Foundation and Soft Ground Engineering Conference Thu Dau Mot UniversityICTDMU-1, Binh Duong, June 5 –6, 2013

Verification of effectiveness of vacuum consolidation method with

air-water separation system

Teerachaikulpanich Nipon
Thai Maruyama Industry/Bangkok, Thailand. < nipon@maruyama-ind.com>
Kosaka Toshiaki
Dia Consultants Company/Sendai, Japan. < t.kousaka@diaconsult.co.jp>

Kawaida Minoru
Central Nippon Expressway Company/Nagoya, Japan. <m.kawaida.aa@c-nexco.co.jp>

ABSTRACT: In a conventional vacuum consolidation method, the vacuum pressure inside the improved
area decreases due to an elevation head difference between a vacuum pump and an improved area created
by a settlement. Air-water separation concept was proposed as a solution of this problem. This paper pre-
sented a case study of vacuum consolation equipped with air-water separation system used for an express-
way construction. Embankment about 24 m thick was successfully constructed over the soft ground about
50 m deep and induced a large consolidation settlement about 11 m. The observed vacuum pressures meas-
ured under the airtight sheet were constantly maintained over 85 kPa along the construction period. The re-
sult confirms a practical use of air-water separation system. Furthermore, the effectiveness of vacuum con-
solidation as a surcharge load was also verified by the field observed data and laboratory test results. It was
found that the soil properties after improved were greater than the theoretical calculation.

Keywords: Vacuum consolidation, Soil improvement, Surcharge preloading, Soft soil, Case history

1 Introduction not guarantee that the vacuum pressure inside the

improved area and at pump will be the same during
Vacuum consolidation method was firstly intro- vacuum operation. Therefore, the vacuum pressure
duced by Kjellman (1947). In principle, the depres- under airtight sheet shall be always monitored and
surization of atmospheric pressure by using a vacu- checked regularly to confirm the vacuum pressure
um pump distributes through the prefabricated ver- inside the improved area. Imai (2005) described the
tical drain (PVD). Airtight sheet is used to cover on
the surface of improved area in order to seal the sys-
tem. By using vacuum pump, the difference of at-
mospheric pressure between outside and inside in-
duces the force to consolidate a soil. In Japan, the
vacuum consolidation systems were developed by
improving construction materials such as PVD, air-
tight sheet, construction technique, vacuum pump,
etc. Generally, vacuum pressure measured under
the airtight sheet will be around 60-80 kPa at the
beginning of vacuum operation. It should be noted
that vacuum pressure measured at pump will be
high if the vacuum system is sealed properly from
the outside atmospheric pressure because the vacu-
um gauge or vacuum sensor measured at pump is Figure 1. Schematic of vacuum consolidation
very close to the vacuum origin. However, it does with air-water separation system

373
reason of vacuum pressure decrease during consoli-
dation. It is due to elevation head difference be-
tween vacuum pump and the improved area after
settlement. Vacuum pressure inside an improved
area decreases 10 kPa at every 1 m settlement in
principle. To solve this problem, the proposed the
concept called air-water separation to apply with a
conventional vacuum consolidation system. This
concept was implemented to use in practice named
as Compact Vacuum Consolidation (CVC). The
schematic of CVC is illustrated in Fig. 1. This pa-
per presents the performance and effectiveness of
vacuum consolidation method with air-water separa-
tion system where the soft ground 50 deep existing
under a expressway construction with a large set-
tlement about 11 m.
2 Project Site
Tsuruga
The construction site was located in Fukui Prefec-
ture, Japan where Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway
was constructed. The distance of expressway was
about 162 km. Vacuum consolidation was applied
in Mukasa area shown in Fig. 2. Soft ground dis-
tributes along the expressway construction around
IC
50 km long from Obama-Nishi to Tsuruga.
Shiga Pref.
Wakasa bay is the rias coast and many drowned
valleys existing around Mikata-goko lakes. As a
result, the soft ground extends to 50 m deep Fig. 3
Figure 3. Soil profile
3 Design and Construction
Originally, Prefabricated Vertical Drain (PVD)
with surcharge load was selected as a ground im-
provement work. PVDs were installed up to 34 m
deep. By this improvement method, the embank-
ment construction rate at 3 cm/day was limited by
design criteria. Later on, it was found that the con-
374
shows the interpreted soil profile. Humic soil and
cohesive soil are found to form alternated layers.
Cohesive soils predominate at the center part of the
valley, and humic and sandy soils can be found
partly. Humic soil predominates at the both ends
of the valley with the depth of 30 to 40 meters. N
value of standard penetration test of soils near the
ground surface, both humic and cohesive soils, are
almost zero, and deeper layers are less than 10.
The natural water content of humic soil and upper
cohesive soil layer are about 100-400% (Apt) and
100-200% (Ac1) respectively. The original uncon-
fined compressive strength of upper cohesive soil
(Ac1) and deep humic soil (Apt5 & Apt6) are
about 30 kN/m2 and 50-150 kN/m2, respectively.
N
Mukasa Area
若狭町向笠地区
敦賀JCTJC T
Wakasa Bay
若狭湾
Fikui Pref.
福井県
Obama-Nishi
小浜西 IIC C
舞鶴若狭自動車道
Maizuru-Wakasa
Maizuru-Higashi Expressway
舞鶴東 IC
Lake Biwa
琵琶湖
ky oto Pref.
京都府
滋賀県
Figure 2. Site location
struction time could not be satisfied. Increasing
rate of embankment construction was required to
accelerate the construction. Therefore, vacuum
consolidation method was selected to apply be-
cause it can provide a higher stability during the
construction. Moreover, vacuum pressure was also
used as a surcharge load replacing a part of em-
bankment surcharge. Finally, the membrane type
of vacuum consolidation with air-water separation
system was selected to use. For CVC construction,
PVDs (7 mm thick) were installed up to 20 m deep
between the existing PVDs (3 mm thick) which were
previously installed at 34 m in square grid pattern of
1.2 m x 1.2 m. It should be noted in advance that the
top of existing PVDs were not directly connected to
vacuum consolidation system. The area of improve-
ment was about 9,000 m2. Accordingly, the vacuum
consolidation system was divided into 3 areas with
three vacuum pumps operated simultaneously.
Moreover, an embankment height including a sur-
charge backfill was designed to 14 m.
4 Field Instrumentation
In order to monitor field data during a construc-
tion, basic field instruments for embankment con-
struction over a soft ground were installed as illus-
trated in Fig. 4. It should be noted that the instru-
ments shown in Fig. 4 were installed at the center
of embankment. but illustrated separately for a
simple view.
Figure 4. Location of field instrument
4.1 Surface settlement
Settlement plates were placed on the airtight sheet
prior the start of vacuum operation at the center
and both side of area. Only surface settlement data
at the center of area was presented in this study.
4.2 Extensometer
Settlement of sub-soil layer was measured by
extensometers. They were installed at the depth of
-3.8 m, -9.8 m, -17.7 m, -25.7 m, and -31.0m, re-
spectively
4.3 Electrical piezometer
Electrical piezometers were installed at depth of -
7.0 m, -14.2 m, -17.0 m, -22.3 m, -28.8 m and -
375
35.4 m. It should be noted that all piezometers
were installed at the center of PVDs location be-
cause it was considered to be the most difficult
point for an excess pore water pressure dissipation.
4.4 Vacuum sensor
In vacuum consolidation method, a vacuum gauge
or sensor is usually used to measure the negative
pressure. Two of vacuum sensors were embedded
inside the horizontal drains at each area to check
the vacuum pressure inside the improved area. It
will be called as vacuum pressure under airtight
sheet in this paper. In addition, the vacuum gauge
attached at the vacuum pump will be called as vac-
uum pressure at pump.
5 Field data analysis
According the field monitoring data, the following
categories were analyzed to verify the performance
of vacuum consolidation method with air-water
separation system.
5.1 Vacuum pressure
Fig. 5 shows embankment thickness/elevation,
surface settlement and vacuum pressure with time.
Embankment thickness was about 24 m at the
completion of construction. The settlement in-
duced by working platform load was about 1 m
prior the start of vacuum pump. It can be seen that
vacuum pressure and embankment load induced
the large settlement about 11 m. Therefore, the
vacuum pressure inside the improved area shall be
zero in principle after the settlement reaches over
10 m. According to monitoring data, the vacuum
pressures measured at pumps were over 90 kPa
during vacuum operation. The average vacuum
pressures under airtight sheet in all areas were
about 75~85 kPa in the beginning of construction
and slightly increased after the embankment thick-
ness was over 10 m. Then, the values were main-
tained at 88~94 kPa after the completion of em-
bankment filling.
In fact, the pressure measured inside the im-
proved area will be usually lower than the pressure
measured at pump due to the imperfection of air-
tightness related with the construction condition
and technique. According to the result, it can be
considered that the airtightness became higher after
embankment was started. The embedded airtight
sheet was lowered down by the settlement. Thus,
vacuum pressures inside the improved area were
gradually increasing in all areas especially in area
3, which showed the lowest vacuum pressure in the
beginning. Consequently, it can be concluded that
the air- water separation concept proposed by Imai
(2005) was true and applicable in practice.
pressures at the shallow depths; -7.0, -17.0, and -
22.3 m were significantly different from the raw
data. The excess pore water pressure after the cor-
rection shall be used in the data analysis.

Figure 5. Vacuum pressure during

5.2 Pore water pressure

Fig. 6 shows the excess pore water pressure with
time. Due to the large settlement, the locations of
the installed piezometers were changed according
with the quantity of settlement. In order to obtain
the more precise pore water pressure, the correc-
tion of piezometer depth was carried out by using
the data from extensometers. (Kosaka et al. 2011).
It can be clearly seen that the excess pore water Figure 6. Excess pore water pressure with time

376
 According to monitoring data, the excess pore
water pressures were reduced to a negative value
after the start vacuum operation. After the start of
embankment construction, the embankment load
induces the excess pore water pressure in a positive
side. The maximum of excess pore water pressure
was at the completion of embankment construction.
After waiting for the pore water pressure dissipa-
tion, the vacuum pumps were decided to terminate.
It can be seen that the excess pore water pressures in
the vacuum zone was below hydrostatic pressure
and returned to a hydrostatic pressure. It should be
consider that the primary consolidation was com-
pleted in this zone. On the contrary, the excess
pore water pressure in non-vacuum and non-
improvement zone were higher than hydrostatic
pressure. The increase of the excess pore water
pressure could be clearly observed at the depths of -
22.3m and -28.8m but very slightly at depth -35.4
m. The rebound behavior confirms the effective of
vacuum consolidation as a surcharge load.
Pore pressure (kPa)
0
-100 0 100 200 300 400
Start of embankment
Finish of embankment
Stop of vacuum pump
Hydrostatic
10 Theory vacuum at 70 kPa
Depth (m)
Vacuum zone
20
Non vacuum zone
30
Non improvement zone
40
Figure 7. Pore water pressure profile
Fig. 7 shows the pore water pressure with depth.
The first profile was the pore water pressure at the
start of embankment construction. At this time, the
ground was subjected to vacuum pressure only.
The pore water pressure was reduced about 40 to
60 kPa in the vacuum consolidation zone and
around 40 kPa in the non-vacuum zone. Moreover,
the pore water pressure was also reduced about 20
kPa in the non-improvement zone where PVDs
were not installed. The second profile was the pore
water pressure at the completion time of embank-
ment construction. It can be clearly seen that the
excess pore water pressures induced by embank-
ment load were different in each zone depending
on soil type. The maximum excess pore water
pressures were Δu=20kPa, Δu=60kPa, and
Δu=90kPa in the vacuum consolidation, non-
vacuum and non-improvement zone, respectively.
The last profile was the pore water pressure at the
termination of vacuum pump. At this profile, the
different status of pore pressure within each zone
can be clearly seen. The pore water pressure in the
vacuum zone was lower than the hydrostatic pres-
sure as described in previous. On the contrary, the
pore water pressure at non-vacuum and non- im-
provement zone still remained over the hydrostatic
pressure around 30 kPa and 50 kPa, respectively.
According to the result, it can be seen that the de-
pressurized atmospheric pressure was not only effect
to vacuum zone but also effect to non-vacuum zone
and somewhat in non-improvement zone. This is
probably due to the sand backfill under the vacuum
consolidation system being as a media for vacuum
500 distribution between the vacuum pump and PVDs 3
mm thick. However, the reduction of hydrostatic
pressure alone is not enough for vacuum consolida-
tion. Providing a path for water dissipation as same
as in the vacuum zone is a key of success.
5.3 Rate of settlement
The vacuum pressure is considered as a temporary
load and disappears after a termination of vacuum
pump. Vacuum surcharge effect can be also ob-
served by the rebound of settlement. Hyperbolic
method is a graphical technique using for estimat-
ing a final settlement and degree of consolidation
by plotting a rate of settlement against time. Fig. 8
shows the relationship between (St-S0)/t and t.
Without a surcharge removal, the rate of settlement
shall align in straight line as similar as the regres-
sion curve. In this study, the attention shall be paid
to the data curve after the termination of vacuum
pump. It can be clearly seen that data curve
changed significantly comparing to the regression
line in the vacuum consolidation zone (depth 0.0~-
17.0 m). The smaller changes were also observed
in the non-vacuum zone (depth -17.0~-25.7 m) and
(depth -25.7~-30.96 m) respectively. On the con-
trary, the change of curve could not be observed in
non-improvement zone (below -30.96 m). The re-
sult showed a good agreement with the pore water
pressure the vacuum surcharge did not effect to the
ground below -30 m.
377
 3.0 Consolidation Yield Stress (kPa)
0 200 400 600 800
2.5 0

2.0
t/(S -S )
0

1.5
t

1.0 Depth 0-17.68 m

Regression Line 10
0.5 Stop of vacuum pump

0.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Depth (m)
18 20
16
14
12
t/(S -S )
0

10
t

8 30
6 Depth 17.7-25.0 m
4 Regression Line
2 Stop of vacuum pump
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 40
Max. past pressure by CRS
25 Effective overburden pressure (P 0 )
P 0 +P emb
20
P 0 +P emb +P vac at 70 kPa
t/(S -S )

15
0

P 0 +P emb +P vac at 80 kPa

t

10 P 0 +P emb +P vac at 90 kPa

Depth 25.65-30.96 m
5 Regression Line Figure 9. Profile of consolidation yield stress
Stop of vacuum pump
0 obtained at the center of embankment were used
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
and compare the results to the theoretical compu-
40 tation. Soils were assumed in a normally consoli-
dated state prior the construction. Thus, the effec-
30 tive overburden pressure (P0) is equal to consoli-
dation yield stress used to compare. The consoli-
t/(S -S )
0

20 dation yield stress by embankment load (Pemb)

t

Depth 0-17.68 m
was considered to the effect of buoyancy force
10
Regression Line and loading stress distribution. The field density
Stop of vacuum pump examined during the embankment construction
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 was used in the calculation. Load by vacuum
t (day) pressure (Pvac) was assumed to be constantly
along the depth. It can be seen that the obtained
Figure 8. Plot of hyperbolic method
consolidation yield stresses down to a depth of 30
m were higher than the theoretical lines where
6 Soil Investigation data PVD existing. On the contrary, the values were
lower than theoretical line at the location deeper
After the termination of vacuum pump, the soil in- than 30 m. The interest should be paid in the vac-
vestigation program was carried out. The following uum zone because the consolidation yield stresses
soil properties are presented to evaluate the effec- were quite higher than theoretical value. The soil
tiveness of vacuum consolidation with air-water characteristic in a similar case should be further
separation system. investigated in a future study.

6.1 Consolidation yield stress 6.2 Undrained shear strength

Fig. 9 shows the consolidation yield stress obtained by The undrained shear strength versus depth by un-
constant rate of strain consolidation. The specimens confined compressive test at the center of em-

378
bankment is shown in Fig. 10. Kosaka et al.
(2012) described the strength increment parameter
for the case of the embankment combined with
vacuum consolidation method. It was used for cal-
culation in this study. As a result, the obtained un-
drained shear strength for vacuum consolidation
zone was higher than the theoretical line in all cas-
es. On the contrary, the undrained shear strength
tended to be lower than the theoretical line in the
non-vacuum consolidation zone. The result agrees
well with the observed the excess pore water pres-
sure data which shows the incompletion of a pri-
mary consolidation for the soils below 20 m.
Undrained shear strength (kPa)
0 50 100 150
0
10
Depth (m)
20
30
40
Su after improved
Su before improved
Su for P 0 +P emb
Su for P 0 +P emb +P vac at 70 kPa
Su for P 0 +P emb +P vac at 80 kPa
Su for P 0 +P emb +P vac at 90 kPa
Figure 10. Profile of undrained shear strength
7 Conclusion
In this study, the conclusion could be drawn as
follows:
- Settlement about 11 m was induced by the em-
bankment 24 m thick and vacuum surcharge.
- The vacuum pressures under airtight sheet were
maintained over 85 kPa during consolidation
process even after subjected to the settlement
over 10 m.
- Pore water pressure, rate of settlement, consoli-
dation yield stress and undrained shear strength
data could be combined to confirm the effec-
tiveness of vacuum consolidation as a surcharge
load.
- Vacuum consolidation with air-water separation
concept was verified to be effectively used in
practice.
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200 250
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