Class A Prediction of the Behavior of Soft Estuarine Soil

Foundation Stabilized by Short Vertical Drains beneath a

Rail Track
Buddhima Indraratna1; Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn2; Brook Ewers3; and Mark Adams4

Abstract: In Australia, very few rail tracks have been constructed directly on deep estuarine deposits. In recent years, Kooragang Island
has become a major export terminal and most coal trains need to cross the main lines at Sandgate to enter Kooragang Island. In this study,
a rail track built on up to 30 m of thick soft estuarine soil was stabilized with relatively short vertical drains to consolidate the soil just
beneath the track, and no additional preloading surcharge was provided, except the weight from the trains. The initial soil compression
was caused by the passage of trains with a speed restricted at 40 km/h. From this study, it is shown that prefabricated vertical drains
significantly decrease the buildup of excess pore-water pressure during cyclic loading, and also continue to dissipate excess pore-water
pressure during the rest period. A preliminary finite-element analysis was employed to examine the performance of vertical drains, and a
Class A prediction was obtained in terms of lateral and vertical displacements. The monitored settlement and lateral displacement results
are presented and discussed. The study shows that relatively short vertical drains are sufficient for providing stability for rail tracks,
without the need for driving deep vertical drains through the entire soft soil depth.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲GT.1943-5606.0000270
CE Database subject headings: Clays; Cyclic loads; Laboratory tests; Railroad tracks; Subsurface drainage; Predictions.
Author keywords: Clays; Cyclic loads; Laboratory tests; Railroad engineering; Subsurface drainage.

Introduction of improving the performance of thick deposits of soft clays 共Bo

Many coastal regions of Australia contain very soft clays, which
have undesirable geotechnical properties such as, low bearing ca-
pacity, high compressibility, and low permeability. In the absence
of appropriate ground improvement, the soft deposits with high
volumes of plastic clays can sustain high excess pore-water pres-
sures during both static and cyclic 共repeated兲 loading. This ad-
versely affects the stability of buildings, port and transport
infrastructure including highway and rail embankments built on
such soft ground. The constraints of restricted space, tight con-
struction schedules, environmental and safety issues, maintenance
costs, and the longevity of earth structures have continued to de-
mand innovation in the design and construction of essential infra-
structure on soft clays.
The combination of preloading method with prefabricated ver-
tical drains 共PVDs兲 is widely considered to be a low cost solution
1 causing poor drainage 共Indraratna and Salim 2005兲. This can
Professor of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Univ. of
Wollongong, Wollongong City, NSW 2522, Australia 共corresponding au-
thor兲.
2
Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, Univ. of Wollongong, Wollongong
City, NSW 2522, Australia.
3
Senior Geotechnical Engineer, AECOM, Sydney, NSW 2000, Aus-
tralia.
4
Senior Geotechnical Engineer, ARUP Geotechnics, Sydney, NSW
2000, Australia.
Note. This manuscript was submitted on December 8, 2008; approved
on October 19, 2009; published online on October 22, 2009. Discussion
period open until October 1, 2010; separate discussions must be submit-
ted for individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Geotech-
nical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 136, No. 5, May 1, 2010.
©ASCE, ISSN 1090-0241/2010/5-686–696/$25.00.
et al. 2003; Jamiolkowski et al. 1983兲. When PVDs are installed
on the ground, the drainage path length 共radial flow兲 is shortened,
thereby reducing the consolidation time 共Hansbo 1981; Holtz
et al. 1991; Indraratna and Redana 2000兲. However, implement-
ing such measures still require substantial lead time on projects
which may not always be available, particularly in situations in-
volving railways corridors where sufficient space for preloading
is usually not available. When railways are constructed on poor
drainage soft formation, the increase in pore pressures due to
undrained cyclic load behavior will decrease the effective load
bearing capacity of the formation 共Lefebvre and Pfendler 1996;
Zhou and Gong 2001; Sakai et al. 2003兲. Even if the rail tracks
are well built structurally, undrained formation failures can ad-
versely influence the train speeds apart from the inevitable opera-
tional delays. Under circumstances of high excess pore-water
pressures, clay slurrying may be initiated by pumping the slurried
soil upward under cyclic loads, clogging the clean ballast and
cause poor track geometry and imperfections, track instability,
and the need for speed restrictions.
Although rail loads can be significant, the load is applied over
a relatively narrow width where sufficient ballast and subballast
depths are provided. A significant amount of the applied load is
typically sustained within several meters of the soil surface. In
this regard, relatively short PVDs between 5- and 8-m length can
still be adequate to dissipate cyclically induced pore pressures,
curtail the lateral movements and increase the shear strength and
bearing capacity of the soft formation to a reasonable depth below
the subballast. In other words, over time this will provide a “stiff-
ened” section of the soft clay up to several meters in depth, sup-
porting the rail track within the immediate formation subjected to

686 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MAY 2010

 Fig. 1. Site location plan 关adapted from Hicks 共2005兲兴
significant vertical stress distribution. If excessive initial settle-
ment of deep estuarine deposits cannot be tolerated in terms of
maintenance practices 共e.g., in new railway tracks where continu-
ous ballast packing may be required兲, the rate of settlement can
still be controlled by optimizing the drain spacing and the drain
installation pattern. In this way, while the settlements are con-
trolled to an acceptable level, the reduction in lateral strains and
gain in shear strength of the soil beneath the track improve its
stability significantly 共Li and Selig 1996兲.
In recent years, Kooragang Island has become a major export
terminal and most coal trains need to cross the main lines at
Sandgate to enter Kooragang Island. Due to the rapid urban de-
velopment, the demanding freight and passenger train schedules
have affected significant delays throughout the entire Hunter Val-
ley Coal Network. Therefore, the construction of two new railway
lines adjacent to the existing working track was required. The
Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Project is located at Sandgate
between Maitland and Newcastle, in the Lower Hunter Valley of
New South Wales 共Fig. 1兲. In this paper, the part of Sandgate rail
stabilized using short PVDs in the soft subgrade soil is presented,
the background of the project and the soil improvement details
adopted are described including field instrumentation. Design
methodology and finite-element analysis are discussed through
associated settlement and lateral displacement.
Lambe 共1973兲 divided the prediction into three classes de-
pending on when the predictions are made: Class A: before con-
struction event; Class B: during construction event; and Class C:
after construction event. Lambe 共1973兲 also stated that Class A
predictions are desirable as they permit all the design decisions to
be clearly identified and discussed. In this project, the writers
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MAY 2010 / 687
have conducted a finite-element simulation of the track incorpo-
rating the soil properties determined in the field and laboratory.
The recommendations of the writers were to implement 8-m-long
PVDs at 2-m spacing, which were adopted by the track owner,
Australian Rail Track Corporation 共ARTC兲, for part of the track
crossing 30 m of deep estuarine clays. Field monitoring com-
menced immediately upon construction of track and is still ongo-
ing. Therefore, the finite-element analysis used for the track
design by the writers is a typical Class A prediction to the subse-
quent observation of field behavior.
Site Investigation and Field Instrumentation
Initial site investigations were used primarily for the purpose of
profiling the soil conditions along the proposed route. An exten-
sive in situ and laboratory testing was undertaken earlier 共Chan
2005兲 to obtain essential soil parameters. The total scope of the
site investigation included six boreholes, 14 piezocone, piezomet-
ric cone penetration testing 共CPTU兲 tests, two in situ vane shear
tests, and two test pits. Laboratory testing including soil index
property testing, standard oedometer testing, and vane shear test-
ing were also performed.
A typical soil profile is shown in Fig. 2, where existing em-
bankment fill overlies soft compressible soil to a depth varying
from 4 to 30 m. The soft residual clay lies underneath the soft soil
layer, followed by shale bedrock. The soil properties with depth
are shown in Fig. 3, where the groundwater level is located at the
ground surface. The water contents of the soil layers are very

Fig. 2. Typical soil profile at the Sandgate Rail Grade Separation
Project
close to their liquid limits. The unit weight of soil is quite con-
stant varying from 14 to 16 kN/ m3. The in situ vane shear tests
indicate that the undrained shear strength varies from about 10 to
40 kPa. Based on the overconsolidation ratio 共OCR兲 obtained
from the oedometer tests, the clay deposit can be considered as
normally consolidated to lightly overconsolidated 共OCR
⬇ 1 – 1.2兲. Fig. 4 illustrates the consolidation properties obtained
from the oedometer and CPTU tests. It can be seen that the hori-
zontal coefficient of consolidation 共ch兲 is approximately 2–10
times the vertical coefficient of consolidation 共cv兲.
Based on preliminary numerical analysis, PVDs with 8-m
length were recommended and installed at 2-m spacing in a tri-
angular pattern using a steal mandrel, which was continually
pushed into the soil using a static weight 共instead of vibratory or
dynamic installation兲 to reduce the extent of smear as much as
possible. The drain properties are shown in Table 1.
Table 2 presents the types and locations of field instrumenta-
tion which included settlement plates, inclinometers, and vibrat-
Fig. 3. Soil properties at Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Project
688 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MAY 2010
ing wire piezometers. In the section of track considered here, the
settlement monitoring plate was placed on the surface of the sub-
grade layer to provide a direct measurement of the vertical settle-
ment of the underlying subgrade. Each plate has a steel bar
protruding through the surface which has been used for recording
the changes in the level of the plate. The purposes of the field
monitoring were:
1. To ensure that there was no adverse movements which would
impact on the safety and stability of the current and future
operation of this rail track;
2. To verify the design of the new railway and establish design
guidelines for future tracks stabilized by PVDs; and
3. To examine the accuracy of the numerical analysis through
Class A predictions, where the field measurements were un-
available at the time of finite-element modeling.
Large-Scale Triaxial Testing on Clay Subjected to
Cyclic Loading
Descriptions of Soil Properties and Triaxial Apparatus
A large-scale cyclic triaxial rig was used to examine the effective-
ness of PVD installed in soft clay under repeated loading repre-
senting a typical track environment. The shear strength properties
of the estuarine clay were obtained from the Sandgate track site
using CPTU and field vane testing 共Fig. 3兲. Table 3 summarizes
the basic properties of the Sandgate clay. The consolidation pa-
rameters including compression index, swelling index, and per-
meability change index were obtained from standard oedometer
testing using undisturbed sample.
The large-scale triaxial equipment shown in Fig. 5共a兲 was used
to conduct the process simulation testing of PVD, but using re-
constituted Sandgate clay due to the difficulty of obtaining large
 Fig. 4. Soil consolidation properties at Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Project

undisturbed samples 共at 300-mm diameter兲. The testing proce- be similar to the field result obtained from field vane shear test
dures which were previously employed for a commercially avail- 共Fig. 3兲. Therefore, the decrease in strength properties was not
able kaolin clay have been explained elsewhere by Indraratna substantial due to remolding or reconstitution. In this respect,
et al. 共2009兲. Preliminary small specimen tests conducted earlier large diameter remolded specimens were most appropriate to
by the writers indicated that the Sandgate clay is almost homoge- model the PVD behavior experimentally. Moreover, unlike small
neous along the track site 共up to 60 m兲. The undrained shear specimen testing 共e.g., Rowe Cell兲, smear effects are better rep-
strength of 17 kPa of remolded clay sample subjected to an ef- resented in the 300-mm diameter and 600-m-high specimen. The
fective overburden pressure at 35 kPa 共unconfined兲 was found to apparatus consists of five main parts: the triaxial chamber, the
axial loading unit, the air pressure and the water control unit, the
pore pressure measurement system, and the volumetric change
Table 1. Vertical Drains Characteristics measurement device. The equipment is capable of accommodat-
Vertical drains characteristics Value ing specimens of 300-mm diameter and 600 mm high as shown in
Fig. 5共b兲. The pore-water pressure was measured using six min-
Spacing, S 2.0 m 共square兲
Dimension of drain 100· 4 mm2
Discharge capacity, qw 3 , 000 m3 / year 共per drain兲
Dimension of mandrel 120· 50 mm2
Length of vertical drain 8m

Table 2. Types and Locations of Field Instrumentation

Instrumentation Locations
Settlement plates 171+ 150, 171+ 190
Inclinometer 171+ 150
Vibrating wire piezometer 171+ 150

Table 3. Soil Properties of the Reconstituted Clay Sample

Soil properties Value
Water content, w 共%兲 70
Liquid limit, wL 共%兲 66
Plastic limit, w P 共%兲 28
Compression index 共Cc兲 0.84
Swelling index 共Cr兲 0.14
Permeability change index 共Ck兲 0.90 Fig. 5. 共a兲 Large-scale triaxial apparatus; 共b兲 soil specimen

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Fig. 6. Location of pore pressure transducers inside the soil specimen
iature type pore pressure transducers. These transducers with rigid
but thin wire were fully saturated and fitted through the base of
the triaxial cell into the sample to measure the pore-water pres-
sure at six different locations as shown in Fig. 6.
Reconstituted Soil Sample Preparation and Testing
Procedures
The following procedure for preparing the reconstituted sample:
1. Sandgate clay was wet screened through a #40 sieve
共0.425-mm opening size兲 to remove larger particles including
shells and gravels;
2. Clay was then remixed with water 共using rotary mechanical
mixer兲 until the water content was consistent throughout the
clay sample;
3. The rubber membrane was clamped to the base of the triaxial
equipment and a filter was placed at the base to prevent
obstruction of the drainage line with pore pressure transduc-
ers;
4. Subsequently, the remolded saturated clay was placed and
lightly compacted in four layers 共15 cm each兲 inside the
membrane 共unit weight at 15.45 kN/ m3, representing field
density兲 using a mild vibration;
5. During the placement of clay, six saturated pore pressure
transducers were positioned at the locations illustrated in Fig.
6;
6. A vertical band drain was inserted vertically using a steel
mandrel at the center of the clay sample; and
7. A geotextile filter was placed at the top of the sample after
the vertical drain insertion to protect the drainage holes of
the top cap from clogging.
To ensure that the clay was fully saturated, the Skempton B
parameter was determined by back pressure technique 共⬎0.99兲.
The sample was then consolidated under ko condition 共Ko = 0.6兲
determined from past laboratory tests, made available by the track
owner to the writers. The sample was subjected to a vertical over-
burden pressure of 35 kPa and a horizontal pressure of 21 kPa to
simulate the stress condition at the middepth of PVDs 共4-m
depth兲. The consolidation process was carried out in three incre-
mental stages to avoid any risk of shear failure.
After the Ko consolidation process, the test was conducted at a
frequency of 5 Hz, typically simulating the load distribution to the
subgrade at a train speed of less than 40 km/h. The cyclic load
was applied with a maximum load intensity of 56 kPa to produce
690 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MAY 2010
Fig. 7. Surface settlement during cyclic load application
the same average stress at the 4-m depth for a typical 25 t/axle
train load. The total number of load cycles applied in each test
was 1,100 cycles to simulate the passage of the train 共i.e., 5 Hz at
3.7 min兲. The cyclic loading was then terminated. The built up
excess pore-water pressures due to cyclic load and the dissipation
of excess pore pressures after removal of the cyclic load were
recorded during the test.
Test Results and Discussions
The surface settlement-time curve and associated excess pore
pressure during cyclic load application are presented in Figs. 7
and 8, respectively. The exact locations of the pore-water pressure
measurement points are shown earlier in Fig. 6. During the cyclic
load application, the maximum pore pressures in the vicinity of
the drain 共T2, T4, and T6兲 were considerably less compared to
those near the impermeable boundary. During the test, the drain-
age paths would alter because of the PVD and soil deformation.
For the transducer T6 attached to PVD, as expected, the excess
pore pressure would become zero earlier than the other two trans-
ducers 共T2 and T4兲 which the drainage path lengths for T2 and T4
were unaffected after the test. This verifies the drain effectiveness
under cyclic load application. Also, not surprisingly, the excess
pore pressures close to the impermeable boundary 共e.g., T1, T3,
and T5兲 dissipated at a lower rate than those close to the drain
共e.g., T2, T4, and T6兲. This further indicates the favorable func-
tioning of PVD during and after cyclic loading. Based on Terza-
ghi’s 1D consolidation theory, the time for dissipating 90% of
excess pore pressure is approximately 20 years, implying that
ballast packing maybe required throughout the prolonged consoli-
dation settlement.
Fig. 8. Dissipation of excess pore pressure at various locations
Table 4. Selected Parameters for Ballast and Fill Layer at Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Used in the FEM
Soil layer Depth of layer 共m兲 Model c 共kPa兲 ␸ kv 共⫻10−4 m / day兲 kh 共⫻10−4 m / day兲 ␥dry 共kN/ m3兲 ␥wet 共kN/ m3兲 E 共MPa兲
Ballast +0.3 m M-C 5 50 10 10 15 15 150
Fill 0.0–1.0 M-C 29 29 0.7 1.4 7.90 14.67 3
Note: c is assumed. ␸ = back-calculated from Cam-clay M value.

Equivalent Static Load Approach
For Australian standard gauge operations 共longitudinal distance
between adjacent wheels is 2.02 m and the width between the
rails is 2.55 m兲, the ratio of speed of train 共km/h兲 to frequency
共Hz兲 is approximately 7. The maximum amplitude of the cyclic
load is in conformity with 25-t axle loads. The corresponding
dynamic impact factor can then be obtained from the Australian
standards 关AS 1085.14-1997 共Australia Standards 1997兲兴 as fol-
lows:
V load at very low speed was considered to be the only external
␾ = 1 + 5.4
D
where ␾ = impact factor; V = train velocity 共km/h兲; and D = wheel
diameter 共mm兲.
The equivalent static pressure can be determined from
⌬␴v = ␾ · P
where ⌬␴v = equivalent static pressure and P = applied pressure
due to axle load. Once the equivalent static pressure is estimated,
the ultimate track settlement can be computed knowing the sub-
grade compressibility coefficient 共Cc兲, applied effective stress
共⌬␴v兲, and the subgrade clay thickness, based on the conventional
consolidation equation.
A series of cyclic triaxial tests with the same confining pres-
sure, load amplitude, and number of cycles was conducted at two
different frequencies 共i.e., 10 and 15 Hz corresponding to freight
train speeds of 70 km/h and 105 km/h, respectively兲. The labora-
tory settlements were measured as 66 mm and 73 mm for the
speeds of 70 km/h and 105 km/h, respectively. In comparison,
based on the equivalent static approach, i.e., Eqs. 共1兲 and 共2兲, the
corresponding computed settlements were 65 mm and 75 mm,
respectively. Therefore, it is clear that the equivalent static analy-
sis is justified for a range of freight train speeds typically operat-
ing in Australia.
Design Process for Short PVDs under Railway
Track
to a depth of 6–7 m 共based on elastic theory兲, and it was not
possible for the track owner to continually pack more and more
ballast during the track operation. It is noted that there was no
preloading surcharge embankment provided in this project due to
the stringent time commitments.
Loading Consideration
Due to the time constraint of the project, rail tracks were con-
structed immediately after the PVDs’ installation. The initial train
共1兲 surcharge. In railway engineering, repeated train loading is usu-
ally modeled as a static load adjusted by an impact load factor
共dynamic amplification factor兲. The value of impact load factor
can be changed according to the field conditions and train speeds
applied on track 共Esveld 2001兲.
The writers have adopted AS 1085.14-1997 to calculate
共2兲
sleeper-ballast contact pressures because these standards devel-
oped and improved over the years have been justified by the
concerted efforts of RailCorp 共NSW兲, ARTC, Queensland Rail,
and other major rail organizations through field measurements.
The AS 1085.14-1997 standard provides the empirical relation-
ships based on static experimental and field measurements to de-
termine dynamic loading transfer processes from train wheels into
the substructure based on train axle load, train speed, sleeper, and
wheel dimension. Based on the Australian Standards AS 1085.14-
1997, the sleeper-ballast contact pressure 共Psb兲 can be determined
by
Ps ⫻ 9810
Psb = ␾ 共3兲
4BL
where Ps = axle load 共tons兲; B = sleeper width 共m兲; L = length of
sleeper 共m兲; and ␾ = impact factor 关Eq. 共1兲兴.
In this analysis, a static load of 104 kPa with an impact factor
of 1.3 was applied in accordance with the relatively low train
speed of 40 km/h for axle loads up to 25 t. The sleeper length and
width were 2.55 m and 0.3 m, respectively. The wheel diameter
was 0.86 m.

Given the very soft ground conditions beneath this railway line,
effective ground improvement techniques are vital to provide sta-
bility of the newly constructed 共0.3 m high兲 rail track. The instal-
lation of short PVDs was chosen as an appropriate technique to
dissipate excess pore pressure due to train load and curtail the
excessive lateral displacement. The length of the PVDs was de-
liberately kept short at 8m because the train loading was confined
Soil Parameter Selection and Numerical Analysis
The numerical analysis was based on the Soft soil model and
Mohr-Coulomb model incorporated in the finite-element code,
PLAXIS 共Brinkgreve 2002兲. The top compacted crust and fill
layer was modeled by the Mohr-Coulomb theory; whereas the
soft normally consolidated clays were conveniently modeled

Table 5. Selected Parameters for Soft Soil Layer at Sandgate Rail Grade Separation Used in the FEM
Depth of layer
Soil layer 共m兲 Model c 共kPa兲 ␸ e0 ␭ / 共1 + e0兲 ␬ / 共1 + e0兲 kv 共⫻10−4 m / day兲 kh 共⫻10−4 m / day兲 ␥dry 共kN/ m3兲 ␥wet 共kN/ m3兲
Soft soil-1 1.0–10.0 Soft soil 10 25 2.26 0.131 0.020 0.70 1.4 7.90 14.67
Soft soil-2 10.0–20.0 Soft soil 15 20 2.04 0.141 0.017 0.75 1.5 8.46 14.80
Note: ␸ = back-calculated from Cam-clay M value.

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 Fig. 9. Vertical cross section of rail track and foundation at Section 171-520 共100 kPa assumed loading with 1.3 impact factor兲

Table 6. Soil Permeability Input Value under Improved Area for Each Case
Case A 共no PVDs兲 Case B 共PVDs at 1.5-m spacing兲 Case C 共PVDs at 2-m spacing兲
Soil layer kh 共⫻10−4 m / day兲 kh,ps 共⫻10−4 m / day兲 hs,ps 共⫻10−4 / day兲 kh,ps 共⫻10−4 m / day兲 hs,ps 共⫻10−4 / day兲
Fill 1.4 0.35 0.12 0.32 0.10
Soft soil-1 1.4 0.35 0.12 0.32 0.10
Soft soil-2 1.5 0.37 0.13 0.34 0.14

using the modified Cam-clay theory 共Soft soil model兲. Soil for-
mation was divided into three layers, namely, ballast and fill, Soft
soil-1, and Soft soil-2. The soil parameters obtained from oedom-
eter test, field vane shear test, and CPTU for each soil layer were
given earlier in Tables 4 and 5.
A typical cross section of the formation beneath the rail track
is shown in Fig. 9, where a relatively shallow soft clay deposit is
underlain by a deeper soft soil layer of slightly higher stiffness. A
2D plane strain finite-element analysis using triangular elements
with six displacement nodes and three pore pressure nodes is
considered. In the longitudinal direction, the strains were consid-
ered to be insignificant compared to the lateral and vertical direc-
tions 共in the field this is expected to be the case on most tracks.
Interface elements with excess pore pressure set to zero were used
to simulate each PVD 共soil-drain interfaces兲, as described by In-
draratna and Redana 共2000兲. It was assumed that short PVDs have
no well resistance and insignificant clogging due to fine particles’
intrusion. For boundary conditions, it was also assumed that the
ballast layer overlying the subgrade soils is free draining, and the
nondisplacement boundary is at least 20 m below the surface. The

Fig. 10. Surface settlements at center line of rail load 共convergence to ultimate settlement for “No PVD” takes more than 10 years兲

692 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MAY 2010

Fig. 11. Excess pore pressure dissipation at 2-m depth at center line Fig. 13. Predicted and measured consolidation settlements at the
of rail track 共excess pore pressure for No PVD approaches 0 only at center line of rail tracks
time more than 10 years兲

ks,ps ␤

冋冉冊 册
= 共4a兲
kh,ps kh,ps n kh,ax 3
lateral boundary was selected to be 45 m from the edge of the ln + ln共s兲 − −␣
kh,ax s ks,ax 4
track embankment. The triangular mesh size varies from 0.5–1 m
with an aspect ratio of 1–2. A finer mesh size was used in the area
close to the soil-drain interface. A parametric study capturing the 2 共n − s兲3
␣= 共4b兲
influence of the far-field 共nondisplacement兲 boundary away from 3 n2共n − 1兲

冋 册
the embankment centerline was carried out to confirm the ad-
equacy of the mesh discretization. The outer nondisplacement 2共s − 1兲 1
␤= n共n − s − 1兲 + 共s2 + s + 1兲 共4c兲
boundary was far enough not to cause undue errors and impede n 共n − 1兲
2
3
numerical convergence. A total of four PVD rows were used in
the field. An equivalent plane strain analysis with appropriate n = de/dw 共4d兲
conversion from axisymmetric to 2D was adopted to analyze the
multidrain analysis. To obtain the same consolidation response by s = ds/dw 共4e兲
the conversion procedure at a given time step 共i.e., same time-
settlement curves and excess pore pressures兲, Indraratna et al. In the aforementioned expressions, de = diameter of unit cell soil
共2005兲 proposed a conversion procedure based on an equivalent cylinder; ds = diameter of the smear zone; dw = equivalent diameter
plane strain unit cell geometry. In this method, the corresponding of the drain; ks = horizontal soil permeability in the smear zone;
ratio of the smear zone permeability to the undisturbed zone per- kh = horizontal soil permeability in the undisturbed zone and the
meability is obtained by top of the drain; and subscripts “ax” and “ps” denote the axisym-
metric and plane strain condition, respectively.

Fig. 12. Lateral displacement profiles near the embankment toe at Fig. 14. Measured and predicted lateral displacement profiles near
180 days the rail embankment toe at 180 days

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 Fig. 15. Measured ratio of horizontal displacement to vertical settlement

The ratio of equivalent plane strain to axisymmetric perme- • No PVDs;

ability in the undisturbed zone can be attained as
2 共n − 1兲2
kh,ps 3 n2
= 共5兲
kh,ax 关ln共n兲 − 0.75兴
In Eq. 共5兲, the equivalent permeability in the smear and undis-
turbed zone vary with the drain spacing.
Preliminary Analysis
In order to model the behavior of short PVDs installed under rail
track, the following three cases were examined:
• 8-m PVDs installed at 1.5-m spacing 共square pattern兲; and
• 8-m PVDs installed at 2.0-m spacing 共square pattern兲.
The PVDs used here have equivalent diameter of 60 mm 共dw兲.
According to Indraratna and Redana 共2000兲, the extent of smear
zone can be determined by measuring the change of kh / kv ratio of
soil surrounding vertical drain. In the analysis, the extent of smear
zones 共ds兲 was assumed to be 180 mm. Site investigation reports
indicate that ch / cv varies between 2.0 and 10. Only one typical
plot was shown in this paper, but there are more results available.
The lower bound of ch / cv ratio was employed in the analysis in
compliance with the longest period of consolidation, and the

Fig. 16. Measured pore pressure after track commissioning

694 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MAY 2010

value of kh / ks was taken to be 2. For short PVDs, the well resis-
tance was ignored. Table 6 summarizes the input soil permeability
value for each case.
Fig. 10 shows the time-dependent settlements. It is observed
that 90% consolidation due to PVDs may be encountered within 1
year, whereas it will take up to 20 years to approach 90% con-
solidation without PVD. Significant ballast packing was antici-
pated in the first year as PVDs consolidated the soil. With PVDs,
the rapid dissipation of excess pore-water pressure is considerable
and clearly beneficial to stabilize the soft clay, where more than
60% excess pore pressure dissipation may be attributed to PVD
within the first 3 months 共Fig. 11兲. In terms of excess pore pres-
sure dissipation, little advantage was gained by the closer drain
spacing of 1.5 m in comparison with a spacing of 2.0 m. As
anticipated, the lateral displacements are shown to be a maximum
within the soft clay layer directly underlying the compacted crust
of about 1 m in thickness 共see Fig. 12兲. The lateral displacement
at 180 days may be as large as 0.04 m at a depth of around 1.0 m
below the surface, however, the PVDs tend to decrease the lateral
movements by 25–35% depending on the drain spacing.
Comparison of Field Results with Class A FEM
Predictions
The field results were available to the writers by the track owner
共ARTC兲 after more than a year subsequent to the analysis. There-
fore all predictions can be regarded as Class A 共Lambe 1973兲. In
the field, a spacing of 2 m was adopted for PVDs of 8 m in length,
based on the writers’ analysis in an earlier section. Mebra 共MD88兲
wick vertical drains 共100 mm⫻ 4 mm兲 were installed at this site.
In this section, the field measurements together with the finite-
element predictions are compared and discussed. The predicted
and measured consolidation settlements at the center line of the
rail tracks are presented in Fig. 13. The predicted settlement is in
excellent agreement with the field data for Class A prediction. The
variation of in situ lateral displacement at 180 days at the rail
embankment toe is illustrated in Fig. 14. As expected, the maxi-
mum displacements are measured within the top clay layer, i.e.,
the softest soil below the 1-m crust. As expected, the lateral dis-
placement is restricted to the topmost compacted fill 共0–1 m
deep兲. The Class A predictions of lateral displacements are also in
very good agreement with the field behavior. The ratio of maxi-
mum horizontal displacement to vertical displacement after track
commissioning is shown in Fig. 15. Initially, the ratio was in the
range between 0.5 and 0.8, which is indicative of undrained re-
sponse 共Indraratna et al. 1997兲. However this ratio rapidly de-
creased to a range of approximately 0.06–0.1, showing the
effectiveness of wick drains in reducing the effects of undrained
cyclic loading via rapid dissipation of excess pore pressure. Fig.
16 presents the measured pore pressure after track commissioning
at depth of 2.5, 4.5, and 10.5 m beneath the track. The pore
pressures were recorded on an hourly basis. Typically, the excess
pore pressure seems to increase up to 20 kPa and the decrease
rapidly afterward, demonstrating the effectiveness of PVD.
Conclusions
The writers’ recommendation for the application of short PVDs at
2-m spacing was successfully implemented at the Sandgate Rail
Grade Separation Project. In the absence of a conventional pre-
loading embankment, the initial compression of soil caused by
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MAY 2010 / 695
low speed trains was accompanied by routine packing to maintain
the track elevation and alignment. Accordingly, the finite-element
analysis of the track behavior conducted prior to track construc-
tion was a Class A prediction, with field monitoring since the time
of construction and even as of today.
From this study, it is shown that PVDs significantly decrease
the buildup of excess pore-water pressure during cyclic loading,
and also continue to dissipate excess pore-water pressure during
the rest period. The dissipation of the pore-water pressure during
the rest period makes the track more stable for the next loading
stage. Even with the relative short PVDs, both the predictions and
field data prove that the lateral displacement can be curtailed. The
equivalent plane strain finite-element analysis is adequate to pre-
dict the behavior of the track improved by short PVDs, as long as
the soil parameters are known to a good accuracy from laboratory
and field testing. From the ratio of maximum horizontal displace-
ment to vertical displacement and measured excess pore pressure,
the effectiveness of wick drains in reducing the effects of un-
drained cyclic loading can be demonstrated here.
Acknowledgments
The writers appreciate the support given by the Australian Rail
Track Corporation 共ARTC兲, and John Holland Pty Ltd. The writ-
ers thank the CRC for Railway Engineering and Technologies
共Australia兲 for its continuous support. The laboratory research
carried out by former and current doctoral students under the
guidance of the first writer in the area of cyclic testing of soft
clays and vertical drains is gratefully appreciated.
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