State of Art on Load-Carrying Capacity and Settlements of Stone Columns

Abstract

Construction of structures over a soft clay deposit is probably the most challenging task for a geotechnical engineer. Structures built over the soft soil experience a huge settlement, which may become the main cause of failure. Thus, for any construction, improvement of the soft clay properties is necessary. Stone columns are frequently used to improve the soft soil nowadays. Stone columns speed up the rate of consolidation of the soft soil and thereby increase the load-carrying capacity and lower the settlement value. A lot of studies have been reported on the behavior of soft clay reinforced with stone columns; many theories have also been developed. An Indian Standard is also available to determine the bearing capacity and the settlement behavior of stone columns. However, the theories are not well accepted because of wide variations of results. The present study includes a review of published theories and a comparison of results based on a typical problem.