doi:10.3850/GI128

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a highway project, in Jurong Island, involving soil improvement using Vibroflotation for densification of hydraulically filled sand, up to 30 m deep. Vibroflotation is required to reduce settlement within the highway and ancillary services such as drains. Prior to this work, there are existing buried pipelines installed underground to carry oil from Very Large Crude Oil Carrier to different parts of Jurong Island. Due to the presence of the sensitive buried pipelines, there was a need to ascertain the effects of vibroflotation to the existing pipelines. To understand the impact of the vibroflotation on buried pipelines, a full scale field trial was carried out to study the ground movement during vibroflotation and to determine its impact on the existing pipelines. Instrumentation was carried out using down-the-hole vibration transducers, inclinometers and settlement markers. The influence of vibroflotation with regards to ground movement and vibration will be discussed in this paper. Based on the field trial, a recommended critical distance to minimize disturbance to the existing buried pipelines was proposed.

Keywords: Vibroflotation; very large crude oil carrier.

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