CALCULATION METHOD OF STRENGTH INCREMENT FOR SOFT SOIL IMPROVED BY VACUUM COMBINED WITH SURCHARGE PRELOADING

Combination of vacuum preloading and surcharge preloading method is effective for reinforcing the soft clay foundation. However, the current relevant specifications estimated the soil strength increment as compared to the measured data. Considering the reinforcement mechanism of vacuum preloading and surcharge preloading, a calculation method of strength increment of soft soil under vacuum combined with surcharge preloading was proposed.A case history was adopted to verify the reliability of the proposed method and a good agreement was presented. The proposed method is applicable for the design in practice.