Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611

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Journal of Rock Mechanics and

Geotechnical Engineering
journal homepage: www.rockgeotech.org

Full Length Article

Performance of marine clay stabilised with vacuum pressure: Based on

Queensland experience
Buddhima Indraratna a, *, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn b, Pankaj Baral c, Jayantha Ameratunga d
a
Industrial Transformation Training Centre (ITTC) for Advanced Technologies in Rail Track Infrastructure & Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering
(CGRE), School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong City, NSW 2522, Australia
b
School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong City, NSW 2522, Australia
c
Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong City, NSW 2522, Australia
d
Golder Associates Pty Ltd., Milton, Queensland 4064, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Stabilising soft marine clay and estuarine soils via vacuum preloading has become very popular in
Received 12 July 2018 Australasia over the past decades because it is a cost-effective and time-efficient approach. In recent
Received in revised form times, new land on areas outside but adjacent to existing port amenities, the Fisherman Islands at the
22 October 2018
Port of Brisbane (POB), was reclaimed to cater for an increase in trade activities. A vacuum preloading
Accepted 26 November 2018
method combined with surcharge to stabilise the deep layers of soil was used to enhance the application
Available online 5 December 2018
of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs). This paper describes the performance of this combined surcharge
fill and vacuum system under the embankment and also compares it with a surcharge loading system to
Keywords:
Soft clay
demonstrate the benefits of vacuum pressure over conventional fill. The performance of this embank-
Prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) ment is also presented in terms of field monitoring data, and the relative performance of the vacuum
Vacuum consolidation together with non-vacuum systems is evaluated. An analytical solution to radial consolidation with
Membrane-less system time-dependent surcharge loading and vacuum pressure is also presented in order to predict the
Membrane system settlement and associated excess pore water pressure (EPWP) of deposits of thick soft clay.
Ó 2018 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by
Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction (2002) proposed an analytical solution to one-dimensional (1D)

consolidation with vacuum pressure using the principle of super-
The thick soft clays with undesirable geotechnical properties position; while Indraratna et al. (2005) derived a radial consoli-
such as high compressibility, low permeability and shear strength dation theory for a vacuum application under instantaneous
that are presented in the coastal regions of Australia have a serious loading that includes the effect of a loss of vacuum along the length
effect on the stability of superstructure due to excessive differential of the drain.
settlement and intolerable lateral deformation (Holtz et al., 1991; There are several literatures discussing the efficiency of a vac-
Indraratna and Redana, 2000). Therefore, a proper ground uum preloading system combined with PVDs (e.g. Chu et al., 2000;
improvement technique is needed to address these problems, of Chai et al., 2005) to minimise the lengthy consolidation time with
which prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) combined with vacuum help from staged construction; this has also been discussed by
and surcharge preloading are a cost-effective and time-efficient Indraratna et al. (2005) and Sathananthan et al. (2008), who found
technique that promotes radial flow and accelerates soft soil that a vacuum can reduce the surcharge height by several metres
consolidation. Over the last decades, several analytical and nu- when the atmospheric pressure is sustained by at least 70%
merical analyses have been used to predict the behaviour of soft soil (Rujikiatkamjorn et al., 2008). Yan and Chu (2003) also found that
that is treated by vertical drains in combination with surcharge and the rate at which an embankment is constructed can be increased
vacuum pressures. For instance, Mohamedelhassan and Shang by reducing the number of construction stages. Reducing the risk in
terms of differential settlement by lessening post-construction
settlement is possible only after the stiffness and shear strength
* Corresponding author. of soil are increased via consolidation, as reported by Shang et al.
E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Indraratna).
(1998). Several other analytical models for vacuum consolidation
Peer review under responsibility of Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chi-
nese Academy of Sciences. which incorporate soil destructuration and others factors (elastic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2018.11.002
1674-7755 Ó 2018 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-
NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611 599

visco-plastic properties, and smeared zone, etc.) as well as labo- minimum vertical consolidation effect. The efficiency of such
ratory large-scale specimen testing considering vacuum pressure system depends entirely on the damage caused within the entire
are also available from other researchers (e.g. Indraratna et al., membrane over a long period of time.
2015; Perera et al., 2017; Baral et al., 2018). In addition, several The vacuum pressure propagates from the horizontal drain
Class A and C predictions have been performed by the first author through the layer of sand, the PVDs, and the clay layer in a membrane
and his team to investigate the behaviour of embankment in terms system as shown in Fig. 2a. This three-dimensional (3D) flow in a
of settlement and excess pore water pressure (EPWP) dissipation sand blanket beneath the membrane (0  z  Lw , Lw is the thickness
on soft soil considering radial flow, facilitated with surcharge and of the layer of sand (m)) can be expressed as (Geng et al., 2012):
vacuum preloading (Indraratna et al., 2010, 2016, 2018).

The rapid increase in trading activities at the Port of Brisbane vεv1 vu1 dq
¼ mv1  (1)
(POB, Australia’s third largest container port) has resulted in the vt vt dt
reclamation of 235 ha (1 ha ¼ 10,000 m2) of new land adjacent to
current port facilities; this reclamation was located between Fish- !
k 1 vu1 v2 u1 kv1 v2 u1 vε
erman Island and the mouth of the Brisbane River. The soft clay in  h1 þ  ¼ v1 ðrw  r  re Þ (2)
this area had undrained shear strength of less than 15 kPa as well as
gw r vr vr 2 gw vz2 vt
high compressibility and low permeability. This means that consol-

idation with surcharge alone would take more than 50 years and v2 uw1 2kh1 vu1 
would result in vertical settlements between 2.5 m and 4 m under ¼   (3)
vz2 rw kv1 vr 
service loading in absence of any ground improvement technique. r¼rw
This is why vacuum consolidation combined with PVDs was selected
to accelerate the process and limit lateral deformation as the site was Zre
1
immediately adjacent to the Moreton Bay, Marine Park. u1 ¼   2pru1 dr (4)
Despite the rapid advancement of vacuum consolidation facili- p r2e  r2w
rw
tated with PVDs, there is no case history of modern vacuum tech-
nology and conventional surcharge preloading being practised in where εvi (i ¼ 1,2) is the vertical strain; r and z are the radial and
the same area where different drains were installed with different vertical co-ordinates, respectively (m); t is the time (s); gw is the
drain spacings. This paper describes the performance of non- water density; kvi (i ¼ 1,2) is the coefficient of permeability of the soil
vacuum and vacuum areas in terms of settlement, EPWP, and in vertical direction (m/s); khi (i ¼ 1,2) is the coefficient of perme-
lateral deformations, as well as the effects that the type and spacing ability of soil in horizontal direction (m/s); rw is the radius of drain
of drains has on the degree of consolidation (DOC, U%). This paper well; re is the influenced zone radius (m); q is the surcharge pre-
also presents analytical solutions to radial consolidation, which loading (time-dependent, kPa); mvi (i ¼ 1,2) is the volume
considers the effect of time-dependent surcharge loading. compressibility of soil (m2/kN); ui (i ¼ 1,2) is the pore water pressure
(PWP) (kPa); ui (i ¼ 1,2) is the average pore water pressure (kPa); and
2. System of vacuum preloading uwi (i ¼ 1,2) is the EPWP within the vertical drain (kPa). It is noted
that subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the layer beneath the membrane
There are two types of vacuum preloading systems: (a) a (i.e. sand blanket), and underlying soil layer, respectively.
membrane-less system, and (b) a membrane system. The governing equations for the underlying soil (Lw  z  H),
where H (m) is the thickness of the entire layer (i.e. for the mem-
2.1. Membrane system brane system, the sand blanket plus the layer of clay; and for the
membrane-less system, only the layer of clay), can be expressed as
Once the PVDs have been installed, a network of horizontal

perforated pipes is connected to the PVDs to form a discharge vεv2 vu2 dq
¼ mv2  (5)
system, and then a sand blanket is installed. A membrane is then vt vt dt
laid over the top of the sand blanket, its edges are buried in a trench
filled with bentonite slurry (see Fig. 1a), and then a vacuum pump
is connected to the discharge system. The vacuum pressure in this !
system can easily be circulated within the sand platform and the ks2 1 vus2 v2 us2 kv2 v2 u2 vεv2
 þ  ¼ ðrw r rs Þ (6)
soil surface and then propagate down the PVDs. The radial gw r vr vr 2 gw vz2 vt
consolidation still occurs in shallow soil layer under vacuum
pressure as the ratio of PVD length to spacing is more than 10 with

Fig. 1. Vacuum preloading systems: (a) membrane system, and (b) membrane-less system (Baral, 2017).
600 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611

Fig. 2. Unit cells schemes with vertical drains: (a) membrane system, and (b) membrane-less system (Geng et al., 2012, with permission from ASCE).

! 9
vuw2

kh2 1 vun2 v2 un2
þ
k v2 u vε
 v2 22 ¼ v2 ðrs r re Þ ¼ 0>
>
=
(7) vz 
gw r vr vr 2 gw vz vt ðz ¼ H (10f)
vu2 >
>
¼ 0 ;
 vz
v2 uw2 2ks2 vus2 
¼   (8)
vz2 rw kw vr  where p is the vacuum pressure (kPa).
r¼rw
Continuity at the interface between the underlying soil layer
0 r 1 (z ¼ Lw ) and the sand blanket can then be written as
Zs Zre
1
u2 ¼  2 @ 2prus2 dr þ 2prun2 dr A (9) uw1 ¼ uw2 ðz ¼ Lw Þ (10g)
p re  r2w
rw rs
u1 ¼ u2 ðz ¼ Lw Þ (10h)
where usi (i ¼ 1,2) is the pore water pressure within the smeared
zone at any point (kPa); un2 is the PWP in the natural soil zone at vuw1 vu
any point (kPa); us2 is the PWP in the smeared zone at any point; rs kv1 ¼ kw w2 ðz ¼ Lw Þ (10i)
vz vz
is the smeared zone (m); and ksi (i ¼ 1,2) is the permeability in
smeared zone. vu1 vu
The boundary conditions for the vertical and radial directions kv1 ¼ kv2 2 ðz ¼ Lw Þ (10j)
vz vz
are
9 where kw is the drain permeability (m/s).
vun2
¼ 0>
>
= The initial condition is:
vr
ðr ¼ re Þ (10a)
vu1 >
> u1 ¼ u2 ¼ u0 ðzÞ ¼ q0 ðt ¼ 0Þ (10k)
¼ 0 ;
vr
where q0 is the initial value of preloading (kPa).
vu vu
ks2 s2 ¼ kh2 n2 ðr ¼ rs Þ (10b)
vr vr 2.2. Membrane-less system

us2 ¼ un2 ðr ¼ rs Þ (10c) In this system, vacuum pipes are connected to each PVD via a
tubing system, and the connections are shown in Fig. 1b. This system

us2 ¼ uw2 is very efficient when an area is to be sub-divided into different parts
ðr ¼ rw Þ (10d)
u1 ¼ uw1 and improved individually because all the tubing system must be
individually fitted to hundreds of drains, which is a time-consuming
 and cumbersome process. The efficiency of the vacuum depends on
uw1 ¼ p
ðz ¼ 0Þ (10e) each drain, unlike a membrane system where vacuum efficiency
u1 ¼ p
depends on minimizing any leaks in the entire setup.
 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611 601

The boundary conditions are the only difference between a

membrane and a membrane-less vacuum consolidation technique.
With membrane-less vacuum consolidation, a vacuum pump is
connected to individual PVDs with horizontal pipes (see Fig. 2b).
The governing equations and initial conditions for a membrane-less
system are the same as for a membrane system, as given by the set
of Eqs. (10a)e(10d) and (10k), where the only difference is the
distribution of vacuum pressure which is assumed as p at the top
surface and then as hp where it varies linearly from top to bottom.
The term h is the ratio of the magnitude of vacuum pressure at the
top to the bottom and with values that vary between 0 and 1. Thus if
there is no vacuum pressure, the value of h becomes zero and if
there is no loss of vacuum at the bottom of the PVDs, the value of h
becomes 1 (Geng et al., 2012).
The boundary conditions for a membrane-less system are as
follows:
9
uw ¼ p =
vu ðz ¼ 0Þ (10l)
¼ 0;
vz
9
vuw h1 >
¼ p>
=
vz H
ðz ¼ HÞ (10m)
vu >
>
¼ 0 ;
vz
Further details of analytical solutions based on these governing
equations and boundary conditions for both types of systems can
be found in Appendix.
The efficiency of the vacuum systems varies from site to site. The
influential factors are not just related to soil properties but also the
technical know-how and experience of contractors that offer varied
techniques of vacuum application. Where the membrane can be Fig. 3. Proposed extension area at the POB (Indraratna et al., 2011, with kind
properly protected from damage caused by sharp aggregates permission from ASCE, Courtesy of Port of Brisbane Corporation (2009)).

and where leaks can be eliminated by effective sealing and addi-

tional protection at the embankment boundaries (e.g. bentonite
trenches), the membrane-type vacuum application can be effective The sub-soil profile shown in Fig. 5 consists of an almost 3 m
compared to membrane-less type and with comparable costs. This thick layer of upper Holocene sand beneath dredged mud, followed
was the authors’ experience at the POB. In essence, the choice be- by a 20e25 m thick layer of soft Holocene clay that overlies Pleis-
tween membrane and membrane-less systems depends on project tocene deposits of highly over-consolidated clays. The Holocene
criteria and budget, contractor choices, past experiences, and clay in this area (VC2) had very low shear strength and low
among others. permeability, and according to Ameratunga et al. (2010), it was
referred to as POB clay. The groundwater table was located at 3.5 m
3. Characteristics and site conditions RL (below the ground surface) and the water content of the sub-soil
layers was higher than the soil liquid limit. Several site in-
Reclamation at the POB commenced in 2003 at the Fisherman vestigations, including cone penetration testing (CPT)/piezocone,
Island adjacent to the mouth of Brisbane River, as shown in Fig. 3. A boreholes, field vane shear, dissipation, and oedometer, were car-
series of trial areas (see Fig. 4) was selected to compare the per- ried out to evaluate the design consolidation and stability param-
formance of a non-vacuum system with a vacuum system. Three eters. The undrained shear strength of these Holocene clays varied
contractors (A, B and C) were chosen to carry out these trials, with from 15 kPa to 60 kPa and the compression indices were between
each contractor being assigned a trial area of 3 ha. The main aim 0.4 and 1. The ratio between the coefficient of horizontal consoli-
was to compare their performances based on construction and dation and vertical consolidation for soft Holocene clay (cv/ch) was
design work. Contractor A had 8 trial areas (S3A) to carry out 6 trials 2, whereas for dredged mud, this value was assumed to be 1 as it
with surcharge only (WD1-4, WD5A, and WD5B), and 2 trials with was totally remoulded. The specifications imposed during design
surcharge and vacuum consolidation (VC1 and VC2). The area set and construction was stringent, as was the vacuum application
aside for the vacuum consolidated trials had a membrane system as phase over soft clay deposits. The service load was limited to 15e
described in the previous section. Contractor B had seven trial areas 25 kPa and the maximum residual settlement under this service
(T11), five of which had a surcharge with different types of drains; load was restricted to 250 mm over a period of 20 years (criteria
while two of them had surcharge combined with a membrane-less from POB cooperation). Another unique feature of this vacuum trial
vacuum consolidation system. Contractor C had three subdivided was the design as well as deep cut-off wall for the first time in
areas labelled Areas 4, 5 and 6 (all of them were in T11). A surcharge Australia (up to 15 m depth) along the periphery of trial area. This is
preloading was applied for up to one year to the sub-areas 4 and 5 necessitated by the specific soil conditions which were encoun-
with vertical drains being spaced at 1.4 m, while sub-area 6 had a tered on site. Due to the unfavourable site conditions, Contractor A
surcharge preloading applied for almost six months; it was designed 15 m deep cut-off wall with soil-bentonite slurry with
equipped with vertical drains at a spacing of 1 m. permeability less than 1  109 m/s.
602 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611

Fig. 4. General site layout (Courtesy of Port of Brisbane Corporation (2009)).

 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611 603

Fig. 5. Soil properties and profile (S3A), Port of Brisbane (Indraratna et al., 2011, with kind permission from ASCE). cc is the compression index; su is the undrained shear strength; ch
and cv are the coefficients of horizontal and vertical consolidations, respectively.

Fig. 6. Analytically computed DOC with time for (a) non-vacuum in S3A and T11, (b) treatment in S3A only, and (c) vacuum areas in S3A and T11.
604 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611

1 10 100 1000 1 10 10 0 10 00
0 0

0.02
(a) no vacuum
0.05
VC1-2 (MCD34)
Contractor A
Menard sections

Consolidation Index (U / β)
0.04 TSP1 (MD7007) VC2-1 (MCD34) (with vaccum)
0.1
Consolidation Index (U/ β)

VC1-5 (MCD34)
TSP4 (MD 7007) Contractor
Van Oord C vacuum
0.06 MS 18-1 (MD88) Contractor A
sections 0.15 Menard sections
TSP6 (MD88H) WD5B(FD767)
Contractor
MenardA (without vacuum)
0.08 TSP9 (MD88H) WD1-1 (MCD34)
sections
0.2
TC2 (MD7007)
0.1 Contractor
Boskalis B Boskalis &
Contractors
RD1(MD88H) Van
sections B andOord
C 0.25
0.12 TC5 (MD88HD) sections
Vacuum and non-vacuum in S3A
WD1-1 (MCD34) Contractor
Menard
A 0.3
0.14 sections Non-vacuum areas
WD5B (FD767)
0.35
0.16 (b)
(a)

1 10 100 1000
0

0.05 VC1-2 (MCD34) Contractor B

Boskalis
Contractor
Menard A
Consolidation Index (U / β )

VC2-1 (MCD34) sections

0.1
VC1-5 (MCD34)
Contractor
Boskalis B
RC1 (MD88H)
0.15 sections
TA8 (MD88H)

0.2
Menard A
Contractor
0.25

0.3 Vaccum areas in S3A and T11

0.35
(c)

Fig. 7. Computed DOC (U%)/b with time for (a) non-vacuum in S3A and T11, (b) treatment in S3A only, and (c) vacuum areas in S3A and T11.

4. Assessing the relative efficiency of the trial systems of consolidation; in these trial schemes, it came from measure-
ments from an array of locations (see Fig. 6). All of these mea-
4.1. Degree of consolidation (U%) with time surements indicated similar behaviour, irrespective of the type of
improvement and location of the treatment site. In fact, this entire
The DOC (U%) at a given time based on settlement is defined as site ended up with a relatively high DOC (U%), especially after
the ratio of settlement at that specific time to settlement at the end a year. Moreover, all the measurements converged when the DOC

WD1
WD2
WD5 S3A-Contractor A
VC1
VC2
RC1
RD1
TA8
T11-Contractor B
from the final stage of construction (Δu, kPa)

0
TC5
TC3
Total change in pore pressure

Section IV (VWP1)
Section V (VWP2)
-20 T11-Contractor C
Section VI (VWP3)

-40

-60

(a)
-80

0 100 200 300 400

Time (d)

Fig. 8. Reduction in EPWP with time in areas S3A and T11.

 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611 605

0 0

-0.05

Δ u/Δt/β (kPa/day)
Δ u/Δt (kPa/day)

-0.2
-0.1

-0.15
-0.4

-0.2
(b) (c)
-0.6
-0.25
0 100 200 300 400
Time (t, days) 0 100 200 300 400
(a) Time (t, days)
(b)

VC2 ∆ DOC = DOC (strain based) - DOC(pore pressure based)

VC1

WD5A

WD4

WD3

WD2

WD1

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
∆ DOC (%)

(c)

Fig. 9. Comparison of EPWP dissipation between S3A and T11. (a) Rate of EPWP dissipation, (b) EPWP dissipation rate normalized by b, and (c) Comparison of measured DOC based
on strain and EPWP. Note: the legend box for Fig. 9a and b is the same as that in Fig. 8.

(U%) exceeded 80% so a dimensionless factor (b) was incorporated soil layer using a single layer theory can be applied for each
to separate “clustering”, especially towards the end of one year individual soil stratum and subsequently integrated with depth to
(Indraratna et al., 2011). This dimensionless factor was independent obtain the total settlement with little error as per Indraratna et al.
of the properties of soil and represented the drain as well as the (2015).
loading condition; it mainly depends on: Dividing the DOC (U%) by a dimensionless factor enables the
relative performance of all paddocks in Areas S3A and T11 to be
(a) Increasing the length of the drains (ld); filtered, although there is no specific relationship between b and
(b) Decreasing the spacing between drains (sd); the DOC (U%). The relation DOC/b is plotted versus time in Fig. 7
(c) Drain pattern (a ¼ 1.13 for square and 1.05 for triangular with a clear division between the vacuum and non-vacuum areas.
spacing); and Moreover, this plot also differentiates between the effect of vacuum
(d) Normalised surcharge height (H) with clay thickness (hc), i.e. consolidation by Contractors A and B. When all three plots (Fig. 7ae
(H/hc). c) are considered, consolidation in treatment S3A is greater than
the other locations due to the use of vacuum consolidation.
With these factors used, the dimensionless parameters can be
defined as

ld
b¼ ðH=hc Þ (11)
a sd
The three trial paddocks can be differentiated into 3 distinct
parts based on the magnitude of the dimensionless factor b, as
determined at the location of each settlement plate for Areas S3A
and T11. They are as follows:

(a) Low b impact: Magnitude of 2e6 for Area S3A (Contractor A),
short drains and low surcharge;
(b) Moderate b impact: Magnitude of 8e12 for Area T11
(Contractor B), and
(c) High b impact: Magnitude of 12e18 for Area T11 (Contractor
C), long drains and high surcharge.

Please note that, during the calculation of settlement, the flow in

the radial direction is regarded as most predominant compared to
the vertical direction, as the length of drain is relatively long
compared to its spacing. Therefore, the settlement of an individual Fig. 10. Effect of vacuum consolidation on lateral displacement.
606 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611

Fig. 11. Critical b values for permissible residual settlement (RS) in S3A and T11.

4.2. Dissipation of excess pore water pressure (EPWP) differences during the first three months. The rates at which EPWP
changes in the same locations with VC2, VC1, and WD1 are shown
The reduction in EPWP versus time for all three paddocks is in Fig. 9a. Here, WD1 has the highest initial rate of dissipation
shown in Fig. 8, with the largest reduction in S3A (for VC2), fol- whereas VC1 sustains a steady state over a long period of time.
lowed by VWP3 in T11. Due to the variations in the fill heights and Unlike the membrane systems (VC1 and VC2), the membrane-less
the thickness of clay in S3A and T11, these comparisons cannot system could not indicate a high rate of EPWP dissipation, but
be made directly because the figure also shows no significant when these plots are normalised with the dimensionless factor b

300

RS = 14.3hc + 34 RS= 10.8hc - 4

250 R = 0.96 R = 0.9
Residual settlement (mm)

200

RS = 8.1hc - 14
150 R = 0.99
VC1-5

TA 8
OCR = 1.1
100
RS = 3.8hc - 27 OCR = 1.2
VC 2-3 R = 0.91
VC 2-2 OCR = 1.3
50
OCR = 1.4
VC 1-2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Clay thickness,hc (m)

Fig. 12. Effect of over consolidation ratio (OCR) and clay thickness (hc) on RS.
 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611 607

8
(a)

Embankment Height (m)

6

00
0 100 200 300 400 500
Time (d) (b)
0.5
Field
Settlement (m)

1 Prediction

1.5

2.5
0 100 200 300 400 500
Excess pore pressure (kPa)

Time (d)
120
(c)

80

40
Field
Prediction
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Time (d)

Fig. 13. WD4 area: (a) stages of loading, (b) surface settlements under the centreline of the embankment, and (c) EPWP dissipation.

(see Fig. 9b), in terms of EPWP dissipation, the areas VC1 and VC2 4.3. Controlling lateral displacement
provide better treatment than the other areas. While the surcharge
height decreased in the VC areas of S3A and hence involved less Vacuum pressure in conjunction with vertical drains is very
mucking operations, the amount of suction pressure applied to the effective at reducing the lateral yield of soil and increasing
system (i.e. 70 kPa) more compensated for the increased rate of embankment stability because it allows for lateral inward move-
EPWP dissipation, and also it confirmed the performance of the ment rather than outward movement. This incident has already
membrane-type vacuum consolidation technique. been reported by Indraratna et al. (1997, 2005). Controlling the
Based on the array of field data from both settlement plates and lateral displacement in sensitive areas is imperative, and since the
piezometers, the difference between strain based DOC (U%) and boundary of the POB site is a marine environment, it is important to
pore pressure based DOC (U%) was also calculated after 1 year of balance the environment of marine aquatic lives, not exerting sig-
drain installation for all trial sites of Contractor A. It was found that nificant disturbances induced by outward lateral deformation to
the use of wick drains at WD3 site indicated insignificant difference the environment. To control this, a vacuum pressure was applied at
between the strain based and pore pressure based DOC (U%). It certain locations and then the lateral movement of selected
implies that the wick drain dissipates EPWP most effectively. vacuum and non-vacuum areas was compared using limited field
Similarly, the use of circular drain to the trial sites VC1 and VC2 also data from inclinometers installed at certain locations. To make this
dissipated EPWP very effectively, compared to the same drains in comparison easy, the lateral displacement was normalised by
the absence of vacuum (WD1 and WD2). This further suggests that applying effective stress at the same depth to avoid any confusion
the circular drains have no any additional advantages over wick due to different soil profiles and surcharge loads. The plots for
drains if used only under surcharge fill loading condition. A plot of lateral deformation with normalised effective stress shown in
difference in DOC (U%) based on strain and EPWP with different site Fig. 10 indicate that the vacuum consolidation effectively controlled
locations (WD1-4, WD5A and VC1-2) is shown in Fig. 9c. the lateral deformation, and the membrane type consolidation
608 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611

160
(a)

Preloading pressure (kPa)

120

80

40

00
0 100 200 300 400 500
Time (d) (b)
0.5
Field
Settlement (m)

Prediction
1

1.5

2
DOC > 90%
160 0 100 200 300 400 500
Excess pore pressure (kPa)

Time (d)

120 (c)

80

40
Field
Prediction
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Time (d)

Fig. 14. VC1 area: (a) stages of loading, (b) surface settlements under the centreline of the embankment, and (c) EPWP dissipation.

technique (VC1-MS28) with 70 kPa vacuum pressure was the best to vacuum consolidation. While at high values of b (greater than
at the controlling lateral deformation. Similarly, with a membrane- 16), RS tends to decrease due to a relatively high H/hc ratio (see
less vacuum consolidation technique, a system with 50 kPa suction Fig. 12). As shown in Fig. 12, the RS can be favourably controlled by
(MS24) reduced the major portion of lateral deformation, but not over-consolidation ratio (OCR) after removing the surcharge and
as much as the membrane system. By examining the lateral vacuum pressure. The lateral displacement can be effectively
displacement profiles, it can be concluded that a suction head was reduced using an appropriate combination between the surcharge
propagated in all vacuum areas and all the layers associated (lower fill height and the applied vacuum head in relation to the properties
and upper Holocene layers) were influenced. of the stabilized soft clay layer.
Eqs. (1e10) are used in conjunction with Tables A1 and A2 in
4.4. Residual settlements (RS) Appendix to predict the EPWP and associated settlement for each
section. Tables A1 and A2 mainly summarise the properties and
Residual settlement (RS) must also be controlled within an thickness of individual layers of soil. The compression index (cc)
allowable limit (150 mm or 250 mm, based on the thickness of clay used in this analysis is derived from the oedometer and is related to
and the service load at different areas, which was determined by the actual stress state within a given range of foundation loading.
POB cooperation). Therefore, all the contractors had to comply. The coefficients of horizontal (kh) and vertical (ks) compressibility
Based on the methods provided by Terzaghi et al. (1996) and Yin were measured using a Rowe cell and oedometer, respectively. In
and Graham (1994), the RSs are calculated and plotted after nor- terms of permeability, the kh/ks ratio was assumed to be unity for a
malising with b, as shown in Fig. 11, where the values of RS occur completely remoulded mud dredged seabed and the upper Holo-
between 4 and 16 (i.e. 4 < b < 16). Within the POB, the RS for every cene layer of sand, whereas this ratio was assumed to be 2 for the
contractor is close to the tolerable limits of 250 mm, whereas the upper and lower Holocene clays. The reason behind this assump-
RSs are much smaller, with values of b being less than 4 mainly due tion is due to the fact that for remoulded (dredged) clays, the
 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611 609

permeability in both directions is considered isotropic. However, field data for the inclinometer, so the lateral deformation profiles of
for Holocene clay subjected to layered deposition (genesis), the these two systems could not be compared. It was also clear that
horizontal permeability is often higher than the vertical perme- controlling the lateral deformation in sensitive areas such as a
ability. Based on the laboratory testing, the magnitude of horizontal marine environment will be assisted if a vacuum pressure is applied
permeability was twice that of the vertical permeability. Similar to to reduce the heights of the surcharge fill.
the permeability ratio, the ds/dw ratio (ds and dw are diameter of Determining the relationship between the DOC (U%) and RS for a
smeared zone and drain well, respectively) was taken as 3, in given condition is always difficult, but there is no doubt that a
accordance with previous literature by Indraratna and Redana decreasing RS is almost linear as the OCR ratio increases, so the RS
(2000). always tends to move closer to the prescribed settlement of
The unit weight of compacted fill was assumed to be 20 kN/m3 150 mm for a range of the dimensionless factor b between 4 and 16.
and the embankment load was simulated using stage construction. There is a minimum value of b in S3A for the vacuum consolidated
Settlement and EPWP are predicted using the proposed analytical areas when the OCR is greater than 1.3, and the value of RS becomes
model. In this case, computation at the centreline of the embank- critical when the OCR is less than or equal to 1.1. In fact, a typical
ment followed 1D consolidation and was straightforward with zero situation occurs under surcharge preloading with a thick layer of
lateral deformation, and in addition, the MATLAB spreadsheet clay, and this treatment is not as effective as a vacuum. It implies
proved to be very convenient. Note that the initial in situ effective that a sufficient surcharge fill is needed to keep the RS within
stress is calculated based on the final DOC (U%) of the previous permissible limits when there is no vacuum. Moreover, the higher
stage for each subsequent stage for surcharge preloaded embank- the service load, the greater the advantage of applying a vacuum to
ments, whereas a suction of 65 kPa is used in the vacuum cases to reduce excessive fill heights and control lateral displacement.
compute the settlement and EPWP of the embankment. Therefore, by keeping in mind the excessive RS and lateral
The settlement and EPWP dissipation are predicted and displacement criteria, applying a vacuum pressure and surcharge
compared with the data measured at WD4 and VC1, and are shown loading to achieve a relatively high DOC (U%), and a subsequent
in Figs. 13 and 14. These figures show that the analytical model unloading for attaining an OCR of less than 1.3, would be the best
predicted the field data very well in terms of settlement and EPWP choice for the site with the loading conditions encountered at the
dissipation, whereas in the vacuum areas, the DOC (U%) exceeded POB. The novelty of this paper stems from the performances in
90% after 400 d and was only 85% of the non-vacuum area for the comparison of the different ground improvement methods within
same time. This proves that combined vacuum preloading at a the same site (POB) using the new dimensionless factor b. Such
given time is more efficient than surcharge preloading alone due to comparisons of field-based ground improvement practices in the
accelerated consolidation and the fact that the embankment in Australian continent do not exist. In particular, we have also looked
non-vacuum areas has been constructed slowly to avoid any po- at the difference between 2 distinct vacuum systems, i.e. the
tential undrained failure in the remoulded layer of dredged mud. membrane type and membrane-less vacuum preloading. This is not
only novel, but also beneficial to the practitioners. The relationship
5. Conclusions between the RS and the OCR is proposed to ensure that the long-
term deformation is within the desired criteria.
PVDs combined with surcharge and vacuum preloading accel- A unit cell theory that considers a time-dependent surcharge
erate the consolidation of soft soil. In this paper, the performance of load and vacuum preloading has been developed to predict the
soft soil treatment options in terms of settlements, associated EPWP, settlement and associated EPWP dissipation, and it agrees with the
and lateral deformation has been analysed and discussed using mud field measurements. For the same amount of applied total stress,
dredged from the seabed of channels and berths that will be used for the DOC (U%) at 400 d for the vacuum areas was more than that for
shipping. The behaviour of surcharge and vacuum consolidation was the non-vacuum areas. A system of vertical drains combined with
studied at several trial areas chosen at the POB, and their perfor- vacuum and surcharge preloading is a very useful method for
mances were compared using the DOC (U%) approach. While accelerating radial consolidation and controlling lateral deforma-
comparing on the basis of DOC (U%), the relative treatment in areas tion, while the analytical model described in this paper is very
S3A and T11 could not be compared because they all achieved high useful for predicting the performance of soft clay embankments
DOC (U%) irrespective of the types of drains and their pattern of stabilised by PVDs. Field observations are needed to model the
spacing, as well as the clay thickness, and the nature of loading. vacuum pressure accurately enough to determine the distribution
However, to make the comparison easier, a dimensionless factor b is of vacuum pressure along the depth of the drain because the major
used because it is totally independent of the consolidation proper- problem reported in previous case histories in a marine environ-
ties of the soil, and it can represent the drain and site factors. The ment is that the suction pressure varies with time and depth.
beta variable (b) is empirical and used to assess the relative effi-
ciency of different trial systems at the POB considering the DOC Conflicts of interest
achieved at a given site of known clay depth and soil properties. The
proposed beta factor is a tool to normalize DOC as well as EPWP The authors wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of
trends. It captures the drain length and drain spacing, clay thickness, interest associated with this publication and there has been no
and the surcharge height in a dimensionless quantity. significant financial support for this work that could have influ-
After normalization, with help from this dimensionless factor b, enced its outcome.
the DOC (U%), settlement, and lateral displacement/settlement
represent performances more clearly and precisely so the Acknowledgement
membrane-type vacuum consolidation in the area S3A achieved by
Contractor A seems to be the best. Based on the comparison in The authors acknowledge the support of the Port of Brisbane Pty
between strain based and EPWP based DOC (U%), it can be Ltd and Coffey Geotechnics, and research funding from the
concluded that the circular drains have no any additional advan- Australia Research Council is also acknowledged. More elaborate
tages over wick drains if only used under surcharge fill loading details of some of the contents discussed in this paper can also be
condition. Furthermore, while the membrane-less vacuum system found in previous publications by the first author and his co-
helped to control the lateral displacement, there was not enough workers in ASCE, and the Canadian Geotechnical Journal and
610 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611

Australia Geomechanics Journal; they are reproduced herein with Yan SW, Chu J. Soil improvement for a road using a vacuum preloading method.
Ground Improvement 2003;7(4):165e72.
their kind permission. The writers further acknowledge the assis-
Yin JH, Graham J. Equivalent times and one-dimensional elastic visco-plastic
tance from Prof. A.S. Balasubramaniam (University of Griffith), Prof. modelling of time-dependent stress-strain behaviour of clays. Canadian
Harry Poulos (Coffey), Prof. Hadi Khabbaz (University of Technology Geotechnical Journal 1994;31(1):42e52.
Sydney), and Dr. Xueyu Geng (Warwick) for their valuable com-
ments and inputs for the POB ground improvement projects.

Appendix A. Supplementary data Buddhima Indraratna is a Civil Engineering graduate

from Imperial College, London, and obtained his PhD from
the University of Alberta in 1987. He has worked in in-
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at dustry in several countries before becoming an academic,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2018.11.002. and has been a United Nations Expert and foreign advisor
to numerous overseas projects. He holds the position of
Distinguished Professor at University of Wollongong,
Australia, Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Asian Insti-
References tute of Technology, Thailand, Honorary Professor at Uni-
versity of Shanghai for Science and Technology, and Beijing
Ameratunga J, Boyle P, De Bok C, Bamunawita C. Port of Brisbane (POB) clay char- Jiaotong University, China. Prof. Indraratna’s pioneering
acteristics and use of wick drains to improve deep soft clay deposits. In: contributions to railway geotechnology and various as-
Proceedings 17th Asian geotechnical conference (vol. I). Taipei, China; 2010. pects of geotechnical engineering have been acknowl-
p. 116e9. edged through numerous national and international
Baral P. Anisotropic visco-plastic behaviour of soft soil with special reference to awards, including the 1st Ralph Proctor Lecture, and 4th Louis Menard Lecture of the
radial consolidation [PhD Thesis]. University of Wollongong; 2017. International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, ISSMGE (20,000
Baral P, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Indraratna B, Kelly R. Radial consolidation characteristics members; 90 þ nations), 2015 Thomas Telford Premium Award (ICE, UK), 2009 EH
of soft undisturbed clay based on large specimens. Journal of Rock Mechanics Davis Memorial Lecture of Australian Geomechanics Society, and 2014 CS Desai Medal
and Geotechnical Engineering 2018;10(6):1037e45. for his substantial and sustained contributions to Transport Geotechnics and Ground
Chai JC, Carter JP, Hayashi S. Ground deformation induced by vacuum consolidation. Improvement, respectively. He is one of Australia’s highly-cited geotechnical aca-
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 2005;131(12): demics with over 6500 ISI/Scopus citations, and an H-Index of 42 (Scopus), and 55
1552e61. (Google) with >10,000 citations. He has successfully supervised over 50 PhD and 25
Chu J, Yan SW, Yang H. Soil improvement by the vacuum preloading method for an Masters, and over 30 Postdoctoral Fellows, and 1/3 of them have won prestigious
oil storage station. Geotechnique 2000;50(6):625e32. awards, e.g. ATA’s David Sudgen Award, AGS0 Hugh Trollope Award, Int. Geosynthetics
Geng XY, Indraratna B, Rujikiatkamjorn C. Analytical solutions for a single vertical Award, Churchill Award, AGS/ANZ Young Professional awards and numerous Best Pa-
drain with vacuum and time-dependent surcharge preloading in membrane per awards. He was a Program Leader of the CRC for Railway Engineering in 2000,
and membrane-less systems. International Journal of Geomechanics and also a Program Leader of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science
2012;12(1):27e42. and Engineering funded by ARC in July 2010. Recently, he became the Founding Direc-
Holtz RD, Jamiolkowski M, Lancellotta R, Pedroni S. Prefabricated vertical drains: tor of ARC Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Rail Track Infrastructure
design and performance. CIRIA ground engineering report: ground improve- (ITTC-Rail). He has contributed directly to revision of national standards AS8700 and
ment. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd.; 1991. p. 131. AS 2758.7 through Standards Committees on the Execution of Prefabricated Vertical
Indraratna B, Balasubramaniam AS, Sivaneswaran N. Analysis of settlements and Drains, and Aggregates and Rock for Engineering Purposes: Part 7 Railway Ballast.
lateral deformation of soft clay foundation beneath two embankments. Inter- He is the Editorial Chair of the Journal of Ground Improvement, ICE, and an Associate
national Journal of Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics Editor of two prestigious journals (ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmen-
1997;31(9):599e618. tal Engineering, and Canadian Geotechnical Journal) and on the editorial boards of 6
Indraratna B, Redana IW. Numerical modeling of vertical drains with smear and other international geotechnical and railway journals. He represents Australia on 4
well resistance installed in soft clay. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 2000;37(1): ISSMGE Technical Committees: Transport Geomechanics (TC202), Ground Improve-
132e45. ment (TC 211), Soft Soil Foundations (TC 214), Natural Hazards mitigation (TC303);
Indraratna B, Sathananthan I, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Balasubramaniam AS. Analytical Of these, he is on the Executive Committee of TC202 and TC211. He has authored
and numerical modelling of soft soil stabilized by PVD incorporating vacuum more than 700 scholarly publications including 300 þ top ranked, peer-reviewed jour-
preloading. International Journal of Geomechanics 2005;5(2):114e24. nals, 10 research based books, 400þ peer-reviewed national and international confer-
Indraratna B, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Eewers B, Adams M. Class A prediction of the ence papers including 55 invited Keynote papers and Special Guest Lectures. His
behaviour of soft estuarine soil foundation stabilized by short vertical drains research interests include: (1) Ground Improvement including sub-surface drainage
beneath a rail track. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering and soft clay stabilization, (2) Large scale Geotechnical testing and process simulation,
2010;136(5):686e96. (3) Railway foundations, (4) Jointed Rock Engineering, (5) Geoenvironmental engineer-
Indraratna B, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Ameratunga J, Boyle P. Performance and prediction ing including remediation of acid sulphate soils, (6) Flow through porous and jointed
of vacuum combined surcharge consolidation at Port of Brisbane. Journal of media including dam filters, (7) Dams and embankment engineering, and (8) Numer-
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 2011;137(11):1009e18. ical and analytical modelling and ground instrumentation.
Indraratna B, Perera D, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Kelly R. Soil disturbance analysis due to
vertical drain installation. Proceedings of the Institution of the Civil Engineers:
Geotechnical Engineering 2015;168(3):236e46.
Indraratna B, Kan ME, Potts D, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Sloan SW. Analytical solution and
numerical simulation of vacuum consolidation by vertical drains beneath cir-
cular embankments. Computers and Geotechnics 2016;80:83e96. Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn obtained Bachelor in Civil
Indraratna B, Baral P, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Perera D. Class A and C predictions for Engineering with Honours from Khonkaen University,
Ballina trial embankment with vertical drains using standard test data from Thailand, MEng from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
industry and large diameter test specimens. Computers and Geotechnics and PhD from University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia.
2018;93:232e46. He is an Associate Professor in School of Civil, Mining and
Mohamedelhassan E, Shang JQ. Vacuum and surcharge combined one-dimensional Environmental Engineering at University of Wollongong.
consolidation of clay soils. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 2002;39(5):1126e38. He is honoured with several reputed awards including
Perera D, Indraratna B, Leroueil S, Rujikiatkamjorn C, Kelly R. Analytical model for ISSMGE young member award, VC Award for excellence in
vacuum consolidation incorporating soil disturbance caused by mandrel-driven research partnership, Robert M. Quigley Award, D H Trol-
drains. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 2017;54(4):547e60. lope Medal, VC research excellence award for emerging
Port of Brisbane Corporation. Annual report 2008/2009. Brisbane, Queensland: Port researchers, Outstanding paper award by an early career
of Brisbane Corporation; 2009. p. 1e92. researchers by IACMAG, Wollongong Trailblazer Award,
Rujikiatkamjorn C, Indraratna B, Chu J. 2D and 3D numerical modeling of combined AGS thesis award, and AGS young geotechnical engineer
surcharge and vacuum preloading with vertical drains. International Journal of award etc. He is charted Professional Engineer of Australia
Geomechanics 2008;8(2):144e56. and Fellow of Engineers Australia. He is a committee member of Australia Geo-
Sathananthan I, Indraratna B, Rujikiatkamjorn C. Evaluation of smear zone extent mechanics Journal, Sydney Chapter and editorial board member of ISSMGE Bulletin. He
surrounding mandrel driven vertical drains using the cavity expansion theory. has published more than 300 papers in reputed journal and conferences and is a
International Journal of Geomechanics 2008;8(6):355e65. reviewer of Canadian Geotechnical Journal, JGGE, ASCE and Computer and Geo-
Shang JQ, Tang M, Miao Z. Vacuum preloading consolidation of reclaimed land: a technics. His research interests include: (1) Soft ground improvement, and (2) Tech-
case study. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 1998;35(5):740e9. nical development and application of prefabricated vertical drains, and (3) Innovative
Terzaghi K, Peck RB, Mesri G. Soil mechanics in engineering practice. 3rd ed. Wiley- solutions and numerical applications to problems in soil mechanics and geotechnical
Interscience; 1996. engineering.
 B. Indraratna et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 11 (2019) 598e611 611

Pankaj Baral obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engi- Jay Ameratunga graduated from the University of Cey-
neering in 2010 from Institute of Engineering (IOE), Pulchowk lon, and an MSc at AIT in Bangkok, followed by a PhD
Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Pankaj then went to from Monash University in Melbourne. He is a practicing
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand to pursue his engineer and, with over 35 years of experience in
master’s degree in Geotechnical and Geo-environmental En- geotechnical engineering, Jay has a strong project port-
gineering (GGE) and completed his M.Eng degree in 2012. Af- folio that includes major highways, ports and tunnels.
ter working as a Research Assistant at AIT, he then joined His work has been mostly with the Contractor, from
Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering (GRE) at tender to detailed design stage, to provide simple,
University of Wollongong (UOW) for PhD and graduated in constructible solutions. He is a soft soil/ground
2017 with examiners commendation for outstanding thesis. improvement specialist and his special interests include
He is currently working as an Associate Research Fellow reclamation. He had been assisting the Port of Brisbane
within the same centre at University of Wollongong. Pankaj as a reclamation/ground improvement specialist for the
is a member of Nepal Engineering Council (NEC), a member port expansion works over the last decade. He has co-
of Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) and a member of authored about 50 technical papers on soft clay, reclama-
Engineers Australia (EA). He also served Nepal Engineers Association as a president of tion and ground improvement. Recently, Springer Publishing Company published his
Bangkok Chapter during 2010e2012. His research interests include: (1) Prefabricated ver- first book on geotechnical engineering titled “Correlations of soil and rock properties
tical drains combined with vacuum and surcharge preloading (2) Elasto-visco-plastic in geotechnical engineering”. Jay is a Past Chair, Australian Geomechanics Society,
behaviour of soft soil, (3) Analytical and numerical modelling in geotechnical engineering, Queensland Division and is a member of the Australian Standards Committee for
and (4) Strain rate dependency of pre-consolidation pressure. He has already published 25 geosynthetics.
peer reviewed journal and conference papers till the date and he is also a recipient of “His
Majesty King Scholarship of Thailand”, “Best paper Award; ISLT 2014” and prestigious
“Young Geotechnical Engineer Award; ISGTI 2018”.