doi:10.3850/key-Ser-ISGI09

ABSTRACT

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) project involved the construction of a university campus on an area of 2,600,000m². This mega scaled project required site preparation works for the foundation of low-rise buildings and infrastructures on undetermined locations due to the nonfinalisation of the master development plan at the time of site preparation works. Beside the uncertain locations of land-usage, the ground condition proves to be highly heterogeneous with very soft sandy silt and very loose silty sand deposits requiring different degree of ground improvement. Due to this extreme variability of ground condition and thus, the required degree of improvement and the varying depth of improvement, the extent of ground improvement works (either with or without added materials) to be adopted is at best based on visual inspection on the real-time response and measured behaviour of the underlying soil subject to the treatment. This paper describes the formulation of a concept and realistic soil parameters for the adequacy of treatment afforded during construction. Its control and analysis of measured parameters to satisfy the performance criteria adapted to the prevailing ground conditions while meeting the clients economic budget leads to a successful completion of the works in 2006. Due to late decision to include medium-rise buildings, dynamic surcharge, a new ground improvement technique, was carried out on those areas. Results are presented in this paper.

Keywords: Dynamic consolidation, Dynamic replacement, Dynamic surcharge, Pressuremeter.

© 2010 by Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS)