Proceedings of the Tenth (2000) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference

Seattle, USA, May 28-June 2, 2000

Copyright 2000 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineerx
ISBN 1-880653-46-X (SeO; ISBN 1-880653-48.6 (Iiol. ll); ISSN 1098-6189 (Set)

Soft Ground Improvement by Paper, Pack and Menard Drains

H.I. Chung and H.S. Jin

Korea Institute of Construction Technology, Koyang, Korea

K.N. Jin

Korea Land Corporation, Sungnam, Korea

ABSTRACT

view of test site is shown in Figure 2. The test site is divided into 3
sections such as paper drain section, pack drain section, and menard
drain section. This study provides a means of evaluating the
effectiveness of vertical drains in improving soft ground subjected to
embankment loading. The depth of soft ground is 30m. and the depth
of vertical drains installed in soft ground is 25m. The vertical drains
were not installed from 25m below the ground level to the bottom of
the soft clay layer. Thus, the depth of upper 5m at the bottom of the
soft clay layer was untreated by vertical drains. The embankment fill
consisted of a granitic residual soil compacted to a unit weight of 17
kN/m ~. The drain parameters relevant for the measurement and analysis
are summarised as follows.
- drain pattern: rectangular
- drain length: 25m
- drain spacing: paper drains(1.0m, l.Sm), pack drains(0.8m, 1.2m.
1.4m, 1.6m). menard drains(1.0m, 1.2m, 1.4m, 1.6m)

This study describes the soft ground improvement treated with

various vertical drains at a full-scale trial field test site at Yangsan
area in Korea. A field test site was constructed to evaluate the
performance of vertical drains for soft ground improvement. The
test site was heavily instrumented, and good performance data
were obtained. Various vertical drains such as paper drains, pack
drains and menard drains were installed with different type and
spacing at this test site. The key objectives of the test site were the
development of specific information regarding the consolidation
characteristics of the marine soft clay layer, the behaviour of the
clay near limiting equilibrium, and the strength increasing of the
foundation layer under embankment. Works are being conducted
for three years from 1996 to the present time. This field test site is
located Yangsan area near Pusan in Korea.
This paper described the performance of the vertical drains in
this test site. It presents an analysis of the deformation and pore
pressure data recorded, with conclusions regarding the practical
effectiveness of the vertical drains installed. The vertical
settlements, lateral deformations, and strength parameters were
evaluated using the field test data from instrumentation of
settlement plates, extensometers and inclinometers, and predicted
using finite element method and observational prediction method.
In this paper, relationships for vertical settlement and lateral
displacement during and after embankment construction, strength
changes of foundation clay between before and after drain
installation, and etc. were obtained. These relationships can be
used effectively for prediction of the rates and magnitudes of the
behaviour of the foundation clay treated by vertical drains under
embankment on marine soft soil.

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KEY WORDS: soft soil, improvement, settlement, displacement,

Embankment, test, vertical drain
INTRODUCTION
This study is concerned x~ith the soft ground improvement by paper.
pack and menard drains at full-scale trial field test site at Yangsan area
in Korea, The location of trial field test site is shown in Figure 1. A
comprehensive array of 3 embankment was built in the same field test
site with 3 different ground improvement techniques to assess the
relative efficiency of various vertical drain schemes. A typical plan

Figure 1. Location of trial field test site

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