Post-surcharge secondary settlement of soft Bangkok clay:

A case study of Bangkok-Chonburi highway project

1 2 3 4
Barames Arun Prabmak, Attasit Jutha Sunitsakul
Vardhanabhuti, Sawadpanich,
1
Lecturer, Dept of Civil Engineering, Kasetsart University
2
Researcher, Dept of Civil Engineering, Kasetsart University
3
Engineer, Dept of Highway, Thailand
4
Engineer, Dept of Highway, Thailand

Abstract: The Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVD) with surcharge loading technique was
used to speed up primary consolidation process during construction of new Bangkok-
Chonburi Highway (Motor way). If σ′vs is near σ′vf (or R′s is closed to zero), the secondary
settlement will show up few years after the highway construction. Series of oedometer
surcharging test on undisturbed soft Bangkok clay specimens with R′s in the range of 0 to
1.0 reveal that Cα/Cc is equal to 0.044, and the cvs value ranges from 2 to 10 m2/year. As R′s
increase, the C″α/ Cα and t /tpr values tends to decrease and increase, in respective order.
An increase in R′s value could significantly reduce magnitude and rate of post-surcharge
secondary settlement.

Key Words: surcharging, effective surcharge ratio, secondary settlement

1. INTRODUCTION

In central part of Thailand, an excessive settlement of highway embankment is a major

concern due to a thick soft Bangkok clay deposit. Ground improvement techniques, for
examples soil-cement column, surcharging with Prefabricated Vertical Drain (PVD), have
been utilized to reduce a long-term settlement problem. However, after ground
improvement and highway construction was completed, a continuous settlement has been
observed.

For surcharging technique, vertical stress from surcharge load was applied to soft ground
foundation during construction period. Due to magnitude of surcharge load higher than that
of highway embankment, after completion of construction, the soil foundation becomes
overconsolidated condition. The construction period is reduced because the water flows
out from soft ground through PVD. This technique has been used for major infrastructure
projects such as Kansai international airport (Japan), Changi East Reclamation project
(Singapore). In Thailand, for the first time, Department of Highway used the surcharge
technique with PVD for a new Bangkok-Chonburi Highway (Motor way) project and the
construction was completed in 1997. However, a long-term settlement of soft Bangkok
clay behavior after surcharging is not well understood. This research presents post-
surcharge secondary settlement behavior of soft Bangkok clay observed from laboratory
and in situ testing results. Series of oedometer surcharging test were conducted on 21
undisturbed soft Bangkok clay specimens. In-situ tests include standard penetration test
(SPT), in-situ field vane shear test [SU(FV)], and porewater pressure measurement.
Compressibility properties and empirical relationships for post-surcharge secondary
settlement analysis are illustrated.

2. GROUND IMPROVEMENT OF BANGKOK-CHONBURI HIGHWAY PROJECT

Bangkok-Chonburi highway, beginning at Srinanarin St. and ending at Chonburi-Pattaya

St., consists of 4 lanes with frontage roads paralleling to the main highway. The total
length of the highway is 82 km (Lin, 1999; and Taesiri, 2002). The subsoil profile at the
site, shown in Fig.1, reveals a very soft to soft clay layer with an average thickness of 11
m, followed by medium clay, stiff to very stiff clay, and clayey sand. Due to the thick layer
of very soft to soft clay, surcharging technique with PVD was used during construction
process. The surcharging embankment height is 2.7 m, and the embankment width is 40 m.
Along the side of surcharge embankment, the berm was constructed with a height and
width of 1.65 m and 12.7 m, respectively. The PVD was inserted into the very soft to soft
clay layer with a length of 10 m (km. 6+650) as shown in Fig. 2.

After the highway was opened for 11 years, soil exploration and porewater pressure
monitoring program were conducted at km. 6+650 to km 21+175, and the results are
shown in Fig. 3. Porewater pressure and ground water table data were measured by
electronic piezometers (KU-type) and observation well installed at 3 m away from the
highway. The results show that ground water table is at -0.20 m from the ground surface,
and the porewater pressure distribution in the very soft to soft clay layer is in hydrostatic
condition. In-situ field vane shear tests were conducted along the shoulder of highway
embankment where PVD was installed, and at a distance of about 100 m perpendicular to
the highway where the subsoil was not improved by the surcharge technique. The results
show that with surcharging technique, the SU(FV) values of improved soil are 1.17 times
those of unimproved soil (Vardhanabhuti et al., 2008).

Figure 1 Subsoil profile along a new Bangkok-Chonburi highway (Motor way)

(Runkrailerk, T., 2539)
FIGURE 2 Cross-section of surcharge embankment during construction at km 6+650
(Runkrailerk, T., 2539)

Pressure (kPa) Su(fv) (t/m2)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
0 0
GWL. Data of Measurement With PVD Without PVD
m/ y BH. No
2 8 / 08 BH. No
1 2
10 / 08 5 3 4
12 / 08
4
Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Hydrostatic

6 10

15
10

12 20

(a) (b)
FIGURE 3 (a) Data of porewater pressure measured at km 6+650 at elevation of 2.5, 7,
and 11 m, and (b) Su(FV) at BH. No. 1 to 4 [Data from Bureau of Materials and Inspection,
Department of Highway (2550)]

3. SURCHARGE EFFORT

Surcharge effort could be represented in terms of total surcharge ratio (Rs) and surcharge
time ratio as illustrated in eq. 1, and 2.

⎛σ ⎞
R s = ⎜⎜ vs ⎟⎟ − 1 (1)
⎝ σ′vf ⎠
 t′s
Surcharge Time Ratio = (2)
t′ps

where
σvs = σ′vf + ∆σvs
σ′vf = Final effective vertical stress after surcharge was removed
∆σvs = Total surcharge pressure
t′s = Time during surcharge
t′ps = Time at End-Of-Primary (EOP) consolidation during surcharge

In addition, surcharge effort could be presented in term of effective surcharge ratio (R′s) as
shown in eq. 3 (Mesri and Feng, 1991).

⎛ σ′ ⎞
R′s = ⎜⎜ vs ⎟⎟ − 1 (3)
⎝ σ′vf ⎠
σ′vs = Maximum effective vertical stress before the surcharge was removed

4. OEDOMETER SURCHARGING TEST

Six boreholes were drilled and undisturbed soil samples were taken from the site at km
6+650, 21+675, and 46+175. Figure 4 shows an example of soil exploration results. For
very soft to soft clay (2.0 – 9.0 m), the natural water content (wn), liquid limit (wl), and
plastic limit (wp) are 90-110 %, 100-115 %, and 35-45 %, respectively. For soft clay (10.0
– 18.0), the wn, wl, and wp values are 60-80 %, 60-75 %, and 20-30 %, in respective order.
The specific gravity (Gs) of very soft to soft clay, and soft clay layer is equal to 2.66.

Undisturbed soil specimens, taken from 7.5 to 9.0 m depth, were used for oedometer
surcharging test to study the post-surcharge secondary settlement behavior and determine
compressibility properties of Bangkok clay, including compression index (Cc), secondary
compression index (Cα), coefficient of consolidation (cv), coefficient of expansion (cvs).
The diameter of oedometer specimen was 60 mm with a height of 19 mm. Two testing
programs were carried out as shown in Tables 1 and 2.

Testing Program I: Specimen no. 1 and 2 were loaded to a maximum effective vertical
stress (σ′vf) of 796 and 771 kPa according to ASTM 2435 to determine primary
compressibility properties of soft Bangkok clay. Specimen no. 3 was loaded to σ′vf of 95
kPa and the final load was left for 3 months (t ≈ 500 tp). The objective of the test is to
study the secondary settlement behavior of soft Bangkok clay without ground
improvement by surcharging technique (R′s = 0).

Testing Program II: Soil specimens were loaded to the effective surcharge stress of 102 to
306 kPa. After the specimens reached end of primary consolidation, the surcharge load was
removed to the σ′vf value of 85 to 255 kPa. The objective of the program is to study
influence of R′s value on post-surcharge secondary settlement (R′s= 0.2 - 1.0).
TABLE 1 Testing program I
'
Specimen No. Depth ' σ vf No. of Test
Rs
(m) (kPa)
1 7.5 - 8.1 0 796 1
2 7.5 - 8.1 0 771 1
3 7.5 - 8.1 0 95 1

TABLE 2 Testing program II

' '
Specimen No. Depth Rs ' σ vf σ vs No. of Test
(m) (kPa) (kPa)
4 7.5 - 9.6 0.2 85 102 3
3.0-3.6 0.2 170 204 1
3.0-3.6 0.2 255 306 1
5 7.5 - 9.6 0.3 85 111 1
6 7.5 - 9.6 0.4 85 119 3
7 7.5 - 9.6 0.6 85 136 3
8 7.5 - 9.6 0.8 85 153 3
9 7.5 - 9.6 1.0 85 170 3

2
Soil Profile Unit Weight (kN/m 3) Atterberg Limit (%) Gs SPT- N Value Su (FV) (t/m )

14 16 18 20 20 60 100 140 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 20 40 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
0 0 0 0
Crust
2 2 2 2

4 4 4 4
Very Soft
6 Clay 6 6 6

8 8 8 8

10 10 10 10

12 12 12 12

14 Soft Clay 14 14 14
Depth (m)

16 16 16 16

18 18 18 18

20 Medium Clay 20 20 20

22 Very Stiff Clay 22 22 22

24 Medium Dense24 24 24
Fine Sand
26 26 26 26
wl
28 Dense Fine Sand28 28 28
wp
30 30 30 wn30
Medium Dense
Fine sand
32 32 32 32
End of Boring 30.50 m.

FIGURE 4 An example of soil exploration results from Borehole No.4 (Vardhanabhuti et

al., 2551)
5 POST-SURCHARGE SECONDARY SETTLEMENT BEHAVIOR OF SOFT
BANGKOK CLAY

The surcharge load induced settlement to the specimen as illustrated in Fig. 5. When t = t′s,
the surcharge load is removed and the specimen starts to swell with increasing rate until tpr,
then the swelling rate starts to decrease. The swelling reaches a maximum value at t , then,
the settlement reappears. The post-surcharge secondary settlement could be represented by
post-surcharge secondary compression index (C′α). The C′α value increases as time
increases and can be determined at any time (t) from the slope of void ratio versus log
time. The post-surcharge secondary settlement could also be represented by C″α
determined from t  to any time (t).

Figure 6 shows an example of oedometer surcharging test result for R′s= 0. An undisturbed
soil specimen with in-situ effective vertical stress (σ′vo) of 33 kPa was loaded to σ′vf of 95
kPa. (The ∆σ′vs value is approximately equal to the vertical stress increase due to highway
embankment load and dynamic load from traffic.) The ∆σ′vs results in primary settlement
of 3.5 mm and tp of 150 minutes. As time increases to about 500 tp, the specimen
continuously deforms due to secondary compression.

Figures 7 and 8 present oedometer surcharging test results for R′s values of 0.2 and 0.6,
respectively. For R′s = 0.2 (Fig. 7), the σ′vs value is equal to 102 kPa (or is approximately
represent vertical load due to an embankment height of 3.24 m). The tps value is 1,300
minutes. When the surcharge load is reduced to 85 kPa (or approximately equal to vertical
loaded induced by an embankment height of 2.7 m), the swelling is observed and tpr is
equal to 10 minutes. At t = 3,000 minutes, the post-surcharge secondary settlement is
observed, and the C′α value increases as time increases. In the case of R′s= 0.6 (Fig. 8), the
specimen was loaded to σ′vs of 136 kPa (or approximately equal to vertical stress due to
embankment height of 4.32 m) and the tps value is 90 minutes. When the vertical load is
decreased to 85 kPa, the specimen swells with tpr and t values of 4 minutes and 5,000
minutes, respectively. Beyond t , the specimen settles, however, the C′α value is less than
that obtained from R′s= 0.2.

The compressibility properties of soft Bangkok clay obtained from the oedometer tests
were summarized and compared with data of natural soft clay and silts deposits around the
world, shown in Figs. 9 to 11. Figure 9 presents relationship between Cc and wn of soft
Bangkok clay together with natural soft clay and silts deposits, peat and shale. The Cc
values of soft Bangkok clay is in the range of 0.7 to 1.5. Figure 10 represents a
relationship between cv and wl of soft Bangkok clay and natural clay deposit reported by
Terzaghi et al. (1996). The cv value of soft Bangkok clay is in the rage of 0.2 – 0.5 m2/year
which is lower than those of other natural clay deposit which the cv value ranges from 0.3
to 10 m2/year. The Cα versus Cc relationship of soft Bangkok clay is shown in Fig. 11. The
Cα / Cc value is equal to 0.044 which in agreement of Terzaghi et al. (1996) who reported
the Cα / Cc of inorganic clay equal to 0.04 ± 0.01.

The post-surcharge secondary compressibility parameters include t /tpr, cvs, and C″α/Cα.
The current analytical results of t /tpr versus R′s relationship show that the t /tpr value
increases as R′s increases. However, for any R′s value, the t /tpr of soft Bangkok clay is
about 30 times higher than that reported by Mesri and Feng (1991). Figure 13 presents
relationship between C″α/Cα and t /tpr of soft Bangkok clay. The results show that as t /tpr
increases, C″α/Cα increases. The R′s ≥ 0.4 results in significant decrease of C″α/Cα.

Mesri and Feng (1991) recommended that the post-surcharge secondary settlement could
be analyzed by using secant secondary compression index (C″α) because C′α value is not
constant with time. The C″α can be obtained from C″α/Cα vs t/t  relationship (Fig. 13) and
the magnitude of post-surcharge secondary settlement is calculated by

C′′ t
S= L o log (4)
1 + eo t

when
eo = Initial void ratio
Lo = Initial thickness of soil layer
'
log t
t' ps = Time to EOP Compression under surcharge
t's = Surcharging time
Compression, Rebound

tpr = Time to EOP rebound after removal surcharge

tl = Time at with secondary compression reappears
t = Elapsed time after removal of surcharge
tpr tl
t Slope = C'α

'
Rs = 0.4 ts
' Slope = C"α
t ps
'
log t
FIGURE 5 Post-surcharge secondary settlement behavior (Mesri and Feng, 1991)

Bangkok Clay
3.0 Sample No. 3
Depth 7.5-8.1m
w n = 119%

2.5 C c = 0.992

Secondary Settlement
Void Ratio

2.0
2.0
t/tp = 500
2.4 σ'vf = 95 kPa
Settlement (mm)

1.5 2.8

3.2 tp =150 min

∆e
Cα = = 0.028
3.6 ∆ log t
1.0
4.0

10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5
Time (min)
0.5
10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5

σ 'v (kPa)

FIGURE 6 Settlement behavior of a soft Bangkok clay specimen without surcharging,

R′s = 0 (Vardhanabhuti et al., 2551)
 Tim e (m in)
10 -2 10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4
4.4
B angkok C lay
Sam ple N o. 4 (9.0 - 9.6m )
w n =109%

4.6

Settlement (mm)
10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5

4.8
0.2

t pr =10m in t =3,000m in

5.0 R 's = 0.2

0.0
σ' = 102 kP a
vs
t ps
σ' = 85 kP a
vf
5.2 -0.2

FIGURE 7 Post-surcharge secondary settlement of a soft Bangkok clay specimen with

R′s = 0.2 (Vardhanabhuti et al., 2551)
Time (min)
10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104
3.0
Bangkok Clay
Sample No. 10 (9.0 - 9.6m)
3.2 wn=109%

3.4 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105

0.4
Settlement (mm)

3.6
t =5,000min 0.2
tpr=4min
3.8
0.0
4.0
R's = 0.6 tps
-0.2
4.2
σ' = 136 kPa
vs
σ' = 85 kPa
vf -0.4
4.4

FIGURE 8 Post-surcharge secondary settlement of a soft Bangkok clay specimen with

R′s = 0.6 (Vardhanabhuti et al., 2551)

Data from Terzaghi et al. (1996)

10 Shales
Natural Clay and Silt Deposits
Peat
Compression Index, Cc

Bangkok-Chonburi HWY

Clay Deposits in Thailand

BKK Area
Bangkok-Chonburi HWY
Samutsakorn Area

0.1
0
10 100 1000

Natural Water Content, wn (%)

FIGURE 9 A relationship between Cc and wn of soft Bangkok clay
 Data from Terzaghi et al. (1996)
Soft Clay and Deposits
10 Clay Deposits in Thailand
Bangna-Bangpakong HWY
Bangkok-Chonburi HWY

cv (m2 / year) 1

Bangkok-Chonburi HWY
0.1
0
10 100
wl (%)
FIGURE 10 The cv vs wl relationship
0.15

Bangkok-Chonburi HWY
0.12 Suwannabhum Airport
Cα/Cc = 0.044

0.09
Cα

0.06

0.03

0.00
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Cc

FIGURE 11 A relationship between Cα and Cc of soft Bangkok clay

1000

Soft Clay Deposits

Bangkok Soft Clay
100

10 Duck C
reek Sh
ale, w =
Cvs (m /year)

Crab Orch 36
ard Shalel, %
wl = 62%
2

0
0.1
Cucaroc
ha Shale
Bearpaw S , wl = 85%
0
0.01 hale, w = 9
l 2%
0
0.001
1 10 100

OCR = σ'p/σ'v

FIGURE 12 The cvs values of soft Bangkok clay (Data of soft clay deposits and shale were
reported by Terzaghi et al., 1996)
 0.5

Bangkok Clay
R's = 0.2
0.4
wl = 107 %
wp= 40 %
Ac = 1.19

c"α / cα
0.3

0.2

0.1
0.4
0.6
0.8
0.0
1 10 100 1000 10000

t/t

FIGURE 13 A relationship between C″α/Cα and t/t (Vardhanabhuti et al., 2551)

6. CONCLUSIONS

Results of in-situ tests and series of oedometer surcharging test from undisturbed soft
Bangkok clay obtained from new Bangkok-Chonburi highway site reveal that if the soft
Bangkok clay layer is not improved by surcharging and PVD (R′s= 0), the highway will
settle due to primary settlement and followed by secondary settlement. The Cc, cv, and
Cα/Cc values are 0.7-1.5, 0.2-0.5 m2/year, and 0.044, respectively.

After 11 years of highway completion, the porewater pressure distribution in the improved
soft Bangkok clay layer with surcharging technique and PVD is in hydrostatic condition
and the SU(FV) value of improved soil are 1.17 times those of the unimproved soil. Analyses
of oedometer surcharge test results show that, after surcharging, the soil specimen swells
with cvs equal to 2-10 m2/year. At t = t , the post-surcharge secondary settlement appears
and C″α/Cα tends to increase as t/t increases. For soft Bangkok clay, the R′s≥ 0.4 could
significantly reduces settlement after surcharging technique because the C″α/Cα is less than
that obtained from specimens with R′s < 0.4.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research is funded by Bureau of Road Research and Development, Department of

Highway, Thailand and Department of Civil Engineering, Kasetsart University.

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