Field Studies of Dynamic Compaction on Marine Deposits

Marine deposit ground usually need significant improvement before the construction of civil structures in coastal areas due to the poor mechanical properties of soils. Dynamic compaction (DC) is a widely used technique in such projects. In this study, a case history of DC tests in sandy soils with a weak embedded layer is introduced. Two series of DC tests—single point tests and impact zone tests—were applied to test zones with similar geological conditions to investigate the effect of energy level on the depth of improvement (DI). The highest energy used is up to 15000 kN · m. Field measurements were conduct before and after DC in each series to validate the effectiveness of improvement, including crater settlement, excessive pore pressure, and acceleration measurement for single point tests, and the pressure meter and CPT tests for impact zone tests. For single point tests, the effectiveness of improvement increases as the energy level increases to 12000 kN · m. Further increase of compaction energy does not have an effect on settlement, pore pressure, or ground acceleration. For impact zone tests, the energy level does not show a positive correlation with the DI, mainly due to the presence of an embedded weak layer.