doi:10.3850/GI180

ABSTRACT

In the 2001 year, the foundation for two grain storage silos was designed and built, each silo with 60 MN capacity and 22 m diameter, on subsoil conditions with poor engineering properties, high compressibility and low shear strength. The operation of the silos restricted differential settlements to 25 mm. The concept of the foundation was based on a soil improvement with the construction of rigid inclusions of 60 cm diameter and 22 m depth, forming a regular grid, and a very competent top distribution layer. We used FEM and simple analysis to design the foundation-structure system. The procedure used to build the inclusions was Continuous Flight Auger. After the construction was concluded, and seven years since the silos have been operating, data from the surveillance follow up verify their expected behavior.

Keywords: Rigid inclusion; soft soil.

© 2010 by Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS)