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Surcharging of Soft Ground to Reduce Secondary

Settlement

Conference Paper · January 2001

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Surcharging of Soft Ground to Reduce Secondary Settlement
G. Mesri & M.A. Ajlouni
University oflllinois at Urbana-Champaign. Urbana, lllinois, U.S.A.
T.W. Feng
Chung Yuan University, Chung Li, Republic of China
D.0.K.Lo
Geotechnical Engineering Office, Hong Kong, China

ABSTRACT: Soft ground, including soft clay and silt deposits and J>eats,
can be improved by precompression.
Preloading without surcharge is used to increase undrained shear strength and to limit consolidation under the
structure to the recompression range, thus reducing primary settlement However, preloading with a surcharge is
required to produce sufficient preconsolidation with respect to the final permanent structure load in order to also
reduce secondary settlement Secondary settlement without surcharging is especially significant when duration
of primary consolidation tp is small and secondary compression index Ca is large. For any surcharging effort val-
ues of C "a/Ca are larger and values of t/tpr are smaller for peats than for soft clay and silt deposits. In other
words, although surcharging can re<juce post-construction secondary settlement for both clay and peat deposits,
surcharging is less effective for peats. Secondary settlement of soft clay, silt and peat deposits, with or without
surcharging, is completely consistent with the Ca/Cc law of compressibility.

1 SECONDARY SE'ITlEMENT WITHOUT of compressibility (Mesri and Godlewski 1977; 1979;

SURCHARGING
After a loading of soft ground, for example, by an
embankment construction, primary consolidation
period during which effective vertical stress increases,
is followed by secondary compression at constant
effective vertical stress. Examples of primary
consolidation followed by secondary compression are
shown in Figures 1 and 2 for undisturbed specimens
of Middleton peat. The block samples of Middleton
peat from Middleton, Wisconsin, had a natural water
content of 620 to 850% and an organic content of 90
to 95% (Mesri et al. 1997).
For the pressure increment in Figure 1, which is in
Mesri and Castro 1987; Mesri 1987; Mesri and
Shahien 1993; Mesri et al. 1997). According to the
law of compressibility, for each soil, a constant value
of Ca/Cc holds at all combinations of consolidation
pressure and time. This is illustrated in Figure 3 by Ca
versus Cc data for James Bay peat from Quebec,
Canada The 250 mm in diameter and 400 mm in
height undisturbed samples were taken with a
modified Sherbrooke sampler (Lefebvre and Poulin
0 10
2 a:,.1a~·1 .o

the recompression range, a primary consolidation 8

period of 2 minutes is followed by significant
4
secondary compression. For this pressure increment, 6
it is possible to define the end of primary 0
consolidation by the excess porewater pressure ~ 6 CIS
,}-
a.~
measurements or the graphical constructiQn of 10 4 ..
<I ~ ::I
Casagrande. The solid line on the plot of vertical 8 .;; 20
strain ev versus log cr'v specifies the pressure
increment that ends at preconsolidation pressure cr'p of 2
30
10 10
Middleton peat sample, and the resulting magnitude
of primary compression. The pressure increment in 0
Figure 2 is in the compression range beyond cr'p· 12
Primary compression is large and is reached in 45 10'1 100 101 102 103 104 105
minutes, and then is followed by secondary
compression. Time, min
Secondary settlement that follows the completion Figure 1. Primary and secondary compression of Middleton
of primary consolidation is predicted by the Ca/Cc law peat at a cr'vt near preconsolidation pressure cr'p
 100
Mlddleton Peat
a~Ja~-:u
80
5 0 MeuUl9d
• Computed
60
--
:::i
40
15 20
0
T:ine,m il
Figure 2. Primary and secondary compression of Middleton peat
at a a'vr in the compression range beyond a~
1979). The fibrous peat samples with a varying
degree of hum.ification had a water content of 900 to
1400% and an organic content of96%. Note that Cc=
Ile/fl log cr'v defines the variable slope of
e versus log cr'v curve in both recompression and
compression, and in general, Ca = Ile/fl log t does not
remain constant with time. For all geotechnical
materials considered together, the total range of Ca/Cc
is 0.01 to 0.07; the average of the range, which is
0.04, is also the most common value for inorganic
clays and silts (Terzaghi et al. 1996).
The value of Ca at the beginning of secondary
compression is computed from Ca/Cc together with Cc
from the end-of-primary (EOP) e versus log cr'v
curve. When Ca remains constant in the time period
from tp to t, then secondary settlement of a sublayer of
initial void ratio eo and thickness Lo is:
S =Ccx Ca I Cc Lo log.!. (1)
1+ e0 tp
Equation ( 1) shows that, for a given Lo and t, the
magnitude of secondary settlement is determined by
Ca/Cc (which has values in the range of 0.04 ± 0.01
for inorganic soft clay and silt deposits, 0.05 ± 0.01
for organic soft clays and silts, and 0.06 ± 0.01 for
peat deposits), Cc which may have a wide range of
values depending on the composition and structure of
soil and on cr'vr!cr'p at which secondary compression is
taking place (e.g., Fig. 16.3 of Terzaghi et al. 1996),
and tp which may also have a wide range of values
depending on the permeability and compressibility of
soil and on drainage boundary conditions. The value
of tp for a compressible profile is computed us~g a
consolidation theory such as the ILl.lCON (Mesn and
Choi 1985; Mesri et al. 1994b).
Jn most field situations, when cr'vr is completely in
the compression range, even though Cc is large, for
one-dimensional consolidation without vertical
drains, tp is also large. This is illustrated by the load
increment in Figure 2. The duration of primary
consolidation in the compression range beyond cr'p is
even longer for soft clays and silts than tp values for
peat deposits. Therefore, in this case secondary
settlement becomes a factor only when vertical drains
are used to decrease tp to a few years or even months.
When cr'vr is completely in the recompression range,
such that cr'vr /cr'p < 0.7, then, even though tp is small,
Cc remains very small and secondary settlement is not
a significant factor. On the other hand, when cr'vr is
near cr'p , then tp could be small and Cc. although may
start with a small value on BOP e versus log cr'v curve,
is expected to increase dramatically on the
e versus log cr'v curves corresponding to r- > tp, and
secondary settlement can be the most significant
factor. This is illustrated by the load increment in
Figure 1 for a pressure increment that ends at the
preconSolidation pressure cr'p of Middleton peat
sample. Near the preconsolidation pressure, the slope
of Ev versus log <r'v, i.e., CJ(l +eo), significantly
increases with the increase in <r'v· According to the
Ca/Cc law of compressibility, because Ca/Cc is a
constant, Ccl(l +eo) is expected to significantly
increase with time. There is a significant number of
settlement observations at Osaka Bay that show large
secondary compression of thick diluvial layers when
reclamation loads produce values of cr'vr near cr'p
(Kiyama 1991; Mesri 1991).
1.0
d~
James Bay peat
>(
0.8
~ wo= 900 to 1400%
.5
5
a; 0.6
Cl>
I!!
Q.
0
E
0 0.4
0
r!'
as
'2 0.2
en~
0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Compression Index, Cc
Figure 3. Relationship between secondary compression index
and compression index for James Bay peat
For Middleton peat in the compression range, as in
Figure 2, according to Ca/Cc law of compressibility,
Ca is expected to decrease only slightly with time or
remain practically constant (Mesri et al. 1997).
When Ca is not a constant in the tp to t range of
interest, then the graphical application of the Ca/Cc
law of compressibility can be used to compute
secondary settlement (Mesri and Godlewski 1977;
Mesri et al. 1997). The BOP Ev versus log cr'v curve
(i.e., Ev versus log cr'v at t = tp) together with the value
of Ca/Cc was used to construct in Figures 4 and 5 the
Ev versus log cr'v curves corresponding to
consolidation times greater than tp for Middleton peat
 0 0
10 10

20
:.e 20
0 .,,.
~
c
30
.;
c
30

"! '! 40
Ci5 40 Ci5
iii iii
£ ()
50
t: 'E
Q) 50 ~
> 60
60
70
Ca
70 Cc=0.053 80

80
1 10 100 1000
Effective Vertical Stress, a~ kPa
Figure 4. Secondary compression of Middleton peat predicted
by CJCc law of compressibilify
and James Bay peat, respeetively. At any cs'v. the
value of CJ(l +eo) = &../!:Jog a'v is determined and is
used to compute a vertical strain during secondary
compression as follows:
[ev]
r
=[ev] r, +...:fL
l+eo
Ca log.!..
Cc tp
For the first calculation, t = 10 tp was used. The
process is repeated at other values of a'v, and the
resulting (Ev, a'v) points define the Ev versus log O''v
curve at 10 tp. Then, the Ev versus log O''v curve at 100
tp is constructed from the Ev versus log a'v at 10 tp
together with Ca/Cc, so on. Figures 4 and 5 show
vertical strain resulting from primary compression
plus secondary compression at any consolidation
pressure a'v and any time t equal or greater than tp.
Predictions of secondary compression using graphical
construction similar to those in Figures 4 and 5, are
compared with the measurements in Figures 1 and 2.
2 SECONDARY SETTLEMENT WITH
SURCHARGING
When the fmal consolidation pressure, a'vf is near a'p.
or in the compression range beyond a'p and tp is small
as a result of vertical drain installation, then secondary
settlement can be significant and unacceptable for
embankment construction projects for roads and
airports, and for buildings and storage facilities.
Surcharging is used to reduce post-construction
secondary settlement of soft ground (Mesri and Feng
1991 ). Surcharging effort in terms of effective
vertical stress is expressed by effective surcharge ratio
as follows (Mesri and Feng 1991):
, duration of primary consolidation for the third stage
R' = (jvs - 1
s (j'
vf
10000 10 100 1000
Effective Vertical Stress, a~ kPa
Figure 5. Secondary compression of James Bay peat predicted
by C/Cc law of compressibilify
where a'vs is the maximum effective vertical stress
reached before the removal of surcharge, and a'vr is
the final permanent effective stress after the removal
of surcharge. Surcharging process is illustrated in
Figure 6 using laboratory oedometer data on James
(2) Bay peat, and in Figure 7 by field observations of
settlement of a 2.5 to 3.5 m thick peat deposit
(Samson and La Rochelle 1972; Samson 1985; Mesri
1986).
Figure 6 shows that without surcharging,
secondary compression of James Bay peat sample at
a'vr = 50 kPa begins at point a and develops along a l
according to a Ca that is directly proportional to slope
Cc of the compression curve at point a which is both
large and remains practically constant with a'v· On
the other hand after surcharging, post-surcharge
secondary comp-ression begins at point c and
develops along cm according to a C'cx that is directly
proportional to Cc values related to the slopes of the
recompression curve c n. The recompression curve c
n starts with a very small slope at point c, and
continuously increases with a'v until it merges with
the compression curve. Therefore, C 'ex is expected to
start with a very small value and increase with time,
and then gradually decrease with time according to
the shape of the EOP e versus log a'v compression
curve.
Figure 7 shows field settlement observations for an
expressway embankment in Quebec, Canada, that was
constructed on a peat deposit by precompression
including a surcharge. Because the initial undrained
shear strength of the peat deposit was only 10 kPa, to
minimize lateral deformation, the embankment was
constructed in three stages. At each of the three
stages of construction, primary consolidation and
some secondary compression was allowed. The
(3) of construction for different locations at the site rang-
 11
James Bay Peat
R~= 1.0
10
Ca=0.06 Cc
Cl>
.2 9
a;
a:
32
g
8
300
Selllement of Expressway
c P-3. Lo "4.57 m 10 '--4-.L.l.LllLllL-l..L.l.IJ.1111......L.UUJ.WL......L..IU..WW
C(x=0.06C0 1 10 100 1000 10000
7 m Time, Days

Ca
-c=o.06
6 field observations of pre- and post- smcharge settlement
30 50 70 100
Effective vertical stress, a~ , kPa
Figure 6. Interpretation of behavior of C'cx in teims ·of CJC: law
of comprembility using laboratory data on James Bay peat
ed from 77 to 280 days; however, the smcharge was
removed after 365 days. The loading-unloading
program at location P-3 corresponds to an effective
surcharge ratio R's= 0.60. ·
The removal of surcharge leads to rebound,
including primary ·rebound up to tpr, and secondary
rebound that levels off at t1, is followed by post-
surcharge secondary compression, as is illustrated in
Figure 7. Both tpr and t1 are measured from the time at
which surcharge load is removed. Primary rebound at
settlement plate 3 was completed in tps = 80 days,
followed by secondary rebound up to t1 = 300 days, at
which time post-surcharge secondary compression
appeared.
The Ca/Cc law of compressibility explains and
predicts the behavior of post-surcharge secondary
compression (Mesri 1986, 1987; Mesri and Feng
1991; Mesri et al. 1997). In general, C'cx, defined at
time t in Figure 7, is expected to start with a very
small value, gradually increase, become constant, or
decrease, with time. The general shape of any
recompression to compression EOP e versus log a'v
curve suggests that at very large times, in all cases C'cx
is expected to eventually decrease with time. Post-
surcharge behavior is further illustrated in Figures 8,
9, and 10 by laboratory surcharging test results on
Figure 7. Definition of time tl at which secondary compression
reappears and secant secondary compression index C"CX> using
200
time. On the other hand for large effective surcharge
ratios, t1 is ·large and post-surcharge secondary
compression appears long after the removal of
surcharge and compression rate increases gradually
with time. This behavior is predicted by the Ca/Cc
law of compressibility. As R's increases, or the
horizontal distance. from point b to . c in Figure 6
increases, the slope of the recompression curve c n
starts with a small value and only gradually increases
with a'v· However, when distance between points b
and c in Figure 6 is small, the slope of the
recompression curve is expected to rapidly increase to
that of the compression curve beyond point b.
Because C'cx is not a constant with time, for practi-
cal settlement analysis a secant C"cx is defined from tt
at which post-surcharge secondary compression be-
-0.04
~ -0.02
0
!
~ o.ooW~,.o=-~~=~-~~
0.4
.5
~
~ 0.02
(.)

Saint Hilaire clay (Feng 1991) and Middleton peat

and James Bay peat samples (Ajlouni 2000). For the
Saint Hilaire clay from Quebec, Canada, the values of
natural water content w0, liquid limit w1 , plastic limit
wp, clay size fraction CF, a'p /a'v0, and Ca/Cc are 62 -
84%, 55%, 23%, 76%, 1.45, and 0.03, respectively.
Data in Figures 8, 9 and 10 show that for small values Time, minutes
of R's, t1 is small and post-surcharge secondary
Figure 8. Post-surcharge rebound, and secondary compression
compression appears soon after the removal of of an inorganic soft clay, as a function of effective surcharge
surcharge, and compression rate increases rapidly with ratio
 Mlclclle1on Peat
a;. 0.50
1.0 ~=2.85

0.25
0.5
0.00

E
E-0.25
c
ie-o.50
.s
0.112 i!
5-0.75
'E
·1.0 CD
> -1.00
0.40
·1.5 -1.25

-1.50
-~OL....LJ.WllllL....LLLIWIL......L.LIWlll.....J.JWWL-1.LWllLJ,...LJJWW.....U..Wllll

10'1 100 101 102 103· 104 105 108

•1.75 L....L.U.WllL..l"'1.WlllL..l...U.iUDL..1.JJWlll.-L1lllllll-J..LLWJL..J...llllllll
Tune.minutes 1~ 100 1~ 102 103 104 105 105
Figure 9. Post-surcharge rebound, and secondary compression
Tune, minute$
of Middleton Peat
Figure 10. Post-surcharge rebound, and secondary compression
gins to any t at which post-surcharge secondary
of James Bay Peat
compression is to ·be evaluated (Fig. 6). Extensive
series of surcharging tests on Berthierville, Singapore, However, empirical Eq. 6 which is based on
Brown Mexico City, Saint Hilaire, Saint Alban and laboratory and field post-surcharge rebound and
Vasby clays were used to develop the data on C"a in settlement observations for soft clay and silt deposits,
Figure I I (Feng I99I; Mesri and Feng I99I). Similar is not applicable to peats. The empirical relationship
data on C"a for Middleton peat and James Bay peat between t1 /tpr and R's, based on laboratory tests and
are shown in Figures I2 and I3, respectively (Ajlouni field results for peat deposits, is shown in Figure 14
2000). The values of C"a are normalized with respect and suggests:
to the Ca at cr'vr without surcharging. Post-surcharge
secondary settlement is computed using the following .!.!..=JO R's (7)
tpr
equation:
C' t
S=-a- Lo log- (4) 0.5
1 + e0 tt
where C"a corresponds to tlt1 • For any soil, the
values of Ca/Cc, and Cc at cr'vr on the compression 0.4 Inorganic Solt Clays
(Masri and Feng 1991)
curve, together with R's. are used to obtain C"a from
Figure 8. Thus:

S=
c; ICaXCalCcXC, Lo log- (5)
t
Q
a
0.3

=a
1 +e0 tt (.)
Post-surcharge secondary compression re-appears 0.2

after primary rebound followed by secondary

rebound. The duration of primary rebound depends
0.1
on rebound characteristics of soil, as well as on
permeability and drainage boundary conditions.
Therefore, tpr is computed from a time-rate of rebound 0.0
analysis, using, for example, II.llCON. For inorganic 1 10 100 1000 10000
and organic soft clays and silts, Mesri and Feng tltl
(199I) proposed the following empirical correlation Figure 11. Post-surcharge secant secondary compression index
between t/tpr and R's: expressed in terms of C"a!Ca. where Ca is secondary
7 compression index at <J'vr without surcharging, for inorganic soft
.I!_= 100 R'1.
s
(6) clays
tpr
 1.0 1.0

James Bay Peat

Middleton Peat
0.8 0.8 w~ ll00-1.coo%
W0 = 500 lo 800%

0.6 0.6

-
o"
• fJ
0
0.4
Q
• ti
0
ti

0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 0.0
1 10 100 1000 10000 1 10 100 1000 10000

tit, tit,

Figure 12. Post-surcharge secant secondary compression index Figure 13. Post-surcharge secant secondary compression index
of Middleton peat of James Bay peat

A comparison between Eqs. ·6 and 7 shows that
values of tt It.pr for peats are in general significantly
smaller than those for soft clay and silt deposits. The
explanation appears to be that the fundamental
tendency for rebound in comparison to tendency for
compression is less in peats than in clays. A
significant part of the water in fibrous peat fabric is
held as free water outside and within the peat
particles. The free water that is squeezed out upon
loading, does not have a tendency to return to peat
fabric following unloading.
3 SETIEMENT ANALYSIS WITH OR
WITHOUT SURCHARGING
were then installed at 1.5 m spacing in a triangular
pattern, and with an average length of 12 m.
Additional sand-gravel at a unit weight of 18.0
kN/m3 was placed in July 1957 to a fill thickness of
2.2 m. The 35-m diameter fill was surrounded with
a 12 m wide and 0.7 m high perimeter berm to
obtain a factor of safety of 1.5 against undrained
failure during construction. Jn April 1961 the 0.70
m surcharge fill was removed.
II.LICON Procedure
The II.LICON procedure is used for predicting time-
rate of consolidation or rebound for a multilayer
compressible ground with or without vertical drains

Ska-Ededy test fill area ID is used to illustrate

settlement analysis with and without surcharging. Laboratory tests
c James Bay Peat
In the spring of 1957 the Swedish Geotechnical In- 25 o Middleton Peat
stitute in cooperation with the Swedish Board of
Roads and Waterways constructed a test field at Ska- 20
Edeby on the site of a proposed airfield for the Swed- 0
ish Board of Civil Aviation (Hansbo 1960). Skci-
Edeby is situated on an island about 25 kilometers
west of Stockholm, Sweden. Four circular test fills
were constructed to investigate consolidation of soft 10
clays and the effect of vertical drains on the rate of
consolidation. The site conditions are not uniform Field Results
5
throughout the test field. However, the average thick- • Samson &Larochale (1972)
• Jorgensen (1987)
ness of the soft medium sensitive post-glacial and gla-
cial varved clays under Test Area ID is 12.3 m, and
o ..........................._._._..............._._._._._.........._._._..............._._._.-'-'
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
may be characterized by the geologic profile in Figure
15 (Hansbo 1960; Holtz and Broms 1972; Hansbo et
al. 1981; Larsson 1986). Figure 14. Elapsed time tt at which secondary compression
The top 25 cm of soil was removed and a work- reappears, referenced to the duration of primary rebound after
ing platform of 50 to 70 cm of sand was laid down. removal of surcharge, tp,., as a function of effective surcharge
Displacement type sand drains of 18 cm diameter ratio from laboratory and field data on peat
 Soil C>escrlptlon Water Content, % s.(FV), kPa Pressure, kPa
0 40 80 120 160 0.0 20.0 40.0
0 _D_ry_v_Crusl
__ 0 20 40 60 80 100
o~T""T"'T""T"'T"T"T"T"T"T"'T'T"'T"T'T'T-r-r...,...,.-r-i-r-1
2 Gray Postglaclal l -- ----
4
Clay

2 //11---~ Larsson (1986)

\ I I
' I
E 6 I
;; Brown-Gray 4 I
I

! 8
Glacial VI.Mid
Clay
I
10
E 6 I
~
a la· a'
I p vt
12
Mo181n• or Rock ~ 8
14

Figure 15. Subsurface conditions at SkA-Edeby Test Fill Area 10 a~Datafrom

Q)

m Holm and Holtz (1977) J

(Mesri and Choi 1985; Mesri and Lo 1989; Mesri et
al. 1988; Lo 1991; Lo and Mesri 1994; Mesri et al.
1994b). For Ski-Edeby test fill Area m:, based on the
vertical profiles of eo, cr'p and kv0 , the compressible
ground was divided into 7 layers for Il.LICON
analysis. Each layer has its own EOP e versus log cr'v
curve, including eo, cr'v0. cr'p as well as kv0, :kiio, and
Ck- The eo profile in Figure 16 is based on water
content profiles ~om Hansbo (1960), Holtz and
Broms (1972) and Hansbo et al. (1981). The cr'v0 and
cr'p profiles in Figure 17 were selected by Mesri and
Lo (1989) interpreting data from Hansbo (1960),
Holtz and Broms (1972), Holm and Holtz (1977),
Hansbo et al. (1981), and Larsson (1986).
The limited number of available oedometer
e versus log cr'v data (Hansbo 1960) were used to
extrapolate C 'c data from different depths and loca-
Initial Void Rrtio, e0
2.0
I
12 010
Ska-Edeby
Aream
14
Figure 17. Vertical profiles of <r'..o. <r'p• and <r'vr for Test Fill
Aream
tions (page 108, Terzaghi et al. 1996). The value of
Cr for Ska-Edeby clay was estimated to be 0.17.
These data on compressibility, together with the
vertical profiles of eo, cr'v0, cr'p were used to construct
an EOP e versus log cr'v relationship for middepth of
each layer. These are shown in Figure 18. The Ca/Cc
in Figure 19 for the Ski-Edeby clay was determined
using the oedometer data from Hansbo (1960).
The data on kv0 were obtained from kv measure-
ments by Hansbo (1960) and kv values computed
from the porewater pressure measurements during
CRS oedometer tests (Larsson 1986; Mesri and Feng
3.5
3.0 4.0 1 0-

3.0
2
0
CD
4 0 0 2.5 CJ'
~ R'= ~ -1

E 6 0
i a:
"t:J
·o
s CJ'.n

(0.11 - 0.40)
.s::.
ii
Q)
0 8
0
l
0
> 2.0

0
Ska·Edeby 1.5
10 0
Area Ill
Ska· Edeby
0

12 0 I 1.0
Aream
1.....--1--1-..i.....i....1-L......__ __....._....._....._........................._ ___.

2 10 100
14 Effective vertical stress, CJ~ , kPa

Figure 16. Vertical profile of eo for the layers used in the Figure 18. Reconstructed EOP e - log O''v curves of layers used
II.LICON analysis of settlement in the Il.LICON analysis
 0.02
1.2
Ska-Edeby
Ska-Edeby
?+ 1.0
....
::::::- 0.01
tS
(.)
0.8

0.00
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Cc/(1+eo)
0.4
Figure 19. CJCc of Sk!-Edeby clay
1992). Additional data on k~ were generated using 0.2
clay fraction (CF) and plasticity index (Ip) and ~ data
from Hansbo (1960), Holtz and Brom.s (1972) and 0.0 "-'-.L...l....l....L...L...L..................&....l....&-1.....L...L...L...l.....L.JL...L...L...L..~
Hansbo et al. (1981), together with the empirical 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
correlation by Mesri et al. (1994a). These are shown lnsitu Vold Ratio, e0
in Figure 20 together with the profile of Ck. The ~atter Figure 21. Ck versus eo data of Sk!-Edeby clay
was extrapolated using Co together with ck = 0.5 Co
(Tavenas et al. 1983) which was confirmed, Figure assumed to be freely draining.
21, for the Ska-Edeby clay usmg permeability data The computed and observed surface and
from Hansbo (1960). subsurface settlements are compared in Figure 22 up
Jn the absence of direct permeability measurements to about 1500 days after the construction of the test
in the horizontal direction, a value of ktiolkv0 1 was = fill Area Ill IlLICON procedure computes final
used to estimate kiio (Mesri and Lo 1989). A smear effective vertical stress from O''vr = 0' v0 + AO'v , and the 1

zone of radial extent corresponding to rsfrw = 2 was
assumed with ksolkv<F 1 and an BOP e - log O''v
consisting of a straight line joining (0' 1v0, eo) and (O''vr,
ep) of the undisturbed soil where Cp is BOP void ratio
at O''vr. The permeability of the sand drain was
computed to be kw = 0.074 emfs using the Hazen
equation together with 0 10 from the gradation curve
(Hansbo 1960). This value of kw leads to a qw of over
450 m3/yr which is completely adequate for negligible
well resistance (Mesri and Lo 1991). The granular fill
and glacial moraine underlying the glacial clay were
kvo. cm/sec
1e-8 1e-7 1e-6 0.5
0 opposed to computed AO'v is that some pore pressure
initial excess porewater pressure from Au = Acrv,
where AO'v is the increase in total vertical stress at a
particular depth from elastic stress distribution. The
assumption in relation to the porewater pressure
increase in response to a surface loading increment
and also decrement has been examined using a large
number of loading or unloading steps for
embankment construction at Ska-Edeby, Changi, and
Chek Lap Kok (Lo 1991). The measured porewater
pressure increments during construction of the
embankments at Skci-Edeby test field are compared
with both computed AO'v and computed Au in Figure
ck 23.
1.0 1.5 2.0 The advantages of comparing computed Au as

2 6
I
I
I
I
0
II
.:--I
I
1'0
o
4 I
p
!io
1 0 II 0 400
I I
Time, Days
800
I I

1200
I I I

1600
I I I I

E
~
G>
6
ti ~
O'°""---r--.--.--.-....-..-.--.--,--..--.--.-....-.,........,

~~ ·1·
c 8 50
s,cm Sm
10 100

12
!I
150
Ska-Edeby Ska-Edeby test fill, Area m Surface
14 Aream
200
Figure 20. k.o and Ck of Sk!-Edeby clay used in the ILLICON Figure 22. Computed and observed surface and subsurface set-
settlement analysis. (k.o data indicated by the dashed lines are tlements for Sk!-Edeby Test Fill Area ill.
from Larsson 1986)
 • 20 20
~ 15 15
j compression during the subsequent 10,000 days (i.e., t
10
110
'S
s 5 5
5 10 15 20
(4U)computecb kPa
Figure 23. Computed and measured excess porewater pressure
dissipation at Sk!-Edeby Test Fill Area ID
dissipation that takes place even during the rather
short loading increments, reduces the measured
porewater pressure response .6.u. These results tend to
support the assumption of .6.u = .6.crv. The computed
and measured excess porewater pressures at three
depths are compared in Figure 24. In general, it can
be concluded that the agreement between porewater
pressure measurements and computations at various
depths is not as good as the agreement between
computed and measured settlements. However, in a
significant number of field cases, questions arise with
respect to the reliability of porewater pressure
measurements (Lo·-1991). For additional comparisons
of computed and measured porewater pressure
behavior, reference is made to Lo and Mesri (1994).
At Sk!-Edeby test fill Area IlI, if a surcharge had not
been used (i.e., fill thickness 1.5 m), then according to
an II.LICON analysis, primary consolidation would
have been completed in 1800 days. The ground
surface settlement resulting from secondary
= 11800 days) would have amounted to 41 cm. The
secondary settlement was computed using Eq. 1
together with Ca/Cc = 0.05 and values of Lo, eo , and
Cc at cr'vt, for the 7 layers. Note that except for layer 1
5 10 15 20 for which cr'vt is in the recompression range, the
(ou)ccmpul8d, kPa
values of cr'vt for the remaining 6 layers are in the
compression range where Cc is slightly decreasing _
with cr'v· Therefore, Ca is expected to slightly
decrease with time. However, the decrease in Ca is
expected to be rather small for the secondary
compression period corresponding to t/tp = 6.6 which
is less than one log cycle of time. The slight decrease
in Ca with time was accounted for by taking the
values-of Cc as the tangent to EOP e versus log cr'v
curve at cr'vt rather than tangent to the immediate low
side of cr'vt·
At Ski-Edeby test fill Area m
surcharge was re-
moved after 1400 days which corresponds to S/Sps =
0.9, where S is surface settlement reached during
surcharging and Sps is the EOP settlement under sur-
charge. This surcharging effort corresponds to a R's
profile of 0.11 to 0.40 shown on Figure 18. Post-
surcharge surface and subsurface observations of
settlement are compared with predictions of post-
surcharge secondary settlement in Figure 25. It
should be recalled that 11800 days after construc-

40~
tion, without surcharge secondary settlement would

~I
Loa020
kPa
0 I I I I I

40
ca o o Ska·Edeby
Aream

20

2.5 m Depth

0 Depth7.5 m
40 50 00 0 0000 0000 0 00 0

u Sm
20 s,cm
kPa v v v vv
5 m Depth 100
0
40 2.5m

% -----
1.5m
150
20 o oosu~ce o
Settlement at a~
--With Surcharge
oL...J"--L--L.-.L...J....-1.-..J.....L..-l-."--L--L.-.1......i.;.._1.-1 ---Without Surcharge
0 400 800 1200 1600 200 L......~-L-....L..--L."--1---:L...-.L-..1.-.....L...-.L.--L---'
0 4000 8000 12000
Time, Days
Time, Days
Figure 24. Excess porewater pressure response upon application Figure 25. Measured and predicted secondary settlement after
of pressure increments at Sk!-Edeby Test Field the removal of surcharge at Sk!-Edeby Test Fill Area m
.. have amounted to 41 cm. With surcharging, the
measured and predicted post-surcharge secondary
settlement is only 4 cm.
• pressure analyses has been supported by the U.S. Na-
4 CONCLUSIONS
Soft ground, including soft clay and silt deposits,
organic soils, and peats, can be improved by
precompression. Preloading with or without surcharge
together with or without vertical drains is used to
consolidate. the ground, decreasing compressibility
and increasing shear strength.
Secondary settlement without surcharging is
especially significant when duration of primacy
consolidation tp is small and secondary compression
index Ca is large. For soft clay and silt deposits, this
situation develops either when post-construction
effective vertical stress CJ'vr is near the
preconsolidation pressure CJ'p, or when CJ'vr is in the
compression range beyond CJ'p and vertical drains are
used to speed up primary consolidation. For peat
deposits secondary settlement is significant whenever
CJ'vtis near or beyond cr'p·
Surcharging of soft ground · reduces post-
construction secondary settlement by decreasing
secondary compression index from Ca to C'a and
increasing the time at which secondary settlement
appears. Post-surcharge secondary compression,
consistent with the prediction of Ca/Cc law of
compressibility, starts with a small value at time tt,
gradually increases with time, and then either
becomes constant or decreases with time. Because in
general post-surcharge tangent secondary
compression index C'a is not constant with time, it is
convenient to define and work with a secant
secondary compression index C"a as a function of tltt.
For values of cr'yt/cr'p greater than one, both C"a/Ca
and t/tpr are uniquely related to effective surcharge ra-
tio. For a given effective surcharge ratio R's and at
any tltt, the values of C "a/Ca for peats are larger than
those for soft clay and silt deposits. Furthermore, for
any surcharging effort, the values of t/tpr for peats are
smaller than those for soft clays. In other words, al-
though surcharging can reduce post-construction sec-
ondary settlement for both clay and peat deposits, sur-
charging is less effective for peats.
Secondary settlement of soft clays and peats, with
and without surcharging, is completely consistent
with the Ca/Cc law of compressibility. Predictions
of settlement using IlLICON and Ca/Cc law of com-
pressibility, with or without surcharging, are in
excellent agreement with field observations at Ska-
Edeby test fill Area ID.
5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research on permeability and compressibility of
soft clays and methods of settlement and porewater
tional Science Foundation Grants CEE-8212064 and
MSS-8911899. The continued support of this agency
is gratefully acknowledged. The last author is grateful
for the permission given by the Head of the Geotech-
nical Engineering Office and the Director of Civil En-
gineering, Government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, to publish this paper.
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