Simplified seepage consolidation test for soft sediments

The consistency of very soft sediments prevents the conventional oedometer test from being applied to study their compressibility and permeability cha racteristics. The hydraulic consolidation test in existence requires sophis ticated instrumentation and testing procedures. The present paper proposes a seepage-force-induced consolidation testing procedure for studying the co mpressibility and permeability behavior of soft sediments at low effective stress levels. The good agreement that has been observed between the result s obtained from the proposed method and the conventional oedometer test at overlapping effective stress levels indicates that the proposed method can be used to study the compressibility and permeability characteristics of so ft sediments at low effective stress levels satisfactorily.