Stability of Road Embankments on Soft Soil

Abstract

In this thesis, two advanced constitutive models, the Soft Soil model (SSM), the Soft Soil Creep model (SSCM), have been tested and evaluated by simulating two field tests, test embankment constructed to failure on soft marine clay in Malaysia, and Haarajoki test embankment on soft clays with and without PVDs. Malaysian test embankment has been taken as a reference to study the validation of the used constitutive models to simulate the short term loading i.e. the construction stage until failure. Soft Soil Creep model (SSCM) has proven to be quite accurate in predicting the settlement-heave profile of the tested embankment along its construction stages. On another hand, the Soft Soil model was quite accurate in predicting the settlement along the embankment profile for the very early stage but failed to predict the settlement-heave profile of the embankment at the intermediate and final stage. i.e. immediately after the failure. Consequently, the constitutive model, Soft Soil Creep model (SSCM), has been proven to have the capability of modeling an embankment of soft soil during its construction stage and could predict the failure of the embankment.