Consolidation of loose foundation soil for esplanade project in Kaliningrad

Abstract

The article presents the practical experience of pre-construction compaction of loose water-saturated clay foundation soils during the construction of Paradnaya Embankment in Kaliningrad. The engineering and geological conditions of the embankment construction site were complicated by the occurrence of a significant thickness (up to 15 m) of highly compressible flowing silts from the surface. The base preparation was carried out by preliminary compaction of loose soils with the ballasting embankment using vertical geodrains. The geotechnical monitoring system at the site was implemented after the construction of the ballasting embankment, in connection with which the designers made a premature conclusion that 90% of the degree of consolidation of soft soils according to the readings of pore pressure sensors was reached only 2 months after the filling of the ballasting embankment. The authors of the article analyzed the calculation methods of the consolidation process used in the design and the results of geotechnical monitoring. A repeated prediction of deformations of the soil mass from its compaction by the ballasting embankment was performed by a numerical method, taking into account the nature of the transfer of the load to the foundation, as well as the presence of shore protection structures of the embankment. A non-standard method was used to assess the total settlement of the ballasting embankment and the degree of consolidation of the foundation in the absence of correct monitoring data, which consists in determining the top elevations of loose soils by drilling control observation wells and comparing them with the results of engineering and geological surveys performed before the start of construction.