Consolidation and Permeability Properties of Singapore

Marine Clay
J. Chu1; Myint Win Bo2; M. F. Chang3; and V. Choa4

Abstract: The consolidation and permeability characteristics of the Singapore marine clay were investigated by laboratory and in situ
tests. The coefficient of consolidation and the coefficient of permeability of the soil in both the vertical and horizontal directions, c v and
c h and k v and k h , respectively, were determined by oedometer, constant rate of strain, Rowe cell, piezocone 共CPTU兲, flat dilatometer,
self-boring pressuremeter 共SBPT兲, and BAT permeameter tests. The c h value of the clay was also back calculated from field monitoring
data. Comparisons of the results obtained by different methods indicate that the c h value determined by CPTU is generally in good
agreement with that by Rowe cell tests, and the c h value determined by SBPT is often the highest among all the measurements. The back
calculated c h value is lower than that measured by other tests, which could be possibly due to the smear effect incurred during the
installation of vertical drains.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1090-0241共2002兲128:9共724兲
CE Database keywords: Permeability; Singapore; Marine clays; Consolidation.

Introduction
The existing Changi Airport of Singapore was constructed on
about 700 ha of reclaimed land in the early 1980s. In order to
allow for future expansion of the airport, an additional 1,500 ha of
land is currently being reclaimed at Changi East next to the ex-
isting Changi Airport. This offshore land reclamation has been
carried out by first placing sand fill on the seabed marine clay and
then consolidating the clay using vertical drains and surcharge
loading. As vertical drains are used to accelerate the consolidation
process, the permeability and consolidation properties of the soil
in both vertical and horizontal directions become important de-
sign parameters.
Although various laboratory and in situ testing methods have
been used to determine the coefficient of consolidation, there are
uncertainties in each method. In laboratory tests, the stress and
pore water pressure changes can be monitored under well-defined
boundary conditions. However, the test results are affected by
sample disturbance. Furthermore, the measurements may not be
representative of in situ properties as the dimension of the speci-
men is small. On the other hand, in situ tests can cover a much
larger soil mass. However, the data interpretation is not always
straightforward as the stress and boundary conditions imposed in
an in situ test are not always well defined. A prudent approach
may be to conduct both laboratory and in situ tests and to obtain
design parameters based on the synthesis of results from both
types of measurement.
In this paper, the permeability and consolidation properties of
the Singapore marine clay as measured by laboratory and in situ
tests are presented. The laboratory tests included oedometer,
constant-rate of strain 共CRS兲, and Rowe cell tests on good quality
undisturbed samples. The in situ tests included the BAT per-
meameter, piezocone 共CPTU兲, flat dilatometer 共DMT兲, and the
self-boring pressuremeter 共SBPT兲 tests. In addition, the consoli-
dation parameters were also back calculated from the field moni-
toring data. Comparisons of the results from different types of
tests and from back calculations are made. The selection of these
parameters for the design of vertical drains for reclamation
projects is also discussed.

1
Associate Professor, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Nanyang Technological Univ., Blk N1, 1A-29 Nanyang Ave., Sin-
gapore 639798.
2
Executive Geotechnical Engineer, SPECS Consultants Pte. Ltd.,
#08-00 PSA Building, Alexandra Rd., Singapore 119963.
3
Associate Professor, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Nanyang Technological Univ., Blk N1, 1A-29 Nanyang Ave., Sin-
gapore 639798.
4
Professor and Dean of Admission, Office of Dean of Admission,
Nanyang Technological Univ., Admin. Building #05-10,
Singapore 639798.
Note. Discussion open until February 1, 2003. Separate discussions
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and pos-
sible publication on February 14, 2000; approved on January 21, 2002.
This paper is part of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering, Vol. 128, No. 9, September 1, 2002. ©ASCE, ISSN 1090-
0241/2002/9-724 –732/$8.00⫹$.50 per page.
Geological Conditions and Basic Soil Properties
The Singapore marine clay at Changi is a quaternary deposit that
lies within valleys cut in the Old Alluvium. It is locally known as
the Kallang formation. A typical soil profile at Changi East and
the basic soil properties are shown in Fig. 1. The soil profile can
be divided into three layers, the upper marine clay 共from 0 to 10
m in Fig. 1兲, the intermediate 共from 10 to 15 m兲, and the lower
marine clay layers 共from 15 to 30 m兲. The thickness of each layer
varies with location. The upper marine layer is generally overcon-
solidated. An overconsolidation ratio 共OCR兲 value as high as 8 is
sometimes found at the top of the upper marine clay layer prob-
ably due to desiccation, aging, and other effects. The upper ma-
rine clay is usually very soft to medium stiff with its undrained
shear strength values ranging from 10 to 30 kPa. Marine or or-
ganic materials are often found in the upper marine clay. Some-
times, a peaty clay layer may also be found at or near the bottom

724 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002

 Fig. 1. Typical soil profile and basic properties of Singapore marine clay at Changi East
of the upper marine clay layer. The intermediate layer is a dense
sandy silt or silty clay layer. Its formation is believed to have
occurred during the lowering of sea level, which was subse-
quently followed by a sea level rising and further deposition of
the upper marine clay layer. The lower marine clay is lightly
overconsolidated with an undrained shear strength varying from
30 to 50 kPa. It is not homogeneous, but occasionally interbeded
with sandy clay, peaty clay, and sand layers. Below the lower
marine clay layer is a stiff clayey sand locally known as Old
Alluvium.
Laboratory Measurements
Sampling Methods
Large diameter thin wall samples used for this study were taken
from an offshore pontoon. For the upper marine clay up to 7 m
below the sea bed, 180 mm diameter samples were retrieved in
order to minimize sample disturbance and enable Rowe cell tests
to be conducted on 150 mm diameter specimens. Below 7 m, 100
mm diameter thin wall stationary piston samples were recovered.
All the samples were carefully sealed on site immediately after
sampling. The fresh samples were carefully wire trimmed into
specimens for testing in the site laboratory.
Types of Consolidation Tests
Oedometer tests 共ASTM 1996兲 were used to determine the coef-
ficient of consolidation of soil in the vertical direction c v .
Oedometer rings of 19 mm height and 63.5 mm diameter were
used. To accelerate the testing process, CRS tests 共ASTM 1989兲
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002 / 725
were also conducted using a CRS cell with dimension equal to the
oedometer ring. Rowe cells 共Head 1986兲 with diameters of both
75 and 150 mm were used to determine the coefficient of consoli-
dation in the horizontal direction c h . With the 150 mm diameter
Rowe cell, lateral drainage to either the side or the center drain
could be accommodated. A direct measurement of the horizontal
permeability was made using a constant head method described
by Head 共1986兲.
Measurement of c v
The c v versus depth profiles as measured by oedometer tests on
samples taken from five locations, FT1, FT2, FT3, FT4, and 1C,
are presented in Fig. 2. These locations were 30–90 m apart along
the proposed runway. As c v is dependent on the vertical stress and
the OCR, only the c v values in the virgin consolidation range are
presented and used subsequently in this paper. For Location 1C,
the data obtained from two boreholes, which were only a few
meters apart, are presented in Fig. 2, and a good agreement is
evident. The variation in the data from samples at different loca-
tions reflects the natural variability of the soil properties and the
differences in the soil profiles at the reclamation site. Generally, it
can be seen from Fig. 2 that the c v values are in the range of
0.5–1.7 m2/year for the upper and 0.5–2.3 m2/year for the lower
marine clay.
The c v values were also derived from the CRS tests using a
procedure detailed in Lee et al. 共1993兲. The c v values were cal-
culated using the pore water pressures measured at both the
drained and undrained faces of the CRS cell. The strain rate used
in the CRS test affects significantly the c v measurement. The c v
versus log ␴⬘v curves obtained from two CRS tests conducted on
the same sample but with different strain rates are shown in Fig.

Fig. 2. c v profiles at five different locations as measured by oedom-
eter tests
3. The average strain rates used for the two tests were 1.25%/h for
CRS1 and 4.49%/h for CRS2. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that for
CRS1 the c v values calculated from the drained and undrained
boundaries are more or less the same, whereas for CRS2 the c v
values calculated from the drained and undrained boundaries are
different. This is indicative that the pore water pressure within the
specimen in CRS2 had not reached the final equilibrium because
the strain rate used was too high. Using a normalized strain rate
defined as
␤⫽␥h 20 /c v (1)
in which ␥⫽strain rate and h 0 ⫽initial thickness of the specimen,
Lee et al. 共1993兲 suggested that the suitable strain rate should be
␤⭐0.15 for the Singapore marine clay. The ␤ values correspond-
ing to tests CRS1 and CRS2 are 0.12 and 0.43, respectively.
Therefore, the data presented in Fig. 3 support the study of Lee
et al. 共1993兲.
Measurement of c h
As the conventional oedometer cell only permits drainage in the
vertical direction, it is therefore not suitable for c h measurement.
Although it is suggested that an oedometer cell can still be used to
measure c h if a vertically trimmed specimen 共i.e., with the cross
section cut parallel to the axis of the sample兲 is used 共Head 1986兲,
the c h measured by this method may not be reliable. A compari-
son of the data obtained from two oedometer tests, one with hori-
zontally trimmed and another with vertically trimmed specimens,
and one Rowe cell test with radial drainage to the boundary is
Fig. 3. Influence of strain rate on c v measurement in constant rate of
strain tests
726 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002
Fig. 4. Comparison of c v and c h measured by Rowe cell and oedom-
eter tests
presented in Fig. 4. All three tests were conducted using speci-
mens prepared from the same tube sample. As shown in Fig. 4,
the c h value obtained from the oedometer test with vertically
trimmed specimen is similar to the c v value, but smaller than that
from the Rowe cell test, which in theory, should measure c h . For
the Singapore marine clay, the c h values are normally larger than
the c v values. Therefore, the c h values measured by oedometer
tests on vertically trimmed specimens are underestimated.
The c h and c v values measured by oedometer and Rowe cell
tests on samples retrieved from Location 1C are compared in Fig.
5. As shown in Fig. 5, the c h value measured by the Rowe cell is
generally about two times larger than the c v value for the upper
marine clay and is about 3– 4 times larger for the lower marine
clay. The c h value appears to increase with depth.
The permeability of soil was mainly determined indirectly
from the c v or c h values. Direct measurements of k h were also
made using a 150 mm Rowe cell 共Head 1986兲 in consideration of
the importance of k h to the design of vertical drains. A compari-
son of k h measured by both methods for an upper marine clay
sample is presented in Fig. 6. The k h measured by both methods
agree with each other.
In Situ Tests
The c h values of natural soils can be affected considerably by the
stratification or the fabric of the soils which are too costly to be
characterized by laboratory tests. As an alternative, in situ tests
including CPTU dissipation tests, DMT and SBPT holding tests
Fig. 5. c v and c h profiles at location 1C
Fig. 6. Comparison of k h measured by direct and indirect methods
using 150 mm Rowe cell
were conducted to evaluate the c h values of soil. In situ perme-
ability tests using the BAT permeameter 共Torstensson 1977兲 were
also conducted to determine the in situ permeability in the hori-
zontal direction k h .
Piezocone Dissipation Test
The piezocone used had a standard cone tip area of 1,000 mm2
and an apex angle of 60°. The pore pressure filter was located just
behind the cone tip. CPTU dissipation tests were conducted at
various depths in conjunction with the CPTU sounding tests. The
method proposed by Teh and Houlsby 共1991兲 was used to calcu-
late the c h values based on the following relationship:
T 50R 2
c h⫽ (2)
t 50
where R⫽radius of the cone; T 50⫽dimensionless time factor; and
t 50⫽time elapsed to reach 50% degree of consolidation. The time
factor T 50 is affected by the tip geometry, the porous element
location, and the rigidity index of soil I r . The rigidity index is
defined as G/s u , where G is the shear modulus and s u is the
undrained shear strength of the soil.
As postulated by Baligh and Levadoux 共1986兲, c h obtained
from early stages of dissipation corresponds to the c h values in
the overconsolidated 共OC兲 range. Therefore, a conversion has to
be made to obtain the c h values in the normally consolidated
共NC兲 range. One method suggested by Baligh and Levadoux
共1986兲 is to use the following relationship:
RR
c h 共 NC兲 ⫽ c 共 CPTU兲 (3)
CR h
where
Cr
RR⫽
1⫹e 0
and
Cc
CR⫽ (4)
1⫹e 0
RR and CR⫽recompression and compression ratios, respectively;
C r and C c ⫽recompression and compression indices measured
from the e – log ␴⬘v curve; and e 0 ⫽initial void ratio of the soil.
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002 / 727
Fig. 7. c h profiles measured by piezocone dissipation tests at four
locations
The c h versus depth profiles interpreted from CPTU tests at
four different locations are presented in Fig. 7. The rigidity index
for Singapore marine clay was taken as 200 based on SBPT re-
sults. The c h values shown in Fig. 7 have been converted into
those corresponding to the NC state. It can be seen that the c h
generally increases with depth and the data from the four different
locations generally fall within a range of 2– 4 m2/year. It should
be pointed out that the c h obtained using Baligh and Levadoux’s
共1986兲 method is typically 40% higher that using Teh and Houls-
by’s 共1991兲 method. This difference is mainly because the rigidity
index I r is considered in Teh and Houlsby 共1991兲 but not in
Baligh and Levadoux’s 共1986兲 method. The c h value obtained
using Teh and Houlsby 共1991兲 agrees better with laboratory mea-
surements in general. A similar conclusion has also been made by
Danziger et al. 共1997兲. Therefore, Teh and Houlsby’s 共1991兲
method is used in this paper.
Dilatometer Dissipation Test
A Marchetti type flat dilatometer with a blade 96 mm in width,
230 mm in length, and 14 mm in thickness was used in the study.
A 60 mm diameter membrane with a sensing disk behind was
attached on one side of the blade. In the DMT test, only the total
lateral stress (␴ h ) but not the pore-water pressure is measured.
According to Marchetti and Totani 共1989兲, for tests in soft clays,
a significant proportion of the measured total lateral stress against
the blade is the pore-water pressure. The decay of ␴ h corresponds
largely to the decay of pore-water pressure generated from pen-
etration of the blade. An approximate relationship can be estab-
lished between the rate of decay of ␴ h and the c h of the soil. The
c h of the soil can then be estimated from a DMT dissipation test
using either the A reading 共DMTA兲 or the C reading 共DMTC兲,
proposed by Marchetti and Totani 共1989兲 and Schmertmann
共1988兲, respectively.
The DMTA method 共Marchetti and Totani 1989兲 adopts the
following relationship:
c h ⫻T flex⫽ 共 500– 1,000兲 mm2 (5)
where c h is in mm2/min and T flex⫽time 共in min兲 which corre-
sponds to the point of reverse curvature on the A reading versus
log time curve. For Singapore marine clay, a constant of 500 mm2
is commonly used 共Bo et al. 1998a兲.
Fig. 8. c h profiles measured by dilatometer dissipation tests: 共a兲 at four locations, and 共b兲 at two locations using A reading and C reading
In the DMTC method 共Schmertmann 1988兲, the c h of soil is
estimated using Eq. 共2兲. As R 2 ⫽600 mm2 for standard Marchatti
diatometer, Eq. 共2兲 can also be written as
T 50
c h ⫽600 (6)
t 50
where c h is in mm2/min and t 50⫽time 共in min兲 corresponding to
50% dissipation from the C reading versus t curve. T 50 is affected
by factors such as the E u /s u ratio 共E u and s u ⫽undrained Young’s
modulus and shear strength, respectively兲 and the pore water
pressure parameter at failure A f . The value of T 50 can be esti-
mated according to Gupta 共1983兲.
Similar to CPTU tests, the c h values determined from either
DMTA or DMTC correspond to the unloading/reloading range.
Corrections have to be made to obtain the in situ c h value. One
relationship suggested by Schmertmann 共1988兲 is
c h 共 in situ兲 ⫽c h 共 DMT兲 /K (7)
where K⫽OCR dependent parameter. The value of K ranges from
1 to 7 for OCR ranging from heavily OC to NC states. However,
when converting the c h (DMT) value into the c h value at the NC
state, c h (NC), a conversion similar to Eq. 共3兲 provides more con-
sistent results and is adopted in this study.
The c h versus depth profiles as derived from DMTA dissipa-
tion tests at four different locations are presented in Fig. 8共a兲. The
c h presented have been converted to the values at the NC state. It
can be seen from Fig. 8共a兲 that the c h values obtained for the four
locations are mainly within the range of 1–5 m2/year. The c h
values obtained from DMTC dissipation tests are also plotted in
Fig. 8共b兲 together with the those from DMTA tests for compari-
son. Generally it is observed that the c h values obtained from C
readings are higher, although a good agreement is seen for Loca-
tion 1C.
Self-Boring Pressuremeter Holding Test
A special version of the Cambridge SBPT M KX(D) was used in
this study. The probe was 83 mm in diameter and 1.4 m long.
728 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002
During a SBPT holding test, the dissipation of pore-water pres-
sure was measured by a pore-water pressure cell. The c h values
can be calculated using Eq. 共2兲, taking R as the radius of the
SBPT probe. For SBPT tests, T 50 depends on the pore-water pres-
sure generated at the wall of the probe and its value can be esti-
mated based on the relationship given by Clarke et al. 共1979兲.
Similar to the CPTU and the DMT, the c h values determined
from SBPT tests correspond to the unloading/reloading range and
a correction based on Eq. 共3兲 is required in order to obtain the c h
value for the NC range.
The c h versus depth profiles obtained from SBPT tests at four
different locations are shown in Fig. 9共a兲. These values have been
converted to those corresponding to the NC state. It can be seen
from Fig. 9共a兲 that the c h values obtained from the four test lo-
cations range from 2.5 to 20 m2/year. These values are calculated
based on the pore-water pressure change measured by the pore
pressure cell. Like the DMT, the c h values may also be obtained
indirectly using the total stress change measured by the total pres-
sure cell. A comparison of the two measurements is made in Fig.
9共b兲. The differences between the two measurements appear to be
insignificant, in general.
BAT Permeability Test
The BAT permemeter developed by Torstensson 共1977兲 was used
to determine directly the in situ k h values. The BAT filter was 30
mm in diameter and 40 mm in thickness. The tests were carried
out as an ‘‘inflow’’ test. As water flowed into the probe, the air
pressure in the chamber changed. The value of k h is determined
from
k h⫽
P 0V 0 1
冋⫺
1
⫺
1
Ft P 0 U 0 P 0 U 0 U 20
⫻ln 冉 P 0 ⫺U 0
P0
x
Pt
P t ⫺U 0 冊册 (8)
where P 0 ⫽initial system pressure; V 0 ⫽initial gas volume; F
Fig. 9. c h profiles measured by self-boring pressuremeter dissipation tests 共a兲 at four locations 共b兲 using total pressure cell 共TPC兲 and pore
pressure cell 共PPC兲

⫽shape factor; U 0 ⫽static pore-water pressure; and P t
⫽pressure at time t. All the pressures are absolute.
The k h values measured by BAT permeameter and obtained
from other in situ tests at FT2 are compared in Fig. 10. The
comparison shows that the k h values measured by BAT per-
meameter are lower than the other measurements. The same ob-
servation was made at the other locations within the reclamation
site, as reported by Bo et al. 共1998a兲.
back calculated. At Location FT2, the c h values back calculated
from settlement measured at different elevations are in the range
of 0.7–1.2 m2/year 共Bo et al. 1997兲. In the back calculation, the
ultimate settlement was estimated based on Asoka’s method
共Asoka 1978兲 using the settlement data of up to 15 months, which
corresponded roughly to 90% of degree of consolidation.
Comparisons of Different Measurements

Back Calculation based on Field Monitoring Data
The settlement and pore-water pressure response during consoli-
dation under the surcharge were monitored at several selected
locations. These monitoring data enable the field c h values to be
A comparison of the c h values measured by various methods at
Location FT2 is presented in Fig. 11. In Fig. 11, all the in situ
tests and the Rowe cell test measure the c h values, whereas the
conventional oedometer test measures c v . It should be pointed

Fig. 10. Comparison of k h profiles measured by different methods at Fig. 11. Comparison of c h profiles measured by back calculation and
location FT2 other methods at location FT2

JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002 / 729


Fig. 12. Comparison of c h profiles measured by back calculation and
other methods at location 1C
out that all the laboratory and in situ tests presented in this paper
were conducted for the intact soil, i.e., before the installation of
vertical drains. At location FT2, prefabricated vertical drain
共PVDs兲 were used. The drain spacing was designed to achieve an
average degree of consolidation of 90% within 18 months. The c h
values used for the design were 1.0 and 2.0 m2/year for the upper
and the lower marine clay layers, respectively. Compared with the
data shown in Fig. 11, these design values were on the conserva-
tive side. In principle, the monitored consolidation rate should be
faster than the predicted value. However, the monitored consoli-
dation rate was actually slower than that predicted. The back-
Fig. 13. Comparison of c h profiles measured by different methods at locations FT1, FT3, and FT4
730 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002
calculated c h values were also lower than the c h values adopted in
the design 共see Fig. 11兲. A comparison of the c h values obtained
by various methods at Location 1C is also presented in Fig. 12. It
is seen again that the back-calculated c h values are lower than the
c h values measured by either laboratory or in situ tests. Similar
cases have also been reported by Balasubraniam et al. 共1995兲 and
Chun et al. 共1997兲. It can therefore be concluded that after the
installation of PVDs in soft marine clay, the overall c h value of
the soil will be lower than the c h value of the parent soil.
Comparisons of the c h values measured by different methods
at other locations are shown in Fig. 13. Based on the results
presented in Figs. 11–13, the following observations can be sum-
marized:
1. The c h of marine clay determined by the Rowe cell test is
generally 2– 4 times larger than the c v by the conventional
oedometer test, indicating the anisotropic nature of the soil.
2. It is observed from all five locations that the c h value derived
from the CPTU dissipation test agrees well with that from
the Rowe cell tests, but is generally lower than that from
other in situ tests.
3. The c h value obtained from the SBPT holding test exhibits a
larger variation in comparison with that from other tests. In
general, the c h value measured by SBPT is much larger than
those obtained from other in situ or laboratory tests.
4. The c h deduced from the DMT dissipation test is usually
larger than that from the CPTU dissipation test, but smaller
than that from the SBPT holding test. However, there are
other cases where the c h from the DMT is smaller than that
from CPTU 共see Fig. 13 for FT3兲 or larger than that from
SBPM 共see Fig. 12兲.
Discussions
Smear Effect
One of the major factors that accounts for the lower c h values
back calculated from field settlement measurements is the smear
effect incurred from the insertion of the mandrel during the in-
stallation of vertical drains. For soft marine clay, the smear effect
can be quite significant, as the spacing of the drains is normally
small, typically 1.5 m. A study made by Bo et al. 共1998b兲 showed
that the permeability of the soil in the smear zone could be re-
duced by 1 order of magnitude or to the k h of the remolded clay
as a result of the smear effect. The smear zone effect was found to
be 4 –5 times the equivalent diameter of the vertical drain. When
drains are installed at a close spacing, the back-calculated c h val-
ues will be greatly influenced by this smear zone.
The smear effect could also affect the CPTU and the BAT
permeameter measurements for k h or c h . In both the CPTU and
BAT tests, a penetrometer has to be pushed into the clay, and a
smear effect similar to the insertion of a mandrel could have been
introduced prior to the measurements. The smear effect for BAT
permeameter could be greater than that for the CPTU, as the BAT
permeameter had a filter with a larger surface area. This may help
to explain why the k h value measured by the BAT permeability
test is normally lower than that by the CPTU, although the work-
ing mechanisms of the two tests are very similar 共see Fig. 10兲.
The SPBT test should not be affected by the smear effect due to
its self-boring mechanism. This may be part of the reason why the
c h 共or k h 兲 value measured by the SBPT holding test is generally
higher than that by BAT permeability or the CPTU test.
The above finding also indicates that when vertical drains are
used in soft clay, the smear effect on consolidation properties of
soil has to be taken into consideration in the design.
Practical Implications
Based on the study presented in this paper, the following two
points related to the use of laboratory and in situ methods in
assessing the consolidation properties of soft clay for soil im-
provement projects can be made.
First, laboratory tests using Rowe cell and in situ tests using
CPTU appear to be the most suitable methods for the determina-
tion of c h . The advantages of using the Rowe cell test are: 共1兲 the
variation of c h with stress level can be assessed directly; and 共2兲
the permeability of the soil can also be determined directly. How-
ever, good quality samples are required for the tests. It is also
time consuming to conduct Rowe cell tests. The CPTU holding
test has the advantages over the Rowe cell test in that it can be
done relatively quickly over the entire profile. However, the c h
value directly measured by the CPTU holding test is normally too
high to be used directly for the design involving the use of PVDs.
A conversion would have to be made to convert the direct c h
value into the value at the NC state. For soft marine clay, Teh and
Houlsby’s method 共Teh and Houlsby 1991兲 should be used in the
interpretation. The c h measured in this way from the CPTU test
agrees well with the c h by Rowe cell tests in all five cases studied.
For DMT dissipation tests, the c h derived from A reading
共DMTA兲 shows a better agreement with the results of CPTU and
Rowe cell tests than that from the C reading 共DMTC兲. However,
the method based on A readings needs to be calibrated before its
use as it involves the selection of a constant between
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2002 / 731
500 and 1,000. Unless the selection of this constant is verified, the
DMT method is not recommended. The SBPM test does not ap-
pear to be desirable as far as the measurement of c h for soft
marine clay is concerned, as the c h values obtained from SBPM
tests are normally too high to be directly used for design.
Second, if the soil is very sensitive to the smear effect, the c h
values measured from laboratory or in situ tests will have to be
corrected for the smear effect before it can be used for design.
Conclusions
The consolidation and permeability properties of the Singapore
marine clay were studied using laboratory, in situ, and field mea-
surements collected from a large land reclamation site in Sin-
gapore. The following conclusions can be drawn from the study:
1. The c v value of Singapore marine clay at the NC state ranges
from 0.5–2.0 m2/year as obtained using oedometer tests. The
c h value of the soil at the NC state is in the range of 2.0–5.0
m2/year as determined by the Rowe cell or the CPTU dissi-
pation test. The value of c h generally increases with depth
and is typically 2–3 times higher than that of c v .
2. The coefficient of permeability of Singapore marine clay is
in the order of 10⫺8 – 10⫺10 m/s. Generally, the permeability
decreases with depth. The k h measured directly by a 150 mm
diameter Rowe cell agrees well with that calculated from c h .
The k h measured by the BAT permeameter is generally lower
than the k h measured by the Rowe cell or other in situ tests,
possibly due to the smear effect incurred when the per-
meameter is pushed into the soil.
3. Oedometer tests provide reliable c v measurements. If CRS
tests are used to measure c v , the strain rate used should be
smaller or equal to 1.25%/h to ensure the equalization of the
pore pressure in the specimen.
4. The method of measuring c h using the oedometer test on a
vertically trimmed specimen is often not reliable as the c h is
often underestimated.
5. The c h value deduced from CPTU tests based on Teh and
Houlsby’s 共1991兲 method is about 40% lower than that using
the method by Baligh and Levadoux 共1986兲, and is in good
agreement with those obtained from Rowe cell tests. For
Singapore marine clay, Teh and Houlsby’s method, which
takes the rigidity index into consideration, should be used.
6. Between the two methods for the interpretation of DMT dis-
sipation tests, the c h derived from A readings 共DMTA兲
shows a better agreement with the results of CPTU and
Rowe cell tests than that from the C readings 共DMTC兲 when
a constant of 500 is used.
7. For SBPT holding tests, the c h values estimated from the
pore-pressure reading and the total pressure reading are com-
parable. In general, the c h determined from the SBPT hold-
ing test is 2–5 times larger than that by the CPTU dissipation
test, and cannot be used directly for design.
8. For soil improvement schemes involving vertical drains,
Rowe cell tests or CPTU dissipation tests are recommended
for the determination of c h . However, when vertical drains
are installed at a close spacing in soft marine clay, the smear
effect to the soil can be considerable. As a result, a design c h
value lower than the c h value of the intact clay should be
used.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
C c ⫽ compression index;
 Cr ⫽ recompression index; rained piezocone penetration II: Interpretation,’’ J. Geotech. Eng.,
ch ⫽ coefficient of consolidation in horizontal direction; 112共7兲, 727–745.
cv ⫽ coefficient of consolidation in vertical direction; Bo, M.W., Arulrajah, A., and Choa, V. 共1997兲. ‘‘Performance verification
of soil improvement work with vertical drains.’’ Proc., 30th Anniver-
Eu ⫽ undrained elastic modulus;
sary Symp. Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society, Bangkok, Thailand,
e0 ⫽ initial void ratio of soil; 191–203.
G ⫽ shear modulus; Bo, M.W., Arulrajah, A., and Choa, V. 共1998a兲. ‘‘The hydraulic conduc-
h0 ⫽ initial thickness of oedometer specimen; tivity of Singapore marine clay at Changi.’’ Q. J. Eng. Geol., 31,
Ir ⫽ rigidity index; 291–299.
K ⫽ overconsolidation ratio dependent parameter for Bo, M.W., Bawajee, R., and Choa, V. 共1998b兲. ‘‘Smear effect due to
correcting c h measured by dilatometer; mandrel penetration.’’ Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Ground Improvement
kh ⫽ coefficient of permeability in horizontal direction; Techniques, Singapore, 83–92.
kv ⫽ coefficient of permeability in vertical direction; Chun, B. S., Kim, Y. N., Lee, K. I., Chae, Y. S., Cho, C. H., and Bang, E.
su ⫽ undrained shear strength; S. 共1997兲. ‘‘A comparative study on the consolidation theory of ver-
T flex ⫽ time corresponding to point of reverse of curva- tical drains.’’ Proc., Int. Conf. on Ground Improvement Techniques,
ture obtained from dilatometer test; Macau, 165–174.
T 50 ⫽ time factor; Clarke, B. G., Carter, J. P., and Wroth, C. P. 共1979兲. ‘‘In-situ determina-
tion of the consolidation characteristics of saturated clays.’’ Proc., 7th
t 50 ⫽ time elapsed to reach 50% degree of consolida-
European Conf. Soil Mech. Found. Eng., 207–213.
tion; Danziger, F. A. B., Almeida, M. S., and Sills, G. 共1997兲. ‘‘The signifi-
␤ ⫽ normalized strain; cance of the strain path analysis in the interpretation of piezocone
␥ ⫽ strain rate; and dissipation data.’’ Geotechnique, 47共5兲, 901–914.
␮ ⫽ Poisson’s ratio. Gupta, R. C. 共1983兲. ‘‘Determination of the in-situ coefficient of consoli-
dation and permeability of submerged soils using electrical piezo-
probe sounding.’’ PhD thesis, Univ. Florida.
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