PORE PRESSURES IN SOFT GROUND UNDER SURFACE LOADING; INTERPRETATION OF FIELD RECORDS

Most soft clays in their natural state exhibit a small degree of overconsolidation resulting from changes in ground water level, delayed consolidation, or other causes. The overconsolidation ratio is commonly in the range of 1.0 to 2.5. Under surface loading, pore pressures in such a deposit will develop as for an elastic material until the effective stresses reach a yield condition or failure condition. In the latter case the soil can continue to carry additional total stresses within confined zones and pore pressures in these zones will continue to increase. In the former case the soil will continue to deform plastically until it reaches failure, showing, in general, different pore pressure responses in these two phases. Thus pore pressure response at any point in a soft clay deposit under increasing surface loading may show two or three distinct phases, although in some cases the plastic and failure responses may be almost indistinguishable. This report examines three published field records.

• Corporate Authors:

  U.S. Army Waterways Experiment Station

  3909 Halls Ferry Road
  Vicksburg, MS  United States  39180-6199
• Authors:
  • Parry, RHG
  • Wroth, C P
• Publication Date: 1976-9

Media Info

• Pagination: 44 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay; Compressive strength; Dams; Deformation; Effective stress; Embankments; Failure; Foundations; Groundwater; Loads; Overconsolidation; Pore pressure; Roads; Soft clays; Soft soils; Soil mechanics; Structural analysis; Yield strength
• Uncontrolled Terms: Compressive properties
• Geographic Terms: Massachusetts; Norway; United Kingdom
• Old TRIS Terms: Foundations structures
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00145737
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: WES-CR-S-76-10 Final Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 16 1977 12:00AM