Quality Assessment of Field Soilcrete Created by Jet Grouting in the Mekong Delta

Abstract

Jet Grouting was initially applied to treat differential settlement of bridge abutments in Dong Thap province Vietnam. Vam Dinh bridge was chosen in Dong Thap province for a field experiment. The 17 soilcrete columns were created using Jet Grouting to reinforce Vam Dinh bridge abutment (VD). The several bored core samples were taken at the field to evaluate quality of field soilcrete formed by the single Jet Grouting system at 28 days or more after construction. The core samples were used to make specimens for unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests in laboratory. The UCS tests provided unconfined compressive strength, secant modulus of elasticity, and strain at failure. The results recommend that (1) average diameter of soilcrete columns was around 0.9–1.5 m meeting the designed diameter; (2) unconfined compressive strength varied from 0.6 to 2 MPa which is higher the designed strength of 0.5 MPa; (3) Secant modulus of elasticity was about 54–313 times of unconfined compressive strength; (4) Strain at failure was less than 2% agreeing well the published data and the typical failure strain of soilcrete material.