EFFECTS OF ARTESIAN PRESSURE ON BEHAVIOR OF EMBANKENT ON SOFT SOIL

Abstract

Artesian pressure from aquifer layer affects significantly behavior of upper soft deposits in the consolidation process and soft ground stability. An analytical solution for the soft soil consolidation considering the artesian pressure is diffiult in practice. Therefore, this paper uses numerical method to estimate the behavior of embankment on soft soil subjected to artesian pressure, in which consolidation behavior and stability of embankment are focused to investigate. The case study in Yangsan embankment with artesian pressure is chosen in a detail analysis. The results indicated that the artesian pressure make a delay of consolidation procedure and decrease the stability of embankment on soft soil. The settlement of soft ground subjected to artesian pressure is larger than that of without artesian pressure because of decreasing effective stress with artesian. Based on the obtained results, author recommend that the geotechnical engineer should consider artesian pressure existing in soft soil and its effects in settlement prediction and stability analysis.