BEHAVIOUR OF A ROAD EMBANKMENT CONSTRUCTED OF SOFT CLAY AND PROVIDED WITH DRAIN STRIPS

The disposal of soft clay is both difficult and expensive in Sweden due to environmental considerations. If soft clay can be used in embankments instead of sand and gravel close to the place where it is excavated, then the costs can be reduced by 50 to 100 sw.cr/cu M; 5 to 10 f/cu M. To examine this possibility a 42 M long and 12 M wide road embankment was constructed of soft clay about 10 km north of Stockholm. The thickness of the clay fill was 1.8 M. The embankment was opened for traffic in may 1973, eleven months after the placement of the clay. The road embankment has behaved satisfactorily up to the time of writing (1978). The clay was so soft when it was placed in the embankment that it behaved almost as a liquid. The clay had initially a shear strength of about 10 kpa but in the embankment the shear strength was less than 3 kpa due to the remoulding. Plastic-paper drain strips (geodrains) were placed in the fill two months after the construction of the fill. The 10 cm wide drains were placed either horizontally or vertically in two test sections. The third test section was used as reference. The clay embankment was loaded by a 1.0 M high gravel fill which was placed on the clay. After nine months 0.4 M of the fill was removed and the area was paved. The settlements of the 1.8 M thick clay fill have been measured as well as compression of different layers. Also the distribution of the pore water pressure and of the lateral earth pressure in the different sections during the consolidation was determined as well as the increase of the shear strength and of the bearing capacity of the clay with time. (Author/TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0727700693
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Clay Fills. Proceedings of the Conference held at the Institution of Civil Engineers, 14-15 November, 1978.
• Corporate Authors:

  Institution of Civil Engineers

  One Great George Street, Westminster
  London,   United Kingdom  SW1P 3AA
• Authors:
  • Boman, D
  • BROMS, B B
• Conference:
  • Institution of Civil Engineers, Proceedings
• Publication Date: 1979

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 49-56

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay; Compressibility; Conferences; Consolidation; Drainage; Embankments; Experimental roads; Fills; Gravel; Ground settlement; Loads; Pore water pressures; Shear strength; Soft clays; Soil stabilization; Subgrade (Pavements); Surface drainage
• Geographic Terms: Sweden
• Old TRIS Terms: Beds; Highway drainage
• ITRD Terms: 4177: Clay; 5905: Compressibility; 8525: Conference; 5791: Consolidation (soil); 2937: Drainage; 2801: Embankment; 2778: Experimental road; 5567: Load; 5792: Settlement; 8109: Sweden
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; I51: Earthworks and Soil Drainage;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00311716
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-7277-0069-3
• Report/Paper Numbers: Proceeding
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 19 1980 12:00AM