IMPROVEMENTS OF FOUNDATION ROCKS

Ground Improvement

What is Ground Improvement?

Ground Improvement is a geotechnical construction method used to alter and improve poor
ground conditions.

Improve weak or marginal soils and fills to support a structure.

Ground Improvement Techniques

1. GROUTING
a. Compaction Grouting – It improves the strength and stiffness of the soil by high-pressure
injection of a cementicious grout mix through a small-diameter casing at a pre
determined depth.
- Uses displacement to improve ground conditions. A very viscous (low
mobility), aggregate grout is pumped in stages, forming grout bulbs which
displace and densify the surrounding soils.
b. Jet Grouting – Is a method involves injecting the grout material under very high pressures
through high-velocity jets so that they hydraulically cut, erode, replace, and mix with the
existing soil to form high strength, soil-cement columns.
- Versatile erosion based system used to create in soil cements generally with
limited required access.
2. VEGETATION
- Vegetation in slopes provides protection against and shallow sliding
- Biological reinforcement of soil by plant roots to retain earth masses and prevent soil
loss.
3. GEOSYNTHETIC REINFORCEMENT
- Flexible man-made fabrics which act to reinforce and increase the stability of
structures such as earth fills, and thereby allow sleeper cut slopes and less
grading in hillside terrain.

Classification of Geosynthetic

GEOTEXTILES

- Provide tensile strength to soil.

- Flexible textile fabrics of controlled permeability used to provide filtration,
separation of reinforcements in soil, rock and waste material.

GEOGRIDS

- Stiff or flexible polymer grid like sheets with large aperture used primarily as
reinforcement of unstable soil and waist masses.
 GEOMEMBRANCES

- A continuous membrane type of linear composed of asphaltic, polymeric

materials with sufficiently low permeability so as to control fluid migration.

GEOCOMPOSITES

- These are various combination of geotextile, geogrids, geomembrances and or

other materials to serve all the primary functions with better performance.

4. GROUND ANCHOR
- Rock anchors are tendons which are placed in a competent rock or soil to
control displacement and provide vertical and lateral support for engineered
structure and natural slopes.
5. ROCK BOLT
- Used for reinforcement of rock slope and strengthening or high fissured rocks
in a cut slopes.

6. ROCK DOWELS
- Grouted rock dowels consist of steel reinforcing bars that are cemented into
boreholes. These bars may or may not be subjected to post-tensioning.
- Commonly used to provide support for steeply dipping, slabby rock
formations.
7. SOIL NAILING
- It is a soil reinforcement technique that places closely spaced metal bars or rods
into soil to increase the strength of the soil mass by resisting against tensile,
shear, and bending stresses imposed by slope movements.