause drying and significant increase in the strength of clays, along
with decrease in their compressibility.
• 500oC – causes permanent changes in the structure of clays resulting in
decrease of plasticity and moisture adsorption capacity.
• 1000oC – cause fusion of the clay particles into a solid substance much like
brick.
• Heat has changed an expansive clay into an essentially non-expansive
material.
• Burning of liquid or gas fuels in boreholes or injection of hot air into 0.15m
to 0.20m diameter bore holes can produce 1.3 to 2.5m diameter stabilized
zones after continuous treatment for about 10 days. This technique is found
to be economical than pile foundations in loessial soils.
• The injection of hot gases is applicable only to non saturated soils to
increase the strength and to decrease the compressibility of cohesive soils.
• This technique is favourably used only when a site is located near a large
and inexpensive heat source.

Stabilization by cooling:
• Cooling in a clayey soil increases inter-particle repulsion resulting in a small
loss in strength and moves the pore water because of the imposed thermal
gradient.
• Water in a soil freezes at or below 0oC with the initiation of freezing, the soil
strength increases rapidly with decreasing temperature as more soil is
frozen and the strength of ice increases.
• Frozen soil is far stronger and less pervious than unfrozen ground. It also
forms non-vibration-sensitive barrier to seepage flow or soil deformation.
• Ground freezing is accomplished by bringing a refrigerent into the proximity
of the soil pore water. The pore water may be stationary or moving at a rate
less than 2m/day.
• Once freezing is initiated the pore water around the refrigerent pipes begins
to freeze, and with continued exposure the ice layer expands until it comes
into contact with the ice spreading out from adjacent refrigerent pipes. Thus
a continuous wall is formed.
• One common method of freezing is the use of expandable liquid
refrigerents, like liquid nitrogen, liquid carbon dioxide or liquid propane.
• Freeze pipes are installed at 1m centres, sufficiently vented and the liquid
refrigerent is injected and allowed to boil. Include diagram
• Freezing take place very rapidly but the frozen zone is often very irregular
and energy consumption by this process is very high. For a small project of
small duration, this technique is quite useful.
• Another method is the in-situ pumped loop method via a secondary coolent
which uses a primary plant and a pumped loop secondary circulating
coolent.
• This method is well suited to single installations of freeze pipe elements
intended to provide maintenance freezing over a long period of time.
• The primary source of the refrigeration is one or two stage ammonia or
freon refrigeration plant.
• The coolent distribution system consists of a closed-loop supply manifold
connected to a number of parallel connected freeze pipes placed in the
ground and to a return manifold.
• Diameter of ground freeze pipes is typically 100 to 200mm with sealed
lower ends. Feed pipes of 25 to 75mm diameter are placed inside the
larger capped pipe. Coolent is circulated into the feed pipes and returns
through the annular space between the two.
• The proximity of the return coolent to the soil is what produces the
freezing.
• Conventional coolent is brine, a mixture of sodium chloride and water with
10 to 23% sodium chloride, although diesel oil, propane and glycol-water
mixtures have also been used.
• Generally several weeks are required for a ground freezing system to be
effective. The required for complete freezing depends on the type of
coolent used, the temperature achieved, the size of freeze pipe and the
spacing between pipes.
Important notes:
• Once the frozen wall has formed, the energy required for its maintenance
becomes constant and significantly lower than that required to produce it
in the first place.
• When the soil to be treated is partially saturated, or even dry, it can be pre
wetted before and wetted again during freezing.
• Drilling for insertion of freeze pipes into the soil must be accurate because
even a slight deviation will leave an unfrozen window of soil by the time
the excavation bottoms out. Slope indicators have been used for
monitoring purposes.
• The frozen zone will generally be quite irregular in shape, reflecting the
heterogeneous nature of the soil to begin with.
• While the frozen wall of soil is indeed strong, it is creep sensitive under
sustained lateral loading.
UNIT - 5
Reinforced Earth:
• Reinforced earth consists of a compacted soil mass within which reinforcing
elements or membranes, usually in the form of horizontal strips of metal
(such as galvanised steel, stainless steel or aluminium alloys), rods of
metals, wire grids, fibre glass strips/rods, bamboos or geo textiles are
embedded.
• The essential feature of the reinforced earth is that friction develops
between compacted layers of the earth and the reinforcing elements. The
soil transfers the forces built up in the earth mass to the reinforcement by
means of friction. Thus, tension is developed in the reinforcement.
• The basic principles of incorporating reinforcement members into a soil
mass are much the same as those utilised in the design of reinforced
concrete.
• The membranes are used to provide tensile strength in the earth mass in
locations where shear stresses are generated. The provision of membrane
leads to the redistribution of stresses internally within each of the
membrane encapsulated layers.
• The reinforced soil concept is essentially based in the mobilization of inter
facial shearing resistance between the soil and reinforcement which in turn
restrains the lateral deformation of the soil.
The main application of the reinforced earth technique is the “reinforced
earth wall”.

It consists of three components:

Wall facing elements:

• These are provided at the free boundary of a reinforced earth structure, to
provide some form of barrier so that the soil mass is contained.
• These elements, usually known as skin, may be either flexible or stiff. It
should be strong enough to hold back the soil and should allow fastening to
attach reinforcing elements.
• The facing units are usually prefabricated units which are small and light
enough for transportation for quick and easy construction.
• The wall facing elements or units are generally made from steel,
aluminium, plastic, fibre, glass or reinforced concrete. The facing units
require a small foundation of concrete from which they can be built.
Reinforcing Elements:
These consists of,
• Galvanised steel strips – 50 to 100mm wide and up to 9mm thick, several
metres in length, are the most commonly used reinforcing elements. The
elements of this material are likely to have a service life of 120 years.
• Rods of galvanised steel
• Strips or rods of other metal such as stainless steel, aluminium
• Galvanised iron grids
• Fibre glass strips
• Glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GRP)
• Bamboos
• Geo synthetic reinforcements such as geo textiles, geo membranes, geo
grids, geo strips, geo composites etc.

Compacted earth fill:

• The soil used for the backfill should be predominantly coarse-grained and
it has been proposed that not more than 10% of the particles should pass
through 75μ sieve.
• The first layer of reinforcement strips is placed at the level ground surface
and the backfilling is done with granular soil, compacting it in the processes
of laying.
• The entire process of laying strips and backfilling and compacting is
continued till the required height of the reinforced earth wall is attained.
• It is vital that the fill should be adequately drained to prevent it from
becoming saturated.
Advantages of reinforced earth structures:
• These are quite flexible. Hence these can withstand foundation settlements.
• Reinforced earth structure, being flexible, can withstand earth-quake forces
more efficiently than conventional rigid structures.
• These are much more economical in comparison to the conventional
structures of masonry or concrete.
• Reinforced structural elements can be transported easily. Hence these can
be constructed speedily.
• These can also be constructed in stages.
• The reinforcing elements used for such structures are easily available in
various sizes and shapes. They can be easily stored, handled and placed
during construction.
Geo-synthetics:
These are made from synthetic materials, that are used with geotechnical
material (such as soil or rock) as an integral part of a man made product,
structure or system.

Woven geo synthetics: They are manufactured adopting techniques similar to

weave clothing textiles. This type has the characteristic appearance of two
sets of parallel threads or yarns. The yarn running along the length is known
as warp and the perpendicular to it is called a waft.

The majority of low to medium strength woven geo synthetics are

manufactured from poly propylene which can be in the form of extruded
tape, slit film, mono filament or multi filament. A combination of yarn types is
used in warp and waft directions to optimise performance/cost.

.
Non-woven geo synthetics: The fibres can be bonded together by adopting
thermal, chemical or mechanical (needle punched) techniques. Non-wovens
are not load resisting geo synthetics since their tensile strength is limited

The significant difference between wovens and non-wovens is that the

polymer filaments are aligned in the directions of the warp and waft in the
weaving process of the wovens. The result of this alignment is that the
polymer type directly effects the stress-strain relationship and as a result
higher tensile strength with lower extension are obtained.
Various types of Geo-synthetics:

Geo textiles: These are permeable sheets of synthetic fibers like polyester,
polypropylene, poly ethelene, polamide (nylon), viscose etc. These are available in
thickness varying from 10 to 300 mils (1 mil = 1/100 inch) and in widths up to 10m
and in rolls length up to 600m. The permeabilities of geo textile sheets are
comparable in range from coarse gravel to fine sand.

Geo strips: These are in the form of cut fabric or long strips of geotextiles. Geostrips
are generally produced from polypropylene and high density poly ethylene. They can
be connected with anchors at the ends. The anchors may be in the form of loops,
rings or spirals, which may help in confining soil elements.
Geo grids: These are polymer lattices made from extruded sheets used for
stabilisation and reinforcement. The raw materials are poly propylene or high
density poly ethylene. The polymer sheets are first perforated, the form, size
and distribution of holes being determined by the end product. The
perforated sheets are then stretched in one direction while it is gently
heated and a uniaxial lattice is formed. The action of stretching the sheet
aligns the polymer’s long chain molecules in the direction of stretch, giving a
high tensile stiffness in this direction. The term uniaxial arises from the
alignment of the stretched polymer ribs and the greatest strength properties
in one direction and is used for reinforcing soil structures. A biaxial grid with
square aperture may be produced by clamping the uniaxial lattice on the
stretched side and applying a second stretching on the transverse direction
and is used for gabions.
The reinforcing function is achieved by positive inter locking of the fill
material into the apertures or opening. But in a geo textile, the reinforcing
function is achieved by the surface friction between the fabric and soil fill.
Geo membranes: These are basically impermeable sheets made from a
polymer and which may be reinforced with a textile, or may be made
impermeable by spraying asphalt or resin directly on the ground or on to a
geo textile. These include HDPE, PVC, CSPE, PP liners etc.,

There is a distinction between membranes manufactured in the factory or

fabricated on the site. In on-site fabrication of thermoplastic membrane a
warm or cold viscous material is applied directly on to the surface which is
to be sealed. The membranes may be reinforced by spraying the viscous
material on to a membrane or fabric backing
Geo nets: It consist of two sets of roughly round polymer strands that cross at a
constant angle to give a very open material with large diamond or rectangle
shaped apertures. Usually the strands are partially melted and rolled to produce
thermal bonds where they cross. Nets are some times lightly stretched during
manufacture to increase the elastic modulus. The strength of nets varies from 2 to
10 KN/m. this form of geo synthetics is mainly used for low strength soil
reinforcement. These include LDPE and HDPE nets and have functions similar to
geo grids.

Geo composites: These are made by bonding together the geo membranes and
geo textiles or any of their like forms for specie applications in drainage, erosion
control, bank protection etc.,
Functions and Applications of Geo synthetics:

As reinforcement:
A geo textile can work as reinforcement in two ways.
As tensile member – when it provides tensile modulus and tensile strength to a soil
with which it is interacting through interface shear strength. i.e. friction, cohesion-
adhesion and/or interlocking between geo textile and soil.
As tensioned member – when it is placed between two materials having different
pressures, and its tension balances the pressure difference between the two materials,
thus strengthening the structure.

Figure shows a geo textile reinforced road embankment, constructed over soft soil. The
geo textile layers are placed across the potential rotational failure plane to carry the
tensile forces that can not be carried by an unreinforced soil mass of the embankment.

Figure shows a soil foundation containing horizontally embedded geo textiles at several
locations in the depth below footing. There is a possibility for improvement in the
bearing capacity and stiffness of the load-settlement behavior by reinforcing the
foundation soil. The reinforced soil technique is essentially based on the mobilisation
of the interfacial shearing resistance between the soil and reinforcement which in turn
restrains the lateral deformation of the soil. Thus the effect of the reinforcement is to
check the lateral flow of soil beneath the footing by introducing lateral confinement.
Drainage:
A geo textile provides drainage when it collects a liquid or gas and conveys it
within its own plane, towards an outlet. Water may be conveyed vertically or
horizontally. Drainage is related to the role of filtration and is a function of the
permeability of a geo textile and its pore opening size or porometry. In order
to accomplish this drainage, a bulky geo textile or a composite system is
needed. That means the other property, in addition to permeability is the
thickness of the geo textile.
Filtration:
A geo textile acts as a filter when it allows liquid to pass normal to its own plane
while preventing most soil particles from being carried away by liquid current.
Two cases can be considered.
• A geo textile, placed across a flow of liquid carrying fine particles, stops most
of the particles (where they accumulate on the filter) while allowing water to
pass through
• A geo textile, placed in contact with a soil, allows water seeping from the soil
to pass through, while preventing any movement of soil particles.
Separation:
A geo textile acts as a separator when placed between a fine soil and a
coarse material such as gravel or stone ballast. It prevents the fine soil and
the coarse material from inter-mixing under the action of repeated applied
loads. The key factors for a geo textile to satisfy this function are porometry,
toughness/abrasion, tensile strength. The advantages of using geo textiles,
over a single or multiple soil layers are simplicity in construction, less
excavation required, less weight placed on the clay subgrade, less time
required for construction.

Protection:
A geo textile protects a material when it distributes stresses and strains
transmitted to the protected material.
• Surface protection – a geo textile, placed on the soil, prevents its surface
from being damaged by such action as weather, light traffic, surface water
flow etc.
• Interface protection – a geo textile, placed between two materials
prevents one of the materials from being damaged by concentrated
stresses applied by the other material.
Tests on geo textiles:

Tensile strength: Textiles have been evaluated in tension using narrow strips
25 to 50mm wide with high rates of strain. The results are significantly
influenced by testing procedure adopted notably the method of gripping the
fabric, rate of strain, sample size/aspect ratio, initial preload, and fabric
conditioning.

Seam testing: Testing of seams assumes greater importance in terms of

construction quality assurance, since seaming is usually done in field. Seam
performance is a function of the parent geo textile, type of seam, thread
type, stitch count, tension and other parameters. Test for seams closely
follows the tensile test method.
Interface friction: The modified direct shear test is used. The fabric is placed and
clamped in the plane of shear over a dummy with the soil above the fabric.
Then a test similar to a conventional direct shear test can be conducted at
different normal stresses to obtain the angle of geo textile-soil interface friction.
Puncture test: A circular specimen held in a ring clamp of an inner diameter
44.5mm which is penetrated by 8mm diameter solid steel cylinder (flat tip).
But this was subsequently changed to a semi-spherical tip probe. But it is
slipped between yarns rather than rupturing them particularly when worked
with high strength woven fabrics. Hence, it has been changed to flat probe
which penetrates at a rate of 300mm/min in a constant rate of extension
machine.

CBR push through test: In this a diaphragm of geo textile is clamped in a

150mm CBR mould and 50mm diameter plunger is applied centrally to know
the CBR push through load, in a manner similar to puncture test. This kind of
tests can give a good empirical indication of the robustness of the geo textile
and its ability to function as a separator.
Tear test: A trapezoid tearing strength test was conducted for evaluating the
fabric’s resistance to propagating a tear using a specimen 76X200mm in size.
The test specimen is cut to size with the longer dimension in machine
direction, if the measurement is in machine direction and vice versa for cross-
machine direction.
The specimen is then given a cut of 15mm and assembled in the grips of the
machine with the dotted lines marked in figure parallel to the grips, so that
the end edges of the clamps are in line with the 25mm side of the trapezoid.
The deformation rate applied is 300mm/min and the maximum force is
reported in Newtons. This test gives an idea of how easily the fabric could be
damaged while in use once a tear has been started, say, by a sharp stone.

Diaphragm bursting strength test: As a measure of the fabric resistance to

rupture load, this test is widely used. In this, a diaphragm of moulded
synthetic rubber 1.8mm thickness is clamped between the lower clamping
plate and the rest of the apparatus so that before the diaphragm is stretched
by hydraulic pressure underneath, the centre of its upper surface is below the
planes of the clamping surface. The fabric specimen of 36mm diameter, is
then clamped on the top of the diaphragm as shown in figure and then
maximum bursting pressure is recorded.
The test simulates an in-situ situation such as by a stone in sub base
overlying fabric on soft ground. What is required in such cases is
the high extensibility of the fabric, to continue to serve the
separation function.
Cone drop test: The cone drop test is developed by Norwegian road research
laboratory and is widely used in Europe for evaluating the resistance of geo
textiles to damage during installation due to dropping of sharp edged or sharp
pointed stones to geo textiles directly. In this test a geo textile specimen is
clamped to yield a clear diameter of 150mm and a brass cone of 45o included
angle having a weight of 1kg is dropped through a height of 500mm. The
diameter of the resultant hole is measured with a graduated conical device, as
shown in figure.
The smaller the hole, the greater the resistance of geo textile to
damage. When used in combination with other direct tensile test results, it
provides a convenient means of qualitative comparison.