CHARACTERISTICS AND PERFORMANCE OF PREFABRICATED VERTICAL DRAINS FOR ENHANCED SOIL FLUSHING

The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) under vacuum conditions for soil flushing was investigated with soils consisting of 100% sand or a combination of 80% sand and 20% kaolinite. Tests of the 100% sand specimens indicated that the areal extent of the PVD zone of influence remained approximately 16 to 21 times the PVD-equivalent diameter (PVD circumference/pi) as the extraction vacuum increased from 2.5 to 20 kPa. Tests of the sand kaolinite specimens (80/20 soil) indicated that the areal extent of the PVD zone of influence remained approximately 5 to 8 times the PVD equivalent diameter as the extraction vacuum increased from 2.5 to 20 kPa. The effective zone of influence in the 80/20 soil did not show a corresponding increase in areal extent as the vacuum pressure was increased beyond the PVD embedment depth. Pilot-scale tracer flushing tests demonstrated the feasibility of using PVDs for flushing 100% sand soil. The tracer testing demonstrated that longer flushing times were necessary to achieve 80% cleanup levels as the dry unit weights of soil increased from 1.57 to 1.67 g/cc. The ratio of final to initial concentration reached 0.2 after flushing of the 1.57 g/cc soil for approximately 40 minutes. A similar ratio was reached after flushing of the 1.67 g/cc soil for 50 minutes.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.3141/1596-14
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=CHARACTERISTICS+AND+PERFORMANCE+OF+PREFABRICATED+VERTICAL+DRAINS+FOR+ENHANCED+SOIL+FLUSHING&author=J.+Quaranta&author=M.+Gabr&author=D.+Szabo&author=J.+Bowders&publication_year=1997
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309061733
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1596, Pavements and Structures Monitoring, Pavement Instrumentation, and Drainage Systems Evaluation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Quaranta, J D
  • Gabr, M A
  • Szabo, D
  • Bowders, J J
• Publication Date: 1997

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 93-100
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1596
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Flushing; Kaolinite; Prefabricated structures; Sand; Soils; Vertical drains
• Old TRIS Terms: Soil flushing; Vacuum conditions
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I42: Soil Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00743605
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309061733
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 9 1997 12:00AM