IMPROVEMENT EFFECT OF VACUUM CONSOLIDATION AND PREFABRICATED VERTICAL DRAIN IN PEAT GROUND

Hirochika Hayashi, Junichi Nishikawa and Kengo Sawai

Senior Researcher andResearcher, Geotechnical Division, Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido (CERI), 1-3 Hiragishi Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, 062-8602 JAPAN Tel:+81-11-841-1709 Fax:+81-11-841-7333 Director, Structures Department, Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido (CERI) Tel:+81-11-841-5175 Fax:+81-11-820-2714 E-mail: hayashi@ceri.go.jp, nishikaw@ceri.go.jp, sawai@ceri.go.jp

ABSTRACT The peat ground widely distributed throughout Hokkaido, Japan, is highly organic. Test construction of prefabricated vertical drain and vacuum consolidation method was conducted as part of a highway project in the suburbs of Sapporo, the largest city in Hokkaido. The ground at the test site is a typical peat ground commonly seen in Hokkaido with the peat layer at the surface and clayey peat and soft clay layers underlying it. At the site where the vacuum consolidation method was applied, an approximately 10-meter high embankment was constructed in a short period of time. This fact demonstrates the high improvement effect of vacuum consolidation. After examining the test construction results, it was evident that the ratio of increments of the undrained shear strength to increments of the effective stress (Cu /v) of the peat and clayey peat layers to which the vacuum consolidation method was applied had a higher value than that of the layers to which no countermeasure was applied. In addition, Cu /v of the layers to which the prefabricated vertical drain method was applied also had a higher value than that of the noncountermeasure layers, although the difference was not as significant as that for the vacuum consolidation method. It was also found that no improvement effect could be attained with the vertical drain method unless the drain interval was 90 cm or shorter. 1. INTRODUCTION The peat ground widely distributed throughout Hokkaido, Japan, is extremely soft problematic ground because it is highly organic soil with high natural water content. Therefore, when a road embankment is constructed on peat ground, countermeasures must be taken in advance. Although various design and construction methods for measures against peat ground have already been established in Japan, studies are continuously being carried out to develop better techniques. Under these circumstances, test construction was performed as part of a highway project on peat ground with an aim to establish reasonable design methods for vacuum consolidation and prefabricated vertical drains taking the characteristics peculiar to peat ground into consideration. In this paper it presents that the detailed results of the vacuum consolidation method, which demonstrated a high improvement effect, as well as a comparison of the consolidation acceleration effect and ground strength improved by the prefabricated vertical drain and vacuum consolidation methods.

2. PEAT GROUND IN HOKKAIDO, JAPAN 2.1 Distribution and engineering properties of peat ground Peat ground is widely distributed throughout Hokkaido, which is the northernmost of Japans four main islands. Although peat ground also exists in other regions, its distribution is extremely localized. Peat ground is distributed over an area of approximately 2,000 km2 in Hokkaido (Fig. 1). This is equivalent to approximately 6% of the flat area on this island. Peat ground is distributed widely in the northeastern part of Sapporo, the largest city in Hokkaido. Peat ground in Japan is, in many cases, lacustrine peat, which is formed when lakes and marshes become filled with dead plants growing around them and then turn into land. This type of peat is characterized by the spongy formation of plant fiber. In the peat ground of Hokkaido, peat usually accumulates a thickness of three to five meters on the ground surface and the soft clay layer underlying it is often over 20 meters thick. In some areas, a sand layer exists between the peat and clay layers. Together with the unique features of peat, the existence of the thick soft clay layer makes the ground behavior even more complex. The engineering properties of peat at a typical Hokkaido peat ground site in the suburbs of Sapporo are shown in Table 1 (Noto, 1991). Some peat ground in Hokkaido has a natural water content of over 1,000% and an ignition loss of more than 90%. Its void ratio and compression index are extremely high, while its wet density and density of soil particle are considerably low. Peat is characterized by the great increase of shear strength in consolidation, although its original shear strength is lower than that of soft clay.

Fig. 1 Distribution of peat ground in Hokkaido, Japan Table 1 Engineering properties of peat in Hokkaido, Japan
Property Wet unit weight Water content Ignition loss Density of soil particle Void ratio Coefficient of permeability (Vertical) Anisotropy of permeability (H/V) Dutch cone resistance Compression index kN/m % % g/cm cm/sec kN/m
2 3 3

Value

9.5 - 11.2 115 - 1150 20 - 98 1.3 - 2.1 5 - 21 10 - 10 3-7 100 - 300 2.6 - 11.0
-4 -5

2.2 Problems faced in construction work and status of countermeasures When constructing a civil engineering structure on peat ground, the structure is likely to be affected by slip failure of the ground or residual settlement that lasts for a long period of time even after the structure is put into service. In addition, settlement and upheaval or horizontal displacement of the ground around the structure may have adverse effects on adjoining structures. Ground vibration caused by construction machinery and automobile traffic may also be problematic. Peat ground has been a headache for civil engineers for many years. In Japan, full-scale engineering research on peat began in the 1950s. Technologies for constructing road embankments and river dikes on peat ground have now been established (CERI, 2002), and a method for roughly forecasting the settlement behavior of peat has already been proposed and put into practice (Noto, 1990). Furthermore, pre-loading, replacement, sand compaction, pile, deep cement mixing, light fill and many other countermeasures are used in actual construction projects, and their improvement effects on peat ground have been confirmed. Development of more superior technologies continues to be conducted. As part of this development, use of the prefabricated vertical drain and vacuum consolidation methods, which had rarely been used as measures for peat ground, was considered. In particular, there had been almost no cases in which the vacuum consolidation method was applied for peat ground in Japan. These methods are used to accelerate consolidation. Acceleration of consolidation had not been considered to be effective since peat fundamentally has a high consolidation speed. As a result of test construction, however, these methods were recognized as having improvement effects on peat ground. 3. SUMMARY OF TEST CONSTRUCTION USING VACUUM CONSOLIDATION METHOD Test construction using the prefabricated vertical drain and vacuum consolidation methods was performed on National Highway Route 337, which is a expressway in the suburbs of Sapporo. Here, a detailed explanation will be given of the vacuum consolidation method with which high effects were achieved. 3.1 Vacuum consolidation method At this site, it was necessary to construct a high embankment on peat ground. For this reason, the vacuum consolidation method (Fig. 2) was employed to assure stability and decrease residual settlement. Vacuum consolidation is a construction method utilized to accelerate ground settlement and increase

Fig. 2 Typical setup of vacuum consolidation method

ground strength in a short period of time by discharging pore water contained in the ground by means of prefabricated vertical drains, tight sheet and vacuum pumps 3.2 Ground conditions The ground at the test site is a typical peaty soft ground commonly seen in Hokkaido (Fig. 3). The natural water content of the peat layer and that of the clayey peat layer underlying it range from 200% 700% and the Dutch cone penetration resistance varies from 100 kN/m2 - 300 kN/m2. These values are average for peat ground distributed in Hokkaido (Noto, 1991). The relationship between the consolidation yield stress and effective overburden pressure indicates that the ground is by and large normally consolidated. According to a permeability test conducted at the site, the coefficient of permeability of the fine sand layer between the upper and lower clay layers was 4 10-4 cm/sec.

Fig. 3 Cross section of test construction site 3.3 Status of construction and field observations The vertical drain materials were laid out at intervals of 80 cm in a square shape and placed into the ground as deep as GL-19.9 m. Two vacuum pumps were installed for the ground improvement area of approximately 3,200 m2. Ground behavior was observed using devices such as a settlement plate, a differential settlement gauge, a piezometer and a borehole inclinometer. Dutch cone penetration tests were performed to measure the ground strength after ground improvement. To obtain the strength distribution in this case, the Dutch cone penetration tests were also applied to the top and toe of the slope, in addition to the center of the embankment. Moreover, pressure meter tests in boreholes were subsequently conducted and an increase in the modulus of ground deformation was confirmed. 4. PERFORMANCE OF VACUUM COSOLIDATION (Hayashi et al, 2003) 4.1 Test construction results Construction of the embankment commenced 21 days after the vacuum pumps were put into operation. Excluding the sand blanket, the depth of the embankment was approximately 10 meters. The average construction speed was 13 cm/day, which was very fast for embankment construction on peat ground (Fig. 4). However, the sufficient stability of the embankment was confirmed by the construction management.

Moreover, no deformities, such as cracks on the crest of the embankment, that would indicate failure of the embankment, were observed, thus demonstrating the favorable improvement effect of this construction method for the safety of roads laid on peat ground. Observation of the settlement behavior clarified that settlement progresses even after stopping of the vacuum pumps, though the progress is gradual. By soil layer, the settlement of the underlying clayey peat layer lags behind that of the other layers. Regarding the excess pore water pressure in the peat layer before construction, a negative pressure of approximately 50 kN/m2 occurred. The negative pressure in the lower soil layers, however, remained around the level of 20 kN/m2 (Fig. 4).
15 Period of Pump Operation 10 5 0 0 100 200 300 400 Time from starting pump operation (days) 500
Pump stop

Thickness of embankment (m)

Observed surface settlment (m)

0.0 -1.0 -2.0 -3.0 -4.0 -5.0

0.0 Peat Clayey peat Upper clay Lower clay

Observed layer settlmentm

-0.5 -1.0 -1.5

Excess pore water pressurekPa

100 50 0 -50
0

Peat Clayey peat Upper clay Lower clay

100 200 300 400 Time from starting pump operation (days)

500

Fig. 4 Changes of observed settlement and excess pore water pressure The borehole inclinometer measurement results immediately before construction, upon completion of construction, at the time of vacuum pump stoppage and 25 days after stopping of the vacuum pumps are shown in Fig.5. In the time period after the start of vacuum pump operation and before construction, lateral displacement took place toward the inside of the embankment between the peat layer and the upper clay layer. The peat layer showed a more conspicuous trend of displacement with a maximum value of approximately 15 cm. During construction of the embankment, lateral displacement occurred toward the outside of the embankment, but it was only about 25 cm at the maximum. This lateral displacement was less than the values in general for noncountermeasure layers. In addition, no behavior was observed that indicated progress in shear deformation after stopping of the vacuum pumps.

Lateral displacementmm
-150
0 Peat Clayey peat Upper clay 10 5

150

300

Fine sand

Depth m

15 Immediately before embankment construction Completion of embankment Pump stoppage 25 25days after pump stoppage

Lower clay 20

Fig. 5 Depth distribution of lateral displacement 4.2 Behavior of negative pressures The depth distribution, taking the difference between the pore water pressure immediately before the start of construction (20th day after the start of vacuum pump operation) and the hydrostatic pressure as negative pressure is shown in Fig. 6. The design value of negative pressure is often set at 60 kN/m2. However, the value has only been fulfilled for peat layers. In the deeper layers, only negative pressures of approximately one third of the design value were observed. This may be due to the effect of the fine sand layer between the upper and lower clay layers, but the exact cause remains unknown. In any case, this phenomenon suggests that the design value of negative pressure in deep layers should be decreased to a certain degree.
Negative pressure (kN/m2)
0 20 40 60 80 100

-5

Fig. 6 Depth distribution of negative pressure 5. IMPROVEMENT EFFECTS OF THE PREFABRICATED VERTICAL DRAIN AND VACUUM CONSOLIDATION METHOD In this section, the results from the sites to which the prefabricated vertical drain method was applied and those from noncountermeasure sites (Hayashi et al., 2002) will be compared, in the same way as the results for the vacuum consolidation method that were covered in Section 4. The ground conditions of these sites were almost equivalent to the sites to which the vacuum consolidation method was applied

Depth (m)

-10

-15

-20

-25

(Hayashi et al., 2002). The target of improvement was between the ground surface and lower clay layer (GL-20.3 m). Three cases of test construction were conducted by changing the drain spacing. The construction conditions of each respective case are shown in Table 2. At the noncountermeasure sites and those to which the prefabricated vertical drain method was applied, slow construction of an embankment 4.2 meters in thickness, which is the embankment thickness limit for pre-analysis, was conducted at a construction speed of approximately 3 cm/day for both sites. Attention must be paid to the difference in embankment height and construction speed when making comparisons with the site to which the vacuum consolidation method was applied. Table 2 Construction conditions
Method Spacing of Vertical Drain (cm) Construction of Embankment Thickness (m) Average Construction Speed (cm/day)

Noncountermeasure

70

4.2

Prefabricated Vertical Drain

90 110

4.2

Vacuum Consolidation

80

10.3

13

5.1 Consolidation acceleration effects The degree of consolidation was compared after using the hyperbolic method to calculate the final settlement of the ground surface at the center of the embankment. Regarding the degree of consolidation upon completion of the embankment (Fig. 7), it was 64% in the noncountermeasure case, while it was approximately 80% in the cases of plastic drains with drain spacing of 70 and 90 cm. In the case of vacuum consolidation, the degree of consolidation was approximately 75% even though construction was conducted at a relatively high speed, indicating the high drainage effect of this method. Next, as for the number of days it took 90% consolidation was achieved (Fig. 8), the settlement ceased in a short period of time in the cases of plastic drains with spacing of 70 and 90 cm, as well as cases with the vacuum consolidation method. When the spacing of the plastic drain was 110 cm, however, the result was almost the same as that of the noncountermeasure case, and no consolidation acceleration effect was observed.
Degrees of Consolidation at Completion of Embankment (%)

90

80

70

60
Vertical Drain 70cm-spacing Vertical Drain 90cm-spacing Non countermeasure Vertical Drain 110cm-spacing Vacuum Consolidation

Fig. 7 Degrees of consolidation at completion of embankment for each site

Period of Leaving Embankment at Degree of Consolidation 90% (days)

500 400 300 200 100 0

Vertical Drain 70cm-spacing Vertical Drain 90cm-spacing Non countermeasure Vertical Drain 110cm-spacing Vacuum Consolidation
Vacuum Consolidation

Fig. 8 Period of leaving embankment at reaching 90% in degree of consolidation for each site 5.2 Deformation modes of the ground The deformation modes of the ground were compared by dividing the ground surface settlement (S) at the center of the embankment into the maximum lateral displacement (D) in the ground at the toe of the slope (D/S) upon completion of the test construction (Fig. 9). In the noncountermeasure case, the deformation mode had a predominant shear deformation (lateral flow), which is often observed in the construction of embankments on peat ground. The fact that D/S = 0.24 was larger than the general value of 0.2 (CERI, 2002) shows that slip failure, which is the final result of shear deformation, was about to occur. In the cases of plastic drains and vacuum consolidation, on the other hand, D/S was 0.06 to 0.07, shear deformation was restrained and a mode with relatively predominant consolidation deformation was observed. In the case of vacuum consolidation, in particular, it is noteworthy that consolidation deformation showed a restrained deformation mode despite the high-speed construction of the embankment.
Ratio of Ground Lateral Displacement to surface settlement

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
Non countermeasure Vertical Drain 70cm-spacing

Fig. 9 Ratio of lateral displacement of ground at slop toe to surface settlement at center of embankment 5.3 Strength characteristics of improved ground When using the vacuum consolidation method for peat ground, improvement effects on the stability of the ground were remarkably high, as mentioned before. In this case, the relationship between the ignition

loss of each layer and the increments of the undrained shear strength of the ground divided by the increments of the effective stress in each layer (Cu/v) are summarized to further clarify the improvement effects (Fig. 10). Where, the actual value (t = 16 - 18 kN/m3) was used as the site density. The ground shear strength was calculated based on Dutch cone penetration tests carried out at the center of the embankment as well as the top and toe of the slope. Regarding the noncountermeasure ground, it was found that Cu /v 0.4 in the layers with ignition loss of more than 20%, a typical value for peat. In comparison with this, the layers other than inorganic clay to which the vacuum consolidation method was applied had larger values. The value of the layer to which plastic drains were applied was in between the two values given above. This agrees with the test results in which a high embankment was realized in a short period of time through the adoption of the vacuum consolidation method. It is thought that the reason the value of Cu /v differed by construction method was due to the difference in the deformation modes of the ground, as mentioned above. In the inorganic clay layer, no difference was found in Cu /v by construction method.
0.8 0.6
Cu/v

0.4 0.2 0.0 0 20

Vacuum Consolidation Prefabricated Vertical Drain Noncountermeasure

40 60 Ignition loss (%)

80

100

Fig. 10 Relation between ignition loss and 6. CONCLUSIONS

Cu /v

The findings of this study are summarized as follows: (1) Although it was an extremely soft peat ground, the vacuum consolidation method enabled the construction of an approximately 10-meter-high embankment in a short period of time. (2) The Cu /v of the peat layer to which the vacuum consolidation method was applied showed a higher value than that of the noncountermeasure peat layer. (3) Although the Cu /v of the peat layer to which the prefabricated vertical drain method was applied demonstrated a higher value than that of the noncountermeasure peat layer, the difference was not as significant as that of the vacuum consolidation method. (4) When using prefabricated vertical drains, no improvement effects were achieved unless the drain spacing was 90 cm or shorter. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In conducting this test construction, we received generous support from those concerned at the Hokkaido Development Bureau, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. We would like to take this opportunity to express our immense gratitude to them.

REFERENCES Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido (CERI). (2002). Manual for Countermeasure against Peat Soft Ground, pp.5, pp.62-63, pp.71-177 (in Japanese) HAYASHI, H., NISHIKAWA, J. and EGAWA, T. (2002). Strength Increase and Acceleration of Consolidation by Plastic Drain in Peat Ground, Proc. of 37th Annual Meeting, The Japanese Geotechnical Society, pp.1149-1150 (in Japanese) HAYASHI, H., NISHIKAWA, J., NISHIMOTO, S. and SAWAI, K. (2003). Performance of Vacuum Consolidation Method in Peat Ground, Proc. of International Workshop on Geotechnics of Soft Soils -Theory and Practice-, (in Printing) NOTO, S. (1990). Revised Formula for Prediction of Settlement on Soft Peaty Deposits, Monthly Report of Civil Engineering Research Institute, No.446, pp. 2-9 (in Japanese) NOTO, S. (1991). Peat Ground Engineering, Gihoudo Shuppan publication, Tokyo, pp. 39-54 (in Japanese) BIOGRAPHY Mr. Hirochika Hayashi is a senior researcher of the geotechnical division, Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido (CERI), Sapporo, Japan. He obtained his B.Eng in civil engineering from Nihon University in 1986. He is licensed Professional Engineer in Japan, APEC Engineer, a member of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) and the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS). His research area is peat ground engineering that is including filed observation, centrifuge model testing, numerical analysis, deep cement mixing, vertical drains, vacuum consolidation and other ground improvement techniques. Dr. Jun'ichi Nishikawa is the director of structures department of Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido (CERI), Sapporo, Japan. He finished his B.Sc., M.Sc. and D.Sc. in Hokkaido University in 1974, 1976 and 1982 respectively. He has started his professional career as an engineering geologist at CERI since 1982. He has been involved with studies of geotechnical engineering such like slope failure, frost heaving and soft ground countermeasure.

Mr. Kengo Sawai is a researcher of the geotechnical division, Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido (CERI), Sapporo, Japan. He obtained his B.Eng and M.Eng both in resource engineering from Akita University in 1995 and 1997 respectively. He is a member of the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS). His research areas are peat ground engineering, deep cement mixing and centrifuge model testing.