Analytical and Experimental Studies on Cemented Stone Columns for Soft Clay Ground Improvement

Abstract

This paper reports a novel concept of ground improvement technique using cemented stone columns for improvement of the soft clay ground. The experimental investigations and analytical studies led to evolution of the technology of soft ground improvement using such stone columns almost to the fullest extent. The study included the following aspects: relative degree of effectiveness of cemented stone columns over other reported approaches, theoretical analysis for predicting the ultimate load-carrying capacity of soft clay ground treated with cemented stone columns, analysis to estimate the probable short- and long-term settlements of a given structure founded on the treated ground under the applied foundation pressure intensity, and an illustrative design problem using this technology. The failure mode and the load-transfer mechanism for this system were conceptualized on the basis of the unit-cell concept. The mathematical formulation resulted in equations enabling quantitative evaluation of the required design aspects related to the actual design of cemented stone column–soft clay systems.