Global Research Trends in Soft Soil Management for Infrastructure Development: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Soft soils present significant challenges to infrastructure development worldwide due to high compressibility, low shear strength and low permeability. Bibliometric analysis remains scarce in the soft soil management field, making it difficult to grasp global trends and contributions. This research addresses this gap by providing a novel and comprehensive bibliometric analysis of soft soil management literature to investigate the trend, opportunities and challenges. The analysis predominantly examines ground improvement methods based on 2,260 journal articles and proceeding papers from WOS core collection between 2013 and 2023 using CiteSpace. The analysis encompasses country distribution, authorship and co-cited authors, cited journals, reference co-citations and identification of research hotspots and frontiers. Findings show a growing interest and increased research focus in soft soil management, with China emerging as a prominent contributor. Reference co-citation clustering analysis reveals two dominant research themes: ground improvement methods (geosynthetic-reinforced embankments and stone columns) and sustainable practices (reuse of waste materials). The emerging word analysis reveals an evolutionary trend from investigating innovative and sustainable techniques to shear strength and failure mechanisms. Recent studies focus on the use of vertical drains, deep mixing columns, chemical stabilization, and sustainable ground improvement strategies. Opportunities lie in sustainable ground improvement methods and novel sensing technologies. Key challenges include bearing capacity, settlement, and slope stability. The study highlights the need for more research into two other key areas such as geotechnical characterization and foundation design. Overall, this bibliometric review contributes to a more thorough understanding of soft soil management studies for researchers and practitioners.

Keywords

• CiteSpace
• energy
• ground improvement
• knowledge mapping
• soil compaction energy
• soil stabilization