Piled embankment to prevent damage to pipe buried in soft grounds undergoing lateral flow

Abstract

Lateral flow of soft ground occurs when embankment filling is performed on reclaimed land of foreshore. If a utility pipe is buried in soft ground undergoing the lateral flow, severe damage to the pipe can be caused. A pile-supported embankment has been used to support embankment to minimize lateral flow of the soft soil by transferring the embankment loads through the piles to the firm layer. To prevent damage to the buried pipe subjected to lateral force of the soft ground, full-scale field experiments on the piled embankment were conducted for 70 days. The test results show that the piled embankment effectively reduces both the settlements of the ground and the lateral displacements of the buried pipe. Although additional load was not imposed on the embankment after finishing embankment filling, the settlement and lateral displacement of soft ground simultaneously increased. This coupling behavior was observed at the toe of the embankment and the back of the buried pipe. To quantitatively evaluate the coupling effect of the movement, the coupling area (CA) was coined and analyzed with the efficiency of load transfer. The efficiency evaluated by the CA was in good agreement with the efficiency by the soil arching mechanism.