Characterization of Soft Soil Deposit of Indo-Bangla Railway Project

Abstract

Tripura, one of the northeastern state of India, Agartala being the capital city with fast growing infrastructural facilities and population due to its global importance by acting as business corridor for South East Asian countries through Bangladesh. Present study attempts to highlight the characterization of subsoil deposits encountered in Indian part of the Indo-Bangla railway project which may be an important study for safe and sustainable design of foundation. Total 47 number of exploratory bore holes up to 25–30 m depth were conducted physical and engineering parameters are accordingly investigated. This study presents properties of subsoil of that area from three undisturbed soil samplers. Laboratory investigation was carried out for evaluating grain size analysis, shear strength parameters, and consolidation parameters. From the tests conducted on the samples it was found that the samples had very low shear strength and high compressibility values. Rate of change of pore water pressure along with shearing was also developed which gave an idea of the effect of pore water on the clay and organic soil. Thus, the outcome of present study will be helpful for carrying out safe and economic foundation design of the proposed railway embankment as well as assess vulnerability of the proposed construction from future disasters.