Case studies and analysis of soft clay consolidation accelerated by vertical drains

Abstract

Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVDs) is widely used in modern day construction to hasten the process of consolidation settlement within clay layers. Similar to all geotechnical scenarios, prediction of the rate and magnitude of settlement with PVDs with minimum discrepancies has always been a challenge. Through a series of 5 case studies, this report has identified possible causes of such discrepancies to be submergence effect of fill, monitoring/installation of ground monitoring instruments and the accuracy of variables attained from laboratory/in situ tests.