Consolidation behavior of a soft mud treated with small cement content

Soft mud can be found in many large size reclaimed lands. Such soils: prese nt extremely high settlement potential that needs to be alleviated by means of effective ground improvement techniques. Current knowledge on applying small cement content to reduce settlement potential of soft mud is limited. This study concerns the consolidation behavior and settlement potential of soft mud treated with small cement content. Based on the pH values of soft mud-cement mixtures, oedometer specimens with cement content of 6% were pr epared for consolidation tests. The test results show that preconsolidation pressure is rapidly developed and secondary compression is reduced. The ra tio of secondary compression index to compression index is also reduced, in dicating a change in grain size characteristics. The coefficient of consoli dation is increased for consolidation pressures smaller than the preconsoli dation pressure. This indicates that treating the soft mud with a small cem ent content can be very effective for reducing settlements in cases where n ew loads are small to medium and the time for ground improvement is limited . (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.