SEATWORK #6 – Settlement of Soils

1. The time required for a 50% consolidation of a 25mm thick layer drained both sides is
2min 20 seconds.
• How long (days) will it take for a 3m thick clay layer of the same clay in the field
under the same pressure increment to reach 50% consolidation? In the field, there
is a rock layer at the bottom of the clay
• How long in days will it take to reach 30% consolidation?
• The predicted primary settlement for the lab specimen is 0.064mm. What is the
average degree of consolidation when the settlement reached 0.02mm?

2. A 12m high circular tank with 45m radius contains oil weighing 9.4kN/m3. This tank
stands over a 3m saturated sand layer (γsat = 18.88 kN/m3) underlain by a 14m thick clay
layer (γsat = 17.30 kN/m3, e = 1.27 and Cc = 0.40). Neglect weight of the tank. Assume no
precompression has occurred.

What is the difference between the settlement below the center and below the end of
the tank?

3. A 3.75m clay layer in the field (drained on one side) is normally consolidated. When the
pressure is increased from 50 kPa to 150 kPa, the void ratio decreases from 0.9 to 0.75.
The coefficient of permeability of the clay was 6 x 10-7 cm/s
• How long (days) will it take to reach 50% consolidation?
• What is the settlement when the soil reaches 50% consolidation?