The Lateral Flow of Soil Caused by Banking on Soft Clay Ground

Abstract

Due to embankment construction on soft clay ground, settlement and lateral flow of the foundation ground will occur because of the embankment load. This causes problems not only regarding the stability of the embankment itself but also for the surrounding ground and structures, especially foundation piles. If the extent and amount of lateral flow can be predicted prior to construction, soil improvement of the existing ground to prevent this lateral flow is possible. In the present investigation, field observations were made at 11 sites in the undrained states immediately after embankment construction. From the investigations, it was found that the following pairs of quantities are closely related to each other: (i) the maximum underground lateral displacement and settlement of the embankment, (ii) the maximum underground lateral displacement and horizontal displacement of the ground surface, (iii) the depth of the maximum underground lateral displacement at the embankment toe and the embankment width, (iv) the maximum underground lateral displacement under the embankment toe and the embankment load, (v) the maximum underground lateral displacement depth under the embankment toe and distributions both of underground vertical stress of the embankment load and the soil properties of the foundation ground. These have been synthesized to form a practical procedure of predicting the magnitude and extent of lateral flow of the clay foundation under an embankment.