The Project is part of the development of East Port Said along parts of the newly extended Suez Canal. The site is located east of Port Said on the east shore of the Suez Canal extension

1. Studying the behavior of soft soil improved
with prefabricated vertical drains. Case study
Mohamed AYELDEEN
Keller Grundbau GmbH
Robert THURNER
Keller Grundbau GmbH

2. Location
• The Project is part of the development of East Port Said along parts of the newly
extended Suez Canal. The site is located east of Port Said on the east shore of the
Suez Canal extension.
• Light-weight structures and broad roads in between the structures shall be built
over an area of great dimensions (km).

3. Within this zone, 8 CPTu test
s were carried out to investi
gate the underground situati
on in more detail.
Soil Profile
Clayey Silt
Silty Clay
ImprovementDepth

4. Trial Zone
Inclinometer
Settlement Points
Pre and post investigation including:
- Boreholes
- CPTu
- Vane shear
- Stand Pipe Piezometer

5. Instrumentation Measurements
Settlement and Pore pressure
Primary
Consolidation
Stage
Secondary
Compression
Stage

6. Average Settlement after 6 month preloading
105 cm 115 cm 185 cm

7. 0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
SettlementRate[cm/day]
Time [week]
After
Embankment
Construction
0.4 cm/day2 to 1 cm/day
During
Embankment
Construction
Settlement Rate
Settlement rate after 9 months preloading is about 0.6mm/day (0.4 cm/week)

8. Normal settlement prediction
Asaoka Method
Point GMP6 GMP7 GMP8 GMP9 GMP10
Expected Settlement, cm 152 134 145 147 152
Settlement Prediction

9. Point GMP6 GMP7 GMP8 GMP9 GMP10
Expected Settlement, cm 237 237 238 246 242
Sherif Method
Settlement Prediction

10. Numerical Model
Back
calculation
Initial Soil models, Soil
parameters & Soil profile
Numerical
Model
Long term
prediction
Boreholes &
CPTu results
Adjusting the
soil parameters
General Model
Calibration with
measured settlement
Verification with other
measurements
Literature
Adjusting the
model

11. Modelling Verification
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Settlement[cm]
Time [days]
GMP 6
GMP 7
GMP 8
GMP 9
GMP 10
GMP 18
GMP 19
FEA - I - V1
FEA - II - V1
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 50 100 150 200 250
Settlement[m]
Time [days]
GMP 438
GMP 439
FEA-I - V2
FEA- II - V2

12. Generalized Model Results
Settlement after 9 months preloading Long term settlement

13. 0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
0-10 10-15 15-25 25-50
TipResistance,MPa
Depth, m
Before Preloading
After 1 month
After 3 month
After 5 months
0.000
0.005
0.010
0.015
0.020
0.025
0.030
0.035
0-10 10-15 15-25 25-50
SleeveFriction,MPa
Depth, m
Before Preloading
After 1 month
After 3 month
After 5 months
Post Investigation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 3 6 9 12
Depth(m)
Ch (m2/year)
Before preloading
After 3 months

14. • Constructing a trial zone in mega project and being monitored well is
essential and can give a clear idea about the system behaviour.
• The combination between intensive soil investigation work and data from
monitoring the trial zone can be used in an efficient way to build up a
trustable numerical model which can simulate the behaviour in high accuracy.
• The improvement in the soil parameters can be noticed by the CPTu results
which is related in somehow to the degree of consolidation. However caution
should be taken in analyzing the data which can be misleading as effect of the
preloading.
• The combination between PVD and surcharge can improve the soil strength
and reduce the settlement with high efficiency and as ecofriendly technique.
Conclusion and Recommendations

15. Thanks for your attention… Mohamed AYELDEEN
Keller Grundbau GmbH
Robert THURNER
Keller Grundbau GmbH