doi:10.3850/GI030

ABSTRACT

This paper presents ground improvement applications for the development of the Coal Export Terminal 3 (CET3) in Newcastle, Australia. Three cases of ground improvement have been discussed. The new railway line involved construction of embankments up to 10m high which were formed over soft ground, water ponds, coal washery rejects and slag bunded emplacement cells. Geosynthetic basal reinforcement was used to make high embankments constructible in a short period while impact rolling (IR) was used for low embankments on loose emplacement cells. To support the high coal stockpiles and the stacker-reclaimer machinery loads, ground improvement by dynamic replacement (DR) was employed to treat the upper ground which required stabilisation/consolidation improvement. The performance of soil improvement techniques used in the development was verified by using site tests.

Keywords: Coal Terminal; Soft Clay; Dynamic Replacement; Impact Rolling; Basal Reinforcement.

© 2010 by Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS)